Background: Story:

Devdas and Paro are childhood sweethearts who are parted originally through ambition, then parted through censure and finally, through death. Devdas is a classic Indian story of great drama, great intensity, and great feeling. The issue of 'suitability' of marriage partners is never to far away in what is portrayed as a society that judges people according to whom they marry, what their occupation is, and what caste they belong to. Yet, through all the superficial obstacles that are put in their way, Devdas and Paro's love for each other grows deeper and deeper until a truly tragic ending that is very reminiscent of Shakespeare's masterpiece, Romeo and Juliet. Indeed, although forbidden love is a common theme in many Bollywood movies, none perhaps display an individual's anguish at being denied what they believe was destined to be theirs as accurately and poignantly as Devdas.

Setting:

This is by far the biggest budget Bollywood film ever made.....and it shows. The sets are simply stunning, as are the costumes, the music, the colour....literally everything is gorgeously crafted, bombastically coloured and imaginatively designed. The film is shot so as to get the most out of many of the aesthetic delights.....the viewer really gets a sense of the grand scale on which the movie had been filmed.

Performances:

The acting throughout the film is as necessarily dramatic as it needed to be. Shahrukh Khan as Devdas looks superb, initially as the dashing 'Englishman' and then later, as the broken-hearted drunk without a hope in the world. Khan's ability to display pure, unadulterated passion is incredibly moving. Some have argued that he over-acts, but to be honest if you didn't over-act in a film of such melodrama then you would look out of place! Aishwarya Rai is suitably beautiful as Paro and is convincing as the vain, conceited and naive young woman she is supposed to be. Rai also does a fine job in displaying the character's growth in maturity and inner strength as Paro's character develops throughout the film. Madhuri Dixit as Chandramukhi the courtesan 'with a heart' is seriously quite fabulous. Despite her obvious indignities, she manages to play the elegant with tremendous grace and charm. Her love for Devdas is so tangible that you can actually sense it. Chandramukhi's dance scenes are brilliantly seductive and really capture the environment of the exotic brothel.

Music:

The eight songs that feature in Devdas are excellently written and performed. They are equally as elaborate and breathtaking as the film itself, as are the dances that accompany them. There are some truly heart-felt love songs here as well as some more celebratory numbers. My personal favourite has to be the humorous 'chalak chalk', a drunken dance of tomfoolery that provides a light-hearted moment minutes before the films devastating climax. The song is sure to have anyone wiggling those hips (I'm sure this works best if your drunk too!).

Criticism:

The only major criticism is that the film could have been edited far better. Firstly, the opening scenes drag somewhat and are unnecessary. Cutting a bit more out would also have helped shorten the overall length of the film (it's over 3 hours). Secondly, some of the sequences between scene changes are very 'sharp'; quickly cutting from the end of one scene to the beginning of another which at times makes the film seem amateurish.

Summary:

The film as a whole however is anything but of an amateur standard. To anyone wanting to experiment with a bit of Bollywood magic, this is a superb starting point- this typifies everything that is great about the industry. This is bold, bright and beautiful: aesthetically, but also, and more importantly, emotionally and morally. It is a whirlwind ride of romance that really impacts upon the viewer the message to cherish and value love while you have it. The film's tagline couldn't have put it any better, 'a grand saga of timeless love'.

Cast:

Shahrukh Khan .... Devdas Mukherjee
Madhuri Dixit .... Chandramukhi
Aishwarya Rai .... Parvati ('Paro')
Jackie Shroff .... Chunnilal
Kiron Kher .... Sumitra
Smita Jaykar .... Kaushalya
Tiku Talsania .... Dharamdas
Vijayendra Ghatge .... Bhuvan Choudhry
Milind Gunaji .... Kalibabu
Ananya Khare .... Kumud
Manoj Joshi .... Dwijdas
Dina Pathak .... Bhuvan's mother
Ava Mukherji .... Dev's badi-ma
Vijay Crishna .... Narayan Mukherjee
Sunil Rege .... Neelkant

Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Website: www.devdas.indiatimes.com