Devdas

I had never seen a Bollywood film before (being a white girl who only knows a few swear words in Punjabi) so Devdas was a new experience for me. I thought it was simply wonderful, rich, vibrant and full of colour. I couldn't recommend it enough for someone who wants to see what all the fuss is about Bollywood. The story is Romantic and timeless, a spin on Romeo and Juliette if you will. The story unfolds through song and dance sequences that feature beautiful women who do not need to expose themselves to be erotic. The humour in the film for me came when Devdas started speaking like an English gent in the middle of an argument with his father...very amusing view on the Western world! Anyway, as I said, I would encourage anyone with an open mind to have a look at this film.

DEVDAS (2002) is a beautifully mounted romantic melodrama based on a popular Indian novel published in 1917. When I first read about the film and its enthusiastic reception at Cannes, I had high hopes that this might become the first Bollywood film to cross over to arthouse audiences in the U.S. While watching it, however, it became clear that the class-conflict narrative would be a tough sell these days with its supremely overwrought tale of parental disapproval, family honor, unrequited love, and two beautiful women's complete and utter devotion to an irredeemably dissipated man who is left with nothing. It's also more deeply rooted in Hindi culture than the other Bollywood movies I've seen and would most benefit a viewer who had more than a passing knowledge of it.

In comparing DEVDAS to MOHABBATEIN (2000) and TAAL (1999), the other Bollywood musicals I've seen, I would cite a few Hollywood parallels. DEVDAS is like a Jeanette MacDonald-Nelson Eddy MGM musical of the 1930s (e.g. MAYTIME, 1937, with which it shares some surprising similarities) to MOHABBATEIN's SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS or TAAL's BYE BYE BIRDIE. (When I saw MOHABBATEIN I also thought of WEST SIDE STORY and GREASE.)

I enjoyed MOHABBATEIN and TAAL much more, but I was still gripped by DEVDAS and its high romantic expression of love through song, dance, and incredibly rich, poetic dialogue. It's a powerfully old-fashioned film, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

Right from the opening credit sequence it is apparent that this is not your typical Bollywood movie. There are no iffy dance sequences with multiple costume changes. During those dance sequences the location does not change inexplicably - thus no bemused Swiss folk staring at the actors in bemusement in the background. Devdas' dance sequences are sexy without being sleazy. They are lavish but not gaudy.

The women do not ape western fashion (badly I may add) with pleated miniskirts and glittery tops. The men, thank God, do not wear tight PVC muscle tops and leather trousers (it may be all the rage in India for all I know, but its a big nono everywhere else). The fashion in Devdas, historically inaccurate as it probably is, is nevertheless stunning.

The obligatory fight sequence where our hero beats the crap out of a dozen armed 'bad-guys with moustaches' without breaking into a sweat is notably absent. No goofy comedy sidekick either.

All in all, its difficult for me to categorise this film as a 'Bollywood movie' at all - it's just too damn good.

It does have flaws, the main one being that you do not get a clear idea of how much time has elapsed between events in the movie. However, I look forward to Sanjay Leela Bhansali's next film.

What can I say, Devdas is a spectacular classic on par with Gone With the Wind and Cecil B. DeMille. At first I was pleased that there was an English version, and I would not have to read subtitles BUT - IT'S CUT!!! The final song is missing, and parts of most of the other songs are snipped. Whole scenes are missing!!!! Luckily I watched the Hindi version first. It is far superior in that it is complete, plus it looks better. I did need the English version to iron out some of the plot - although a couple of the scenes that I needed translated had been cut. In future, if they are not going to English version the whole movie, subtitles are better. Dola Re is the best song/dance number ever!!!!!!!!!!

Background: This film is based on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyaya's novel 'Devdas'. Sanjay Leela Bhansali has perfectly altered some parts of novel to suit the film.The movie continuously keeps on drooping till it ends.Its a perfect anticlimax kind of movie.

Brief Story: Initial part of first half of the film shows immense bonding between childhood playmates Devdas(Shahrukh Khan) and Paro(Aishwarya Rai) and the reactions of all other characters to there relationship.Later part of the first half shows how circumstances result in the separation of these 2 lovers. Second Half shows the impact of separation which drives Devdas to stunning courtesan Chandramukhi(Madhuri Dixit).Devdas drains himself into excessive drinking in an attempt to get Paro out of his mind and also to prevent Chandramukhi from entering into his mind.Ultimately Devdas drinks himself to death, loosing both women.(One whom he could never stop loving and One whom he could never love).

Salient Features of the movie : 1)Combining three biggest stars and extracting there acting to maximum possible extent by unbelievably talented filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali. 2)The film perfectly depicts its timeline(Pre Independence Era)through its strikingly attractive and huge sets,through richness of costumes etc. 3)Another striking feature is the dialogues.One hardly finds these kind of precise and sentimental dialogues in present day Bollywood films.

If you really want to know what a tragedy is ,then Devdas is best the example!! Just go for it !!