It really anoys me the people who are slagging off Devdas.
You may not love the film, but you can't say it is crap even if it wasn't perfect!

To those people who has dismissed the film as rubbish, I ask you how many films does Bollywood make a year? how many of those are any good? How many "try" to do something different or are of this scale?

Give Sanjay a break, the film isn't perfect but I'd watch 1 Devdas anyday rather then a hundred films of the like that Govinda for example helps churn out.

You have no complaints from me, I thought the film was very good and visually hunting.

Awaaz don't take this people seriously. Even Lagaan DCH which I think are perfect are criticized somewhere...

I guess I love Devdas because my favourite subject in school was literature...It might not have been a perfect film but why are we so unforgiving anyway?

DEVDAS - Cry me a river

» Posted by: Grady Hendrix , 07/14/2002, 09:44:57

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To find fault in DEVDAS is akin to hating Claudia Schiffer because she's beautiful. There's a lot of principled hatred that can be directed at her, and she may not be to everyone's taste, but on her own terms she works, and no one, except someone proving a point, could deny that she is gorgeous. India's latest version of its eternal love story, DEVDAS, is what it is and you can approach it on its own terms and love it, or hate it for what it isn't.
Simply put, DEVDAS is about Shah Rukh Khan, I mean Devdas, who returns from overseas to marry his childhood sweetheart, Aishwarya Rai (Parvati). Needless to say, this being a Bollywood movie, things turn out badly for everyone. Madhuri Dixit puts in an appearance as a courtesan who has decided that she needs to give pro bono love a chance, and the suddenly-pudgy but always solid Jackie Shroff appears as the free-living wastrel, Chunnilal. The characters of DEVDAS have become descriptive adjectives in South Asia (especially the holy trinity of Parvati, Devdas, and Chandramukhi) and it says something that India's national novel is all about masochism, and comeuppances, and lost chances, wasted time, and Things That Can't Be Changed.


But what of the movie? Imagine a crazed Douglas Sirk being possessed by the disembodied spirit of D.W. Griffith and directing a movie that is all climaxes and no slow spots. Imagine the weepiest movie ever made (the characters spend all their time spurtin' from their eyeholes) draped in gauze and reflected in a mirror seen through a silk screen and lit by a thousand candles. The opening of the movie had the audience howling with the scenery chewing courtesy of Dev's mom, and then we meet Paro's (Parvati's nickname) mom and things rose to a delirious height of self-parody. These two women played to the balconies and reduced the audience to helpless giggles. But things shaped up immediately afterwards with Parvati's entrance (courtesy of a musical number) and from there on we were on firm footing. Things rarely scaled those dubious heights again, but the entire movie exists on an elevated, stylized level and spontaneous nuclear theatrics were par for the course. It's high theatre and grand opera. It's as beautiful as a mirage, and at times as creaky as a melodrama. But melodramas work if you're willing to hold your nose and jump in.

Director Sanjay Leela Bhansali ordered the biggest sets to be constructed, the grandest costumes, the most exquisite lighting. He hired India's biggest stars, and called forth the most lavish production numbers. And then he crept into the middle of all this and directed his scenes with the utmost nuance and discretion. There's a lot to be said for good taste, and Sanjay Leela Bhansali has it. There's even more to be said for overwrought operatics that are delivered to the viewer filtered through a screen of good taste. That's what DEVDAS is. There are a few hollow moments, and a couple of bangs that fizzle - in a movie this sprawling how could there not be? But what strikes home strikes home hard. There's a sequence towards the end with Madhuri Dixit and Aishwarya Rai that is everything a Bollywood movie should be, and it will send goosebumps prickling across your eyeballs.


It's a rare pleasure these days to go sit in a movie theatre for three hours and watch a movie about beautiful people with beautiful clothes fall in love and suffer exquisitely, filled with singing and dancing. You may not love it, but what more can you ask for in a movie?



