D se Dil (Soul) + D se Deewanapan (Passion) + D se Dard (Pain) + D se Daaru (Liquor) = Sanjay Leela Bhansali's D-D-D-D-Devdas, plainly the most expensive Indian movie ever made at Rs. 52 crores. Now, if by any chance you are thinking "Ae shaane... Hata saawan ki ghata (I don't care about it much) aur bas itna bata ki aakhir mein Devdas tapakta ki nahin?", then for you Mr. Tapori Bhai, the answer is "Yes". For the rest of ladies and gentlemen, here's the flick.
"Devdas" sets into motion with a jaw-droppingly picturesque palace,
and no wonder it is the humble dwelling of Devda. In no time the ambience splits open with joy and energy - Kaushalya (Smita Jayakar) is wild with excitement that her son Devdas (Shah Rukh Khan) is returning home after ten years in London. Devda's back in India.
Begin sizzling love between Devda and cute Paro (Aishwarya Rai). Alas, but the course of true love is never smooth... Devda's parents put up an objection to their love and marriage. Worried about the consequences, Paro plans to elope with Devda, but the idea only results in the humiliation of Paro by Devda's parents.
Furious, Devdas leaves home and then writes to Paro, asking her to forget him as their marriage might destroy his family. Devastated, Paro gives in to her mother's pleas for a marriage elsewhere.
Paro's marriage shatters Devdas. He turns to liquor and a brothel dancer Chandramukhi (Madhuri). Even though at first he turns her away, increasingly he begins to like her. Later on he admits his love for Chandramukhi. But liquor takes its toll on Devdas and he kicks the bucket, still yearning for the love of Paro.
The performances by Aishwarya and Madhuri are first-rate. They are totally engrossed in their characters. Shahrukh somehow manages to re-establish himself as a t-t-t-talented artiste. Jackie's character in the movie appears to be pointless, though. The choreography by Birju
Maharaj's leaves you awestruck. And the plush settings by Nitin Desai are stunning and simply superb.
Devdas is a lengthy but classic silver-screen rendition of the sweetness of first love and sincerity of true love, and is derived from a novel by Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay of the same name. Shah Rukh and Aishwarya play the lovers with a sincerity that is not only appealing but refreshing in this era of raunchy and raw movies. It is recommended only to the patient and the non-taporis.
WOW!!! The best movie ever! Shah Rukh Khan was amazing as usual, Madhuri's dancing was fantastic and Ashwariya's acting was good. overall what a fantastic movie to watch. everything about this movie was brilliant - music - fashion the art acting was unbelieveable
Mohan, I agree with you regarding the movie - its inane. As for the novel, it's beautiful if you manage to read the original. It is actually not about the guy defying the society, in fact, it is more about two ladies in his life, who,during those times, went against social norms for love. It is also about human nature and the enemy within oneself. The actual story is a sequence of many events. Sanjay Leela Bhansali has just taken the names of three protagonists, glamourised all of them to an ultimate exaggeration and got a hit movie on his hands because in India,a movie is a hit if it ahs stars and lots of glamour with good music and out-of-the-world sets. Sadly, a person of Bhansali's calibre should ahve adopted the novel cmpletely and it would have been a masterpiece.
Pretty inane movie. I cannot understand Indian filmdom's obsession with this novel. I fail to grasp what it is that makes this novel so great. OK, there is this dude who pretty much wastes his life unable to defy the society. What else?
RATING
4
Kishore Kumaron 21st Aug 2002, 12:54am | Permalink
A exact meaning to a master piece with all elements of a perfect movie... Sharukh Aish are the best..
visually fantastic, story beautifully told, those who bug about it are obviously to thick to realise how beautiful and different this movie is to the run of the mill hindi love crap you see nowadays