Devdas

Devdas
Devdas  
Author(s) Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay
Country India
Language Bengali
Genre(s) Novella
Publisher GCS
Publication date 30 June 1917
Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback)
ISBN NA

Devdas (Bengali: দেবদাস, Debdash; Hindi: देवदास, Devdās) (also called Debdas) (1917) is a Bengali Romance novel by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. Essentially, it is a retelling of the Krishna, Radha, and Meera myths, the relationships between its three protagonists - Devdas, Parvati, and Chandramukhi - paralleling the Hindu deities'.

Contents

Plot summary

Devdas is a young man from a wealthy Bengali Brahmin family in India in the early 1900s. Paro (Parvati) is a young woman from a middle class Bengali family belonging to the “merchant” caste. The two families lived in a village in Bengal, and Devdas and Paro were childhood friends.

Devdas goes away for thirteen years to live and study in a boarding school in the city of Calcutta (now Kolkata). When, after finishing school, he returns to his village, Paro looks forward to their childhood love blossoming into their lifelong journey together in marriage. Of course, according to the prevailing social custom, Paro's parents would have to approach Devdas' parents and propose marriage of Paro to Devdas as Paro longed for.

When Paro's mother makes the proposal to Devdas' mother, the latter insults her, plainly saying that the marriage is not possible in view of her own higher caste and financial status. To demonstrate her own social status, Paro's mother then finds an even richer husband for Paro.

When Paro learns of her planned marriage, she stealthily meets Devdas at night, desperately believing that Devdas will quickly accept her hand in marriage. Devdas meekly seeks his parents' permission to marry Paro, but Devdas' father agrees with his wife.

In a weak-minded state, Devdas then flees to Calcutta, and from there, he writes a letter to Paro, saying that they were only friends. Within days, however, he realizes that he should have been bolder. He goes back to his village and tells Paro that he is ready to do anything needed to save their love.

By now, Paro's marriage plans are in an advanced stage, and she declines going back to Devdas and chides him for his cowardice and vacillation. She makes, however, one request to Devdas that he would return to her before he dies. Devdas vows to do so.

Devdas goes back to Calcutta and Paro is married off to the betrothed widower with children, who is still in love with his previous wife and is therefore not interested in an amatory relationship with Paro.

In Calcutta, Devdas' carousing friend, Chunnilal, introduces him to a courtesan named Chandramukhi. Devdas takes to heavy drinking at Chandramukhi's place, but the courtesan falls in love with him, and looks after him. His health deteriorates because of a combination of excessive drinking and despair of life—a drawn-out form of suicide. Within him, he frequently compares Paro and Chandramukhi, remaining ambivalent as to whom he really loves.

Sensing his fast-approaching death, Devdas returns to meet Paro to fulfill his vow. He dies at her doorstep on a dark, cold night. On hearing of the death of Devdas, Paro runs towards the door, but her family members prevent her from stepping out of the door.

The novella powerfully depicts the prevailing societal customs in Bengal in the early 1900s, which are largely responsible for preventing the happy ending of a genuine love story.

Film, TV, and theatrical adaptations

The novella has been made into a film in many Indian languages, including Bengali, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, and Assamese.[1][2][3]

Notable film versions of the novella include:

Year Title Language Director Cast Notes
Devdas Paro Chandramukhi
1927 Devdas (1927 film) Naresh Mitra Phani Sarma Tarakbala Niharbala/Miss Parul
1935 Devdas (1935 film) Bengali P.C. Barua P.C. Barua Jamuna Chandrabati Devi
1936 Devdas (1936 film) Hindi P.C. Barua K.L. Saigal Jamuna Rajkumari
1937 Devdas (1937 film) Assamese P.C. Barua Phani Sarma Zubeida Mohini
1953 Devdas (1953 film) Tamil and Telugu Vedantam Raghavaiah Akkineni Nageswara Rao Savitri Lalitha also known as "Devadasu"
1955 Devdas (1955 film) Hindi Bimal Roy Dilip Kumar Suchitra Sen Vyjayantimala
1965 Devdas (1965 film) Urdu Khawaja Sarfaraz Habib Taalish Nayyar Sultana Shamim Ara Pakistani film
1974 Devadasu (1974 film) Telugu Vijaya Nirmala Ghattamaneni Krishna
1979 Devdas (1979 film) Bengali Dilip Roy Soumitra Chatterjee Sumitra Mukherjee Supriya Choudhury also known as "Debdas"
2002 Devdas (2002 Bengali film) Bengali Shakti Samanta Prasenjit Chatterjee Arpita Pal Indrani Halder
2002 Devdas (2002 film) Hindi Sanjay Leela Bhansali Shahrukh Khan Aishwarya Rai Madhuri Dixit
2009 Dev.D Hindi Anurag Kashyap Abhay Deol Mahi Gill Kalki Koechlin a modern day and loosely-derived take on Devdas
2010 Devdas (2010 film) Iqbal Kasmiri Nadeem Shah Zara Shaikh Meera Pakistani film
2011 Devdas (2011 film) Bengali Chashi Nazrul Islam Shakib Khan Apu Biswash Moushumi Bangladeshi film

See also

Book collection.jpg Novels portal

References

  1. ^ Sharma, Sanjukta (June 7, 2008). "Multiple Takes: Devdas’s journey in Indian cinema -- from the silent era of the 1920s to the opulent Hindi blockbuster of 2002". Livemint. http://www.livemint.com/2008/06/05234329/Multiple-takes.html. Retrieved 2009-02-22. 
  2. ^ The Hindu : The immortal lover
  3. ^ Devdas phenomenon

1. http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/fr/2002/05/31/stories/2002053100950300.htm

External links


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