Archives

Chattopadhyay's tragic love story drowns in the baroque, bejewelled world of Bhansali.

by Prasad Abu Bakr

Now that dust has settled over its major success world-wide and mostly after its triumphant appearance at the 48th Filmfare awards festival, concluded recently, Sanjay Leela Bhansali's remake of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel 'Devdas' calls for closer scrutiny.

Its total impact can be described simply as 'deafening'. 'Devdas' began to woo the world since its venerable appearance at the Cannes film festival on the invitation of its jury.

Speculations that it was to gain entry into the foreign language category of the Oscar nominations added more prestige to its already hyped status but it must be admitted that 'Devdas' lived-up to all the hype that surrounded it since its initial stages of production. The only reality that prevailed in the end is the fact that it was the most expensive Indian movie ever made. It never made it to the Oscars and its mobility to make a haul of awards at the recent Filmfare awards festival had given rise to major questions as to its popularity at the theatres.

It is very evident that the movie was produced with a view of adding value to India's already competitive commercial cinema and not with an intention of bringing forward a classical master-piece.

As a result 'Devdas' merely fell in competition with lesser products rather than being able to secure a place within the brackets of classical cinema which its 1955 production by Bimal Roy managed to secure. Bhansalis 'Devdas' lacked a lot of features in comparison to its 1955 counterpart and putting itself in a position to be compared to an earlier re-make places today's re-product in a vulnerable position. Uncompared, the actors managed to perform at their best. Shah Rukh Khan as Devdas gives a memorable performance but it must be mentioned that over-exposure of his style in his award winning performances in the past sub-dues the effect.

Aishwaraya Rai hasn't done any better than her earlier award wining performance. In yet another Bhansali film, 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam' for which she won the best actress in 1999, her enacting of Paro is further challenged by the appearance of Madhuri Dixit who plays Chandramukhi with such ease and exuberance, the strength she filters through into the character she plays almost over-shadows the role of the heroine. Technically the film excels in areas such as cinematography by Binod Pradkan excellently designed sets and backdrops seems to overcrowd scenes that are emotionally charged.

However it is evident that Bhansali has managed to capture hearts of his audience that is unconsciously swung into a dream-world of song, dance and music. Eventhough 'grandeur' is the order of the day in most Bombay-based productions 'Devdas' seemed to be totally fitting into the frame of grandiose the director placed it upon. The film has gone down well with local audiences to whom such excesses are a rarity within their home grown-products. Side stepping the glamour aspect and looking into the core of its theme, which what Bimal Roy's version centre around, the film succeeds in captivating your mind.

The players, specially Shah Rukh Khan manages to capture a focal point within your visual territory with his captivating performance. If one takes into account his appearance at the tail end of the movie to-gether with Aishwaraya Rai's sweeping exit towards having a glimpse of her child-hood friend and life-time lover, sound of the horse-carriage and the final thump of the large wooden gates separating Paro from her last glimpse of a dying Devdas closes upon the viewer as a rarity not only as a spectacular end but for its unusual climax in comparison to many Hindi films that always end up on a happy note. 'Devdas' is a colossal moment in blockbuster movie entertainment that should not be missed.

The film is currently screened at Savoy Theatre.

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries |

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager