Devdas
Starring –
Shahrukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Madhuri Dixit-Nene, Jackie Schroff, Kiron Kher,
Smita Jaykar, Vijayendra Ghatge, Tiku Talsania, Milind Gunaji, Ananya, Dina
Pathak and Vijay Crishna
Release Date – July
12, 2002
SYNOPSIS -
Three Bollywood stalwarts Shahrukh Khan, Madhuri Nene and Aishwarya Rai
play the leading roles in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s celluloid adaptation of
Sarat Chandra’s poignant saga of timeless love and unrequited emotions: Devdaas.
The film has Shahrukh Khan playing the title character of lovelorn Devdaas,
Aishwarya as his childhood companion Paro, and Madhuri in the role of the
infamous courtesan Chandramukhi. Macho Hunk Jackie Shroff too makes a special
appearance in the film as Chunnilal, the close friend of Devdaas.
Born to the wealthy Zamindar Narayan Mukherji, Devdaas spends his childhood
ensconced in the opulent surroundings far from the scourge of harsh realities.
He wiles his time away with his callow playmate Paro. Together they weave
adolescent dreams, make hay castles in the air, tease and chide each other –
not conscious of the delicate bond that would culminate into platonic love one
day.
But, instead the day comes when the inseparables have to part ways. Devdaas is
being sent to London for higher studies and Paro is left in lurch to do nothing
but to count-back the days when Devdaas would return from across the seven
seas.
Years roll by before Devdaas returns, but he comes back a changed man –
debauched by the sophistication of the west. But something of the past romance
still smolders and Devdaas still feels drawn to gorgeous and nubile Paro. But
Devdaas’ Zamindar father looks down his proximity to Paro. He wants his son
to marry in high society.
Unable to find acceptance in Devdaas’ family Paro recedes into shadows and
begins to rebuff his amorous advances. Soon she is married to an older Zamindar
Bhuvan, although their marriage never consummates.
Separated from Paro, Devdaas takes to heavy drinking and begins spending his
time at Kothas. Here, enters a special woman into Devdaas’
bacchanalian and gloomy life – courtesan Chandramukhi.
Chandramukhi is impressed by Devdaas’ open criticism of her profession.
Devdaas, on the other hand, finds an outlet for his repressed emotions in
Chandramukhi as she lends him an attentive ear. He knows she is the only one he
can speak his heart to before drinking himself to death!!
One thing - wow...the performance, clothing, everything had
that
magical feeling to it just like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai,
Kabhi Kushie Kabhi Gham, Mohabbatein, etc.
Of course everyone should know or know somewhat the story of Devdas. I already knew that the movie would end up in a
tradegy.
Shahrukh - he is great as always. Some people may think he overacts
but sometimes I think he just gets too much involve in his
character. I think he looked sooo cute in that outfit in the
beginning with the hat. He looks better and better after every
movie now. I don't think he's drop dead gorgeous hot or anything
but it's something about him that girls love - as I mentioned before
it is the character that he portrays in his films. No matter what
role he gets, he does it better each time.
Aishwarya - I always thought she was a little overrated. I mean
come on...one Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and she's number one on everyone's list? I know
I am exaggerating a bit but you know what I mean. She is no doubt
beautiful...one of the most beautiful women in the industry. But I
think she should improve on her acting. She was great in Josh but
because her role was de-glamorous, people preferred her in Hum Dil De Chuke
Sanam or
even Taal. She surprised me in Devdas. Wow. Her facial
expressions were great. She improved a lot on her emotional
scenes. I loved the part where Paro brushes Devdas away the day she
was going away. I thought she played that part very well.
Madhuri - the surprise package of the film. Mads is another person
who acts her best no matter what role is given to her. At first
when I found out she was Chandramulki, I was a little disappointed
since I like her pairing with Shahrukh and I wanted her to play the
bigger role. However, after watching Devdas, each character fit
their role perfectly. Mads is the queen - she's got the looks,
charm, beauty, dancing, and acting capabilities. One thing I love
about her is her facial expressions when she dances. She makes
dancing look so graceful. The character Chandramulki was a lot
bigger than I thought. Although Mads had a smaller role than Ash,
she had a bigger impact in the film to me since her character was
strong because of her love for Devdas.
I remember reading before that several people asked why Devdas said
to Chandramulki he loved her. Well, honestly, I think he DID love
her but not as much as Paro. His love for Chandramulki was
different. It's not that he didn't love Paro any less - she is his
first love and childhood sweetheart. The love that he felt for
Chandramulki is different. She was always there for Devdas no
matter what and that's why Devdas grew to love her. Of course
Chandramulki wanted to be with Devdas but in her heart, she knows
that Devdas still love only Paro. It's not the same kind of love
that he felt for her.
One thing I didn't like about the story/movie is when Devdas left
the house, he didn't take Paro with him. Now if I was Paro, I would
have been upset too. I think she mainly married some other guy to piss off Devdas more. I know she loved him and all...and wanted to
honor her mother but what devastated her the most was Devdas leaving
and writing that letter to her.
I also didn't like how Devdas left a mark on Paro. I thought that
was mean...hehehe. Was it me or did Paro's mark disappear later on
the film until the end near Devdas' death? LOL.
What I did like was Devdas was man enough to let Paro go...BUT....he
couldn't handle his pain so he turned to alcohol. That was very sad. Those parts reminded me of an older Hindi film called Painter
Babu. I don't know if anyone has seen it but I liked the film and
thought it was good. The hero is devastated that the heroine
remarries someone else and he turns to alcohol and ended up in death
just like Devdas did.
The songs were choreographed beautifully. Usually when songs are like that, you begin to love the music even more. I never thought
Shahrukh and Ash had much chemistry but in Devdas, they had a lot of
chemistry...of course, it is the same chemistry Shahrukh has with
Kajol but still you can see the chemistry between Shahrukh and Ash
in Devdas. Haven't you notice that Shahrukh and Ash have been very
good friends lately....and there's rumours about Shahrukh and Salman
not getting along now. Hmmm.....
Okay, overall the movie is great. Gives you that magical, warm, and
great feeling.
Rating - 9 out of 10
NiCKi