Devdas [2002]
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Actor: Shahrukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Aishwarya Rai
This is the first Bollywood film that I’ve seen that I wasn’t bored with after the first ten minutes. It’s relatively easy-access for westerners, despite the massive amounts of unrealistic over-acting that happens, which is staple-diet for Indian movie-goers, and the relatively ridiculous story which offended a lot of my western sensibilities. What was interesting, however, (and I might spoil the sliver-thin story for you,) is that this story does not have a happy ending.
The story is of Paro (Rai) and Devdas (Khan), and their childhood affection turning into a sincere love for one another as Devdas returns from being in London for study for over ten years. Devdas is from a wealthy family with a high status, and while Paro is from a family with relatively a lot of wealth, their status seems to be beneath the family of Devdas, regardless of the close relationship of these two families for decades. However, Paro’s mother seems oblivious to the possibility of Devdas’ parents denying the marriage because of Paro and Devdas’ obvious love for one another. She is horribly emberassed when she is publicly scorned for the idea of Paro and Devdas to be married, and she vows to find a family for Paro who is even wealthier and of higher status than Devdas’ family.
She succeeds and Paro is married to an older man who’s first wife had died. He wants a wife in order to complete the household, and to be mother to his children (while Paro is almost as old as his children), but not for love or affection. Paro is still madly in love with Devdas, who, after Paro’s marriage, is slowly drowning himself and his misery in a bottle of expensive wine, and so finds peace in her new role and new family.
Devdas’ self-destructive misery forces him into neighbourhoods of ill repute and into the presence of courtesans, of which Chandramukhi (Dixit) is one. She’s a girl of low birth, but has made a fortune with her work. She’s a dancer and entertainer, and while she’s not a prostitute, most people of higher status treat her that way. Initially, Devdas wants nothing to do with her, but her love and devotion to him grows, and she tries to get him to stop his destructive ways. She can’t help but love him, even though his heart belongs to Paro.
Massive amounts of unncessary drama, dancing and singing, with a lot of beautiful people. It’s a fun flick, even though the running time is something like eleven-million hours, and it’s worth checking out if you’re interesting in trying out this genre of film.
