April 24th, 2010

Devdas (1956)

Dilip Kumar in Devdas (1956)

Dilip Kumar in Devdas (1956)

Cast: Dilip Kumar, Suchitra Sen,Vyjanthimala, Motilal

Director: Bimal Roy

Music: S.D. Burman

Lyrics: Sahir Ludhianvi

Capsule Review: Bimal Roy’s faithful and fiercely intimate adaptation of Saratchandra Chatterjee’s classic tragedy about a self-absorbed hero who destroys his own happiness in pursuit of love, is leagues removed from P.C. Barua’s minimalist version in 1935 and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s flamboyant epic in 2002. Roy’s deep-focussed character study looks at Devdas Chatterjee (Dilip Kumar) as a narcissist whose self- absorbed romanticism destroys those very things that it loves, including himself. Kamal Bose’s exquisite black-and-white photography captures the essence of the theme. The sordid backlanes and gullies of Kolkata are recreated with the same mellow meticulousness as the unspoilt village where Devdas and Paro grow into love. More naturalistic than stylized, Bimal Roy’s Devdas conveys a quaint majest in its epic thrust.

Drama