Devdas

Director/Screenwriter - Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Stars - Shahrukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Aishwarya Rai
Skewed


Wow. This is the most impressive Bollywood film I've seen yet. It's nearly perfect in every way. It's gorgeous and has tons of beautiful women. Lots and lots of music.....and....it's really, really, really long.

The plot is that Devdas (Shahrukh Khan) has been in love with his next door neighbor, Paro (Aishwarya Rai), since childhood. Because he comes from a family of landlords and she belongs to a lower caste, his family forbids him to marry her. In anger, he leaves the house, eventually joining himself to a prostitute (Madhuri Dixit) and taking up residence in her quarters. The main problem is...he cant stop drinking and crying. Truthfully, a third of the way through I was talking to the TV, saying, "Enough already! Just give it up and go on with your life!" There is a scene in which he asks a priest to perform last rites and wades out into the water. Although I knew it wouldnt happen, I found myself hoping he would just die. (This is the only reason I marked the movie "Skewed". Otherwise, it would have been "Legit".)


It isnt that Khan is a bad actor. Devdas is just a nozzle. In this country we'd have locked him away. Twice he set the house on fire. He tried to commit suicide. He smacked his "true love" in the face with a necklace on her wedding night, leaving a scar on her forehead that will never go away. The guy is obviously self-absorbed and demented. The alcohol doesnt help. Despite all this, he's still regarded as if he were someone important and special.


At this moment, I have to say that there is no more beautiful woman on screen than Aishwarya Rai. Her popularity is not hard to understand, as she is also considered one of the best actresses India has to offer. Her performance in Devdas highlights this very well. One thing that must be kept in mind, though, when considering actors in Bollywood, is that they must dance. For Aishwarya, this seems very natural. The truth is, acting for her seems more like a series of poses. I remember hearing someone say that directors had to discipline themselves to resist doing too many close-ups of Hedy Lamarr. Perhaps that's the way it is with A.R. Bollywood, though, doesnt seem to mind.


Before I leave you with the impression that I'm about to form a US chapter of the Aishwarya Rai fanclub, let me relieve your fears. Madhuri Dixit is nearly flawless. She's easily as beautiful as Rai, and her dancing is fabulous. I think her performance in this film is superior to Rai's, but that's for you to decide.


As Paro, Rai wrings everything out of her character. She's vain, yet unfulfilled. We have no trouble at all believing that she is all out in love with this man. When she is coy, it's convincing. Even as the step-mother to someone about her own age, she plays it well.


Dixit gives us a treat as the prostitute, Chandramukhi. She is stunningly beautiful and approaches her character without the darkness that might have been tempting to an American actress. In the film, she leaves active prostitution to pursue her love for Devdas. Although it is fruitless, she believes that he will one day love her, too. She tends to his continual self-destruction and somehow loves him anyway. Although the character isnt so faceted as Rai's, she is still very complex and engaging.


A thing that interests me is how Bhansali brings such a provocative subject to the screen and yet keeps it completely free of nudity or impropriety. This is typical of Bollywood films. Although the subject matter may be controversial, the morality of the product is never in question.


Here's a clip of the Aishwarya and Madhuri together in a long dance number, Dola Re Dola, from Devdas. It's incredible.
(Click on the HD button - lower right - then click it to full screen!)


NOTE: There used to be an embedded YouTube clip here, but it's now unavailable in this country due to copyright restrictions. Sorry...



The beginning of this sequence was the scene I mentioned earlier. Just watching it again I was thinking, "Die! Die!"


If you're wondering why Chandramukhi and Paro are dancing together, it's that Paro is performing some kind of ceremony that requires dirt from a brothel's doorway. She invited Chandramukhi because she's sooo happy that Devdas has someone to care for him. As they're dancing, they sing about their secret shared love for this pathetic loser.


The sinister looking character is the brother of Paro's new husband. He's also a frequent customer at the brothel where Chandramukhi works. The end of this clip is where he exposes her and the secret that she shares with Paro. Because of this, Paro is prohibited from ever leaving the grounds of her husband's estate. This proves most tragic in the end.


In all, I'd recommend this movie to anyone who is interested in Bollywood, or who enjoys musicals. It's vibrant and energetic, certainly entertaining, in some ways thought provoking, informative for the Westerner as to Indian customs and tradition, but most of all...it's just a lot of fun (with the exception of Devdas himself).