Review of Devdas (2002) by Aria R — 16 Nov 2018

The Sanjay Leela Bhansali classic, Devdas, is a romantic drama based on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhye's novel, Devdas. The movie begins with Devdas (Shah Rukh Khan), the son of a wealthy landowner, returning home from London after ten years. The conflict begins when Devdas decides to see Parvati alias Paro (Aishwarya Rai) before vising his family, where we first see Kaushalya's (Devdas' mother) disapproval of his love for Paro. The feud between their families is fueled by Kaushalya's agonizing rejection of Sumitra (Paro's mother) as she initiates the possible marriage of the two star-crossed lovers. Due to continued family conflict, Paro is then married into another wealthy family and Devdas resorts to alcoholism for relief. In this process he meets Chandramukhi (Madhuri Dixit), a courtesan, who falls deeply in love with him. A series of ill-fated events follow that ultimately lead to an unconventional end.

The extravagant portrayal of this love triangle is supported by the flamboyant costumes, larger than life sets and overly dramatic shots which in turn deliver an array of deep emotions to the audience. According to me, this movie provides a physical representation of the intensity of emotions felt by the characters. Dola re, for example, represents Paro's happiness, as she found someone who will unconditionally love Devdas and Chandramukhi's joy, arising from being accepted by the woman Devdas loves. Much like Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, this is an alternate Bollywood representation of inherited hatred, as it defies the usual structure we have seen; in which ultimately the moral universe reconciles. Though their plotline is partially similar in terms of portraying class difference as a disruption to the moral universe, Bhansali uses a much more traditional and grim approach. I think both Karan Johar in K3G and Bhansali in Devdas use filming techniques such as large and small mise-en-scene along with over the top sets and costumes to portray the intensity of emotion and the power it has over you, especially love, in an obviously unrealistic way simply aiming to satisfy the audience. They both give you Bollywood and then more Bollywood. However, I feel it would have been more interesting if we saw some kind of resolution for Paro's character too. The end of her story seemed abrupt as we were equally drawn into her struggles as much as Devdas'. Regardless, as abridged by Sangita Gopal, I think Bhansali like Johar "boast[s] big budgets, gorgeous production values and carry cheesy subtitles" to create magnificent successes.