…………………………………………………

Devdas Movie Review

Devdas is a 2002 Bollywood romance film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and starring Shah Rukh Khan. It’s a familiar story that is so well told.

………………………………………………….

“Such vanity?

Not even the Moon is as vain“

…………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………..

The titular character cannot marry the woman he loves as she is rejected by his family on the ground of “immoral” background. Eventually, he turns to alcohol while developing a relationship with a courtesan. So basically, this is some sort of a mix between Romeo and Juliet and ‘A Star Is Born’ in its overall story. That made the film far from original and certainly most of its plot beats were very predictable. The plot is by far the weakest aspect to this film.

The first act is so great that the rest of it came as a genuine disappointment for me. The romance is so damn charming at first, so playful and truly affecting. The humor is at its best in this part of the film too. Its lightweight approach worked wonders to make it hugely entertaining and endearing. But then, the film turned into a regular love triangle, and the familiar beats made it highly predictable and much less engaging to follow.

Let’s talk about the characters. Though seemingly archetypal at first, each and every one is so well developed due to strong, careful characterization and superb acting performances. Devdas himself is quite likable and Shah Rukh Khan’s performance is so strong, though his looks aren’t as great as the plot demanded.

…………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………..

The women, though, are the standouts here. The mothers are excellent, the granny is so much fun and of course both Parvati and Chandramukhi are fantastic, both so well realized and their relationships with him are fantastic. Aishwarya Rai is wonderful in the role as she seems like a real princess while Madhuri Dixit herself is superb handling the film’s most dramatic, most moving segments. The acting throughout is undeniably impressive.

Devdas is above all else a technical marvel to behold. This movie is a work of epic proportions. It’s thus a feast for the eyes. The cinematography is terrific, but the costumes are magnificent. They are so colorful and so sumptuous. Add to that the abundant jewelry at display and the rich architecture with gorgeous, massive mansions and amazing interiors and you’ve got opulence unlike no other.

As a result of that, this is your typical Bollywood spectacle for better and for worse. Everybody is beautiful in their looks and the visuals are mesmerizing. I also adored some more artistic flourishes, in particular the more romantic scenes that are accompanied by gorgeous imagery such as water, fountains, the night sky and so on. Again, a couple of scenes in the first act are just incredibly sensual and sweet. I wanted more humor, but the bits that we got are terrific for sure.

…………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………..

However, despite the film being a feast for the eyes, I actually did not care for its score. Well, the score is solid, but the soundtrack is really not all that impressive. It’s simply not memorable at all. And yes, Bollywood musical numbers come and go whenever they please, but in this instance they were too disconnected from the plot, even for Bollywood standards. So in the end, Devdas was a huge hit with Indian audiences and it remains a staple for the country’s output, but even though I liked it, I still found it inferior to many other much better Indian films.

Despite a very typical plot with many familiar beats, an inferior second half and a forgettable soundtrack, Devdas is still a hugely entertaining Bollywood production that benefits from well developed characters, uniformly superb acting performances and a sweetly romantic first act. The sumptuous costumes and luxurious interiors led to a suitably opulent, grandiose viewing experience.

My Rating – 3.5

You can get Devdas on Amazon.