Devdas
File:Devdas.jpg DVD release cover
Directed by	Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Produced by	Bharat Shah
Story by	Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Based on	Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay (novel)
Starring	Shahrukh Khan Madhuri Dixit Aishwariya Rai Jackie Shroff Kirron Kher
Music by	Ismail Darbar Monty Sharma
Cinematography	Binod Pradhan
Editing by	Bela Sehgal
Distributed by	Mega Bollywood
Release date(s)	July 12, 2002
Running time	183 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	50 crore (US$9.98 million)[1]
Box office	84.30 crore (US$16.82 million)[2]

Devdas (Hindi: देवदास) is a 2002 Bollywood novel adapted film based on the 1917 Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay novella Devdas. This is the third Hindi version and the first colour film version of the story in Hindi.^[3] The film is directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and stars Shahrukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit, and Aishwarya Rai in the leading roles.

At the time of its release, Devdas was the most expensive Bollywood film ever produced, with a reported budget of Rs 50 crores.^[4] The film was released in six alternative language versions: English, French, German, Mandarin, Thai, and Punjabi.

Shahrukh Khan's performance as the rebellious alcoholic Devdas is often considered one of his best performances, and won him a Filmfare Award. The song "Dola Re Dola" became a hit with its unique dance duet between Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri Dixit.

The film won five National Awards, ten Filmfare Awards including Best Film, and received a BAFTA nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. It was also India's entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars. It was ranked #74 in Empire magazines "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema" in 2010.^[5] Time Magazine named Devdas as the best movie of 2002 among all the movies released around the world in 2002.^[6]

This was also Madhuri Dixit's last movie prior to her marriage, which resulted in her taking a hiatus from cinema.

Plot[link]

Sir Narayan Mukherjee (Vijay Crishna), a zamindar, and his wife Kaushalya (Smita Jaykar) have heard that their younger son, Devdas (Shahrukh Khan), is coming home from a law school in England to their mansion in Tal Sonapur, Bengal after an absence of ten years. When Kaushalya tells her neighbor Sumitra about Devdas' impending return, Sumitra is as overjoyed as Devdas' own mother, and with tears in her eyes she reminisces with Kaushalya about Devdas' and her daughter's deep childhood friendship. She describes how when Devdas was sent off to England at the age of ten, her daughter Paro had chased his carriage weeping, trying to return to him 3 rupees that she owed. The young girl Paro had then lit a lamp for Devdas, which she tended throughout her childhood in honor of her dear friend and never allowed to extinguish.

On the day of his return, Kaushalya insists everyone in the family close their eyes so that she will be the first person to see her son. Her plan backfires, however, when instead of coming straight home, Devdas goes to see "Paro" Parvati Chakraborty (Aishwarya Rai), his childhood sweetheart, first. This incident makes Kaushalya jealous and at first she refuses to receive her son when he arrives, but he cajoles her and they joyfully reunite. In the ensuing weeks it becomes clear that the years apart have turned Devdas' and Paro's friendship into love. It seems to everyone, including Paro's mother Sumitra (Kirron Kher), that Devdas and Paro will get married, but Devdas's scheming sister-in-law Kumud (Ananya Khare) reminds Kaushalya of Paro's maternal lineage, which consists of mujra dancers. This is considered inappropriate for an alliance with the Mukherjee family. When Sumitra announces her desire for Devdas and Paro to marry, Kaushalya rejects and humiliates her in public. Devastated, Sumitra vows to ensure that Paro will get an even better marriage, and to find her an husband in a period of seven days. She soon arranges for Paro to marry Thakur Bhuvan Chaudhry (Vijayendra Ghatge), a forty-year-old widowed aristocrat with three grown children.

Meanwhile, Devdas' harsh and ambitious father also rejects Paro and tells Devdas that both Paro and her mother belong in a brothel. Devdas leaves his parents' house and takes refuge at a brothel with his college friend Chunnibabu (Jackie Shroff). He leaves a letter for Paro, falsely stating that love had never existed between them. At the brothel, Devdas meets a good-hearted tawaif (courtesan) named Chandramukhi (Madhuri Dixit), who falls in love with him. Soon, Devdas realizes his mistake in abandoning Paro. He returns to Paro at the time of her wedding to Bhuvan Chaudhry and asks her to elope with him. Paro refuses, reminding him of the way he had discarded her so easily. Grieved, Dev leads Paro to her bridal procession and Paro, still holding the lamp, sobs as she is carried away.

Paro learns from her new aristocrat husband that he has married her only to be mother to his children and lady of the estate, but that his love is only for his late first wife and he has no plan to have a true love relationship with her. Paro dutifully fulfills all her responsibilities, serving as a kind mother to the children and exemplary lady. Devdas, having lost Paro, is heartbroken. He moves to Chandramukhi's brothel permanently and becomes an alcoholic.

When Paro hears that Devdas' father is on his death bed, despite his past cruelties to Devdas and herself, she rushes to his bedside to offer comfort. He asks to see his son Devdas, but Devdas only arrives later, drunk, at his father's funeral.

Eventually, Devdas becomes so ill that the slightest dose of alcohol could kill him. He returns to the family home to heal, and discovers that his sister-in-law has stolen his mother's keys to the family safe. He confronts his sister-in-law and brother demanding they return the keys. An altercation ensues, and when his mother appears asking what is going on, the sister-in-law claims that Devdas had stolen the keys. His mother again believes the sister-in-law and sides against Devdas. Without denouncing the true culprits, Devdas leaves, banished.

News of Dev's alcoholism reaches Paro, who arrives at Chandramukhi's brothel and angrily accuses her of manipulating Devdas into drinking. She soon realizes, however, that Chandramukhi deeply cares for Devdas. Chandramukhi urges Paro to convince Devdas to stop drinking; Paro attempts to persuade him, but Devdas remains stubborn. He promises Paro that before he dies, he will come to her doorstep one last time.

Paro invites Chandramukhi, whom she has befriended, to a celebration of Durga Puja at her husband's home and introduces Chandramukhi to her in-laws without revealing her profession. However, Bhuvan's ill-natured son-in-law Kalibabu (Milind Gunaji), a frequent visitor to Chandramukhi's brothel who made inappropriate advances towards Paro, reveals Chandramukhi's background and humiliates her in front of Bhuvan and the guests. He also tells Bhuvan of Paro's relationship with Devdas. As a result, Bhuvan punishes Paro by permanently forbidding her from leaving the mansion.

Devdas tells Chandramukhi that he loves her but that she must let him go. He decides to travel the country; while on a train, he meets his old friend Chunnibabu, who urges him to drink in the name of friendship. Devdas drinks knowing fully well it will be fatal.

On the verge of death, Devdas travels to Paro's house to honor his promise, collapsing under a tree in front of the main gate. Paro at first is only told that the man outside is an anonymous traveller. She performs prayers inside the house, and as she throws flower petals on the icon, flower petals likewise fall on Devdas outside. Paro then learns that it is Devdas outside the gates, and, screaming his name, runs through the mansion and grounds attempting to reach him. Bhuvan sees this and orders the servants to close the gates, leaving her sobbing inside the gates. Devdas sees a blurred image of Paro running to him, but the gates close before she can reach him and Devdas dies. At the same time, the lamp that Paro had lit for him flickers out.

Cast[link]

• Shahrukh Khan as Devdas Mukherjee
• Madhuri Dixit as Chandramukhi
• Aishwarya Rai as Parvati "Paro" Chakraborty
• Jackie Shroff as Chunnilal ("Chunnibabu")
• Smita Jaykar as Kaushalya Mukherjee
• Manoj Joshi as Dwijdas Mukherjee
• Ananya Khare as Kumud Mukherjee
• Ava Mukherji as Dev's Badi-ma
• Kirron Kher as Sumitra Chakraborty
• Sunil Rege as Neelkanth Chakraborty
• Vijay Crishna as Sir Narayan Mukherjee
• Tiku Talsania as Dharamdas
• Jaya Bhattacharya as Manorama
• Disha Vakani as Sakhi
• Milind Gunaji as Kalibabu
• Dina Pathak as Bhuvan's mother
• Vijayendra Ghatge as Bhuvan Chaudhry
• Amardeep Jha as Kalibabu's mother
• Radhika Singh as Yashomati
• Apara Mehta as Badi Aapa
• Muni Jha as Kaka