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...about DEVDAS being considered one of the cultural touchstones of India. If the movie is an accurate adaptation of the book, then what the heck is it so popular for? The crux of the story is Shah Rukh's immaturity. He wants to play hard-to-get and in doing so he trifles with Ash's feelings. Then when push comes to shove he gets so wrought up that he defies his family, and leaves her out of the picture entirely, thinking that the primary conflict is between himself and his dad. Storming off in a fit of rage against the pater, he forgets that the world doesn't just include himself and whatever he happens to be looking at at the time. Oh, no problem...Ash will be there when he wants her. He never once takes her life and her family into consideration, and when he comes back for her she's decided to move on. His burst of selfishness, his refusal to take anyone's feelings but his own seriously, is what makes her turn away from him. She gave him her heart, and he walked on it. Now she's just got her brain to give, and that's not what he's after.
Devdas/Shah Rukh Khan is a big nothing in the movie, a selfish manchild whose only redeming qualities come via the selfless love two women have for him. He's redemed by them, and he has nothing to offer them that they want, really. But, as Chandramukhi says, "Love isn't just about receiving, I want to give." or something to that effect. There's something very feminine about the movie that puts the positive emphasis on a self-less, devoted love that trickles down from these god-like women to a fallen and sinful man. That's ultimately what impressed me so much about the movie: its focus on a poetic, soft love and a feminized world was beautifully complemented by the music, the lush scenery, and the insubstantial clouds of romanticism that wafted through it all.
I didn't cry (much) during the film, but there's a lot to admire here. DEVDAS felt to me like a future classic, rather than a modern masterpiece. There was something timeless and poetic about it, yet a stubborn jagged weirdness to some of the scenes, that made me think that it will outlast us all and be around for future re-evaluation the way Douglas Sirk was only elevated to an "artistic" level in the 70's and 80's.

Loved the film.. IMO one can see this movie again due to its music and perfromances.. It is far from perfect but which bollywood film is?? if u have skyrocket expectations from a film you are bound to be dissapointed.. it is better than the crap we had to put up with over the last year or so... raaz is supposed to be the biggest hit of the year so far but is that even on level with devdas????? devdas is not perfect but neverthless it simply cannot cannot fall in the category of crap....

You can never satisfy everyone's expectations...there is always going to someone or some people who have to bitch and complain. ???

D:

:p

the critics just want to feel smart by trashing a film that the masses love.

"ooh, look at me! i'm a critic! i don't like movies that everyone else likes!"

i dont care what you say but lets be honest its ok to bash most movies but in general a shah rukh movie being bashed is like blasphemy to his fans....well i havent seen the film will watch it this week the likeliness is ill love it...but there are many people who are not liking the film at all and they are being told that they dont know how to watch a film and remarks of this kind......Come on people if people say Devdas is tripe then let them hold that opinion for not evryone like there biryani hot

dont try and question why someone thinks devdas is shit they hated it just as much as you liked it....

Devdas is just of the most beautiful and sophisticated piece of filmmaking I've ever seen. Its hard to hate a movie in which there are so many aspects to love. I mean if someone hates the story or the melodrama, fine - but its hard to not like the music or the exquisite cinematography. Even for the melodrama and theatrics, people wouldn't be so critical if they were talking about Shakespeare...

I hope, you are not hinting at “Devdas Screening Problems” thread. These are screening and film developing problems in many film prints, resulting in un-seeable (fantastic in good prints) cinematography that people are complaining about. I haven’t seen any negative comment about the movie from any one who got to see the good print.

I/We want to enjoy this beautiful film as well.

Rana



Edited By rana on July 16 2002 at 09:47

The larger the expectations, the great the criticism. Though SLB is one of the more self-indulgent directors in Bollywood. Aside from Khamoshi, both of his movies have been remakes. I was as excited about Devdas as most people. However, I will take the time to check it out with an open mind.

With open mind, and objectivity on! it will serve u the best!!
no classic/no masterpiece/great things going for it/worth a good watch on big screen(hopefully u see good print/ and can hear some good sounds too?
wish u luck! dude! thats what u need! when u are on mercy of eros!