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DEVDAS - (Reviewed By Komal Nahta)

Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Music: Ismail Darbar
Lyrics: Nusrat Badr
Producer: Bharat Shah
Starring: Shah Rukh, Madhuri Dixit, Jackie Shroff & Aishwarya Rai

RATING: 8/10

Blow the conch-shells. Beat the drums. Open the champagne bottles. Raise a toast to Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Devdas has arrived and how!

The legendary love tale, penned years ago by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay and adapted by Prakash Kapadia and Sanjay Leela Bhansali, strikes you like lightning. If it is visually breathtaking, its story and screenplay also leave you gasping for breath. If the costumes and jewellery of the characters in the film cast a magical spell on you, their performances leave you spell-bound. If the background score fills your ears with sounds that tell a hundred tales, the dialogues (Prakash Kapadia) mesmerise you and haunt you for hours after you've left the theatre. If the film's opulence and sets make you pinch yourself in disbelief, the narrative leaves you open-monthed and tongue-tied.
The romance of the age-old story appears lily-fresh.

The tragedy of the romance sweeps you off your feet and often draws tears from your eyes. Some sequences are so masterly and heart-wrenching that you clap in appreciation, may be crying at the same time. Note, for instance, the scene in which Paro's (Aishwarya Rai's) mother (Kiron Kher) breaks down emotionally when told by Devdas' (Shah Rukh Khan's) mother (Smita Jayakar) that the two can't get married. The dialogues, the performance, the taking, the background score - the entire sequence could shake a dead person back to life! Or, take a look at the scene in which tawaif Chandramukhi (Madhuri Dixit) slaps one of her clients (Milind Gunaji) in full view of his family. The slap hits you like crazy!

Mega Bollywood P. Ltd.'s Devdas is the story of three characters - Devdas, Paro and Chandramukhi. The childhood friendship of Devdas and Paro blossoms into ethereal romance but the class differences and Devdas' parents play the proverbial spoke in the wheel. Paro is married off to a rich widower leading to a dejected Devdas taking to the bottle. He tries to find solace in tawaif Chandramukhi's kotha, but can neither forget Paro nor give up drinking. Ultimately, Devdas drinks himself to death, having failed in love.

The orignal story by Sarat Chandra has emotions to wrench the heart. Its adaptation and the dialogues further accentuate the dramatic effect and draw tears in at least five scenes. For the women audience, the film is a tear-jerker all the way. The first half is fast-paced and full of brilliant moments. Even clichéd scenes have been lent touches of novelty. The scene in which Paro's mother is insulted by Devdas' mother and the former's emotional outburst thereafter, is the high point of the first half. The masses and the families will go berserk with joy at the utterances of Paro's mother. Yet another emotional high comes at the interval point when Paro's mother, triumphant after her daughter's marriage, blows the conch and proclaims that Devdas and her mother would be doomed from then on. Of course, besides these dramatic scenes, there are light, emotional and romantic scenes which touch the heart oh so often. The grandeur and the film's canvas are to be seen to be belived.

The pace drops in the second half and the film becomes a bit class-appealing at places. But this half, too, has sequences that mesmerise the masses and classes alike. The entire lengthy climax, with minimal dialogues, has such an overpowering impact on the audiences that they are on the edge of their seats all through it.

Songs are surefire hits and at least four of them - 'Dola man dola', 'O piya', 'Ishhh' and 'Maar daala' - are extraordinary. The other songs are very tuneful and picturisations of all the numbers are absolutely heavenly. 'Kahe chhedh chhedh' is not so good.

Shah Rukh Khan is mindblowing as Devdas. He plays his character with such finesse and aplomb that it is sheer delight to watch him. He evokes the right kind of emotions in the viewers' hearts, never once going overboard. He looks splendid and mesmerises the audience with his acting in many scenes. As a man madly in love, he proves that there could have been no better choice than him for the role.

Madhuri Dixit gets lesser scope among the two heroines but her performance as the tawaif is first-rate. She may have looked slightly less fresh but her acting more than makes up for that. Her emotional and dramatic scenes and her dances in particular are just too fantastic. Her confrontation scene with Aishwarya Rai is emotionally extraordinary.

Aishwarya Rai looks like an angel. Her beauty stuns the viewer. Her acting also is just too splendid. It is difficult to imagine any other actress in the role of Paro. In one word, she is extraordinary.

If there's anybody who leaves a lasting impression on the audience, besides the three principal artistes, it is Kiron Kher. As Paro's mother, she delivers a performance that will go down in history as par excellence. So wonderful is she that her absence in a good part of the second half is sorely felt. One has heard of scenes being deleted from films after their release, but the makers in this case should seriously consider adding a couple of scenes of Kiron Kher in the second half (there may be plenty of them in the edited portions). It will add to the box-office prospects of the film.
Jackie Shroff is cute and his typical dialogues will go down well with the masses. Smita Jayakar is effective. Preeti (Ananya) Khare deserves distinction marks. Milind Gunaji leaves a mark. Vijayendra Ghatge, Dina Pathak, Manoj Joshi, Tiku Talsania, Apara Mehta, Jaya Bhattcharya and the rest of the cast, all lend good support.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali has made a classic. The film is poetry on celluloid. Visually very, very rich, it is also emotionally very strong. Sanjay's shot-takings are fantastic, his narration is splendid. The director's understanding of the cinema medium is masterly and his treatment of a legendary love tale is fresh as ever. In one word, the man is a GENIUS.

Ismail Darbar's music, as mentioned above, is very good and the film's songs are bound to further grow in popularity. Nusrat Badr's lyrics are rich. Song picturisations (Pt. Birju Maharaj, Saroj Khan, Vaibhavi Merchant and Pappu Mallu) are fantastic.

Binod Pradhan's camerawork is just too terrific. Nitin Chandrakant Desai's sets are rich and completely eye-filling. Costumes (Abu-Sandeep, Neeta Lulla and Reza Sharifi) will be talked about for months to come. Editing (Bela Segal) is brilliant.

Production values are grander than one can imagine. Money has been spent like water! What's great is that every rupee spent shows on the screen.

On the whole, Devdas is a surefire blockbuster. It has repeat value too. Ladies and family audiences will flock the cinemas from the 4th day onwards. While classes will love the film, masses too will not lag far behind. Not only will its distributors mint money but its producer is also bound to recover his heavy deficit (of around Rs. 12 to 14 crore) from the crores he will get by way of overflow. Not just in India but in Overseas too, the legendary love tale is all set to become 2002's legend.

RELEASE DATE: 12th July 2002

REVIEWED BY KOMAL NAHTA