Location and sets[link]

The major part of the movie was filmed at Film City, Mumbai, recreating the early 20th century Calcutta.^[3] The six sets cost about Rs. 200 million. Chandramukhi's kotha was constructed next to an artificial lake, to make it look like a set in Benaras on the Ganges.^[7] A temple city surrounded the set, for which inspiration was taken from the Dilwara Temples in Rajasthan.^[8] For the creation of Paro's room in a haveli 12,200 pieces of stained glass were used.^[9]

Soundtrack[link]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Planet Bollywood	[10]

The film soundtrack was predominately composed by Ismail Darbar while lyrics are penned by Nusrat Badr, Prakash Kapadi and Pandit Birju Maharajand. It features playback singers Shreya Ghoshal (as Parvati), Kavita Krishnamurthy (as Chandramukhi), and Udit Narayan (as Devdas). Shreya Ghoshal made her Bollywood debut through this film. She caught the attention of Ismail Darbar when she participated in Sa Re Ga Ma Pa competition. She was also able to impress Bhansali when she sang bhajan of Lata Mangeshkar.^[11] She sang five songs in the album, which won her much critical acclaim and several accolades.^[12]

Aniket Joshi of Planet Bollywood gave 9 stars stating, "Rarely have we an album where ALL the songs are perfectly sung, Devdas is such an album."^[10]

Awards[link]

• Devdas was India's entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars in 2003.
• The film was also screened at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival,^[13] though it was not eligible for an award.

[edit] Filmfare Awards

Devdas won ten awards at the 2002 Filmfare Awards, and was the fourth film to win the four major awards (Best Movie, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress).

• Best Film - Bharat Shah
• Best Actor - Shahrukh Khan
• Best Actress - Aishwarya Rai
• Best Director - Sanjay Leela Bhansali
• Best Supporting Actress - Madhuri Dixit
• Best Female Playback - Kavita Krishnamurthy & Shreya Ghosal for "Dola Re Dola"
• Best Cinematographer - Binod Pradhan
• Best Art Direction - Nitin Chandrakant Desai
• Best Choreography - Saroj Khan
• Best Scene of the Year - Confrontation scene between Parvati and Chandramukhi.

[edit] National Film Awards

Devdas won five awards at the 2002 national awards:

• National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment
• National Film Award for Best Art Direction- Nitin Chandrakant Desai
• National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer - Shreya Ghoshal
• National Film Award for Best Choreography - Saroj Khan
• National Film Award for Best Costume Design

[edit] Star Screen Awards

Devdas won five awards at the 2002 Star Screen Awards:

• Best Actor - Shahrukh Khan (shared with Ajay Devgan)
• Best Actress - Aishwarya Rai
• Best Supporting Actress - Madhuri Dixit
• Star Screen Award Jodi No. 1 - Aishwarya Rai & Shahrukh Khan
• Star Screen Award Best Male Playback - Udit Narayan for "Woh Chand Jaisi Ladki"

[edit] IIFA Awards

Devdas won six awards at the 2003 IIFA Awards:

• Best Movie - Devdas - Bharat Shah
• IIFA Best Director Award - Sanjay Leela Bhansali
• Best Actor In Leading Role Devdas - Shahrukh Khan
• Best Actress In Leading Role Devdas - Aishwarya Rai
• Best Actress In A Supporting Role Devdas - Kirron Kher
• IIFA Best Female Playback Award Devdas - Shreya Ghosal, Kavita Krishnamurthy for Dola Re Dola

[edit] MTV Asia Awards

Devdas won the 2003 Asian Film Award.^[14][15][16]

[edit] British Academy Film Awards

Devdas was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Language Film, 2003.

Box office[link]

Devdas was a big hit at the box office. The film grossed 53.5 crore (US$10.67 million) in India thus becoming the highest grossing film of 2002 .^[17] It grossed 84.30 crore (US$16.82 million) worldwide.^[18] When adjusted for inflation its total gross worldwide is 151.51 crore (US$30.23 million).^[19]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Devdas at the Internet Movie Database
• India Times: Official Site of Devdas
• The Tribune: Yeh Kaisa Devdas?
• Planet Bollywood: Music Review - Devdas