Cinema
Devdas
দেবদাস
P. C. Barua · 1935
Synopsis
Devdas, the son of a landowner, and Parvati, known as Paro, the daughter of a poor neighbouring family, have grown up together and have loved each other since childhood. The difference in rank and caste forbids their marriage: Devdas is sent to Calcutta, while Paro is married to an elderly, wealthy widower. In Calcutta, eaten up by remorse, Devdