Synopsis
Devdas (Saigal) falls in love with Parvati
(Jamuna) with whom he has played since childhood
and who is the daughter of a poor neighboring
family. Devdas goes away to Calcutta for
University studies. Meanwhile Parvati's
father arranges her marriage to a much older
man. Though she loves Devdas, she obeys
her father to suffer in silence like a dutiful
Hindi wife. Devdas as a result takes to
drink. Chandramukhi (Rajkumari) a dancing
girl or 'prostitute' he has befriended in
Calcutta falls for him and gives up her
profession to try and save him. Parvati
hearing of his decline comes to see him
to steer him away from a life of drinking.
Devdas sends her back saying in the hour
of final need he will come to her. She returns
to her life of duty. Realising his end is
near, Devdas decides to keep his promise
and meet Parvati. He journeys all night,
reaches her house and is found dead outside
the high walls of her house. Inside Parvati
hears that Devdas is dead.
The film
Devdas, based on a popular Bengali
novel by Sarat Chandra Chatterjee revolutionized
the entire look of Indian social pictures.
Rather than just translate one medium to
another, PC Barua
used the novel as just raw material, creating
his own structure and transforming what
was purely verbal into an essentially visual
form. Avoiding stereotypes and melodrama,
Barua raised the film to a level of noble
tragedy. The film's characters are not heroes
and villains but ordinary people conditioned
by a rigid and crumbling social system.
Even the lead character Devdas has no heroic
dimensions to his character. What we see
are his weaknesses, his narcissism, his
humanity as he is torn by driving passion
and inner-conflict.
The
film was a complete departure from the then prevalent theatricality
in acting, treatment and dialogue. Barua initiated a style
of acting that was natural and unaffected. His method was
to underplay, to convey emotion through the slightest tremor
of the voice and use significant pauses in between the dialogue
to maximum effect. This naturalness of tone spilled over to
the dialogue as well. Rather than dialogue in a florid style
as was prevalent then, Barua who had been exposed to European
naturalistic trends ensured the dialogue in the film was the
way in which one spoke in real life.
A refreshing economy of style is visible
throughout the film, whether establishing
the love between Devdas and Parvati or conveying
his anguish through the piercing sounds
of the speeding train that takes him on
his final tragic tryst with Parvati. The
great physical distance that separates them
and Devdas anxiety to redeem a promise is
skillfully conveyed through stunning use
of parallel cutting.  The sequence of Devdas
crying out in delirium, Parvati stumbling
and then Devdas falling from his berth in
the train was commended for its essential
'Indianness' in conveying fate's domination
over individual destiny.
KL Saigal played
Devdas in the Hindi version (Barua himself
played the role in the Bengali version)
and the film took him to cult star status.
His songs in the film Balam Aaye Baso
Mere Man Mein and Dukh ke Din Ab
Beete Nahin became smash hits and set
the tone for a glorious filmic career till
his death in 1947. Saigal remains the prototype
of Devdas till today, no mean feat considering
screen giants such as Dilip
Kumar, A Nageshwara Rao and Soumitra
Chatterjee repeated the role later.
Devdas established Barua as a front
rank filmmaker and New Theatres as a major
studio. The Bombay Chronicle hailed it as,
"…a brilliant contribution to
the Indian Film Industry. One wonders as
one sees it when shall we have another."
Barua went on to produce numerous popular
films but was always referred to as the
man who made Devdas right till his
dying day!
Devdas has been remade a number
of times, New Theatres remade it in Tamil
in 1936, it was made twice in Telegu in
1953 and 1974 but the most famous subsequent
version was perhaps the one by Bimal Roy
who had photographed the earlier version.
The film, made in 1955, starred Dilip Kumar,
Suchitra
Sen and Vyjayantimala
as Devdas, Parvati and Chandramukhi respectively.
The undercurrent of Devdas runs strong
in the central character in both of Guru Dutt's
major works - Pyaasa (1957)
and Kaagaz ke
Phool (1959).
With the moving times even though the character
of Devdas who drank himself to death for
love became outdated and archaic, and modern
heroes now did everything in their power
to get their love, filmmakers kept returning
to Devdas. Writer - Director Gulzar
who began as a lyricist in Bimal Roy's Bandini
(1963) started his own version of the
film in the 1970s with Dharmendra,
Hema Malini
and Sharmila Tagore in the three lead roles
but was unable to complete it and and Sanjay
Leela Bhansali's version of the film, made
in 2002 with Shah
Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri
Dixit in the three lead roles is a huge
disapointment - a wasteful extravaganza
which is contrived, garish, loud and melodramatic
with illusions about grandeur.
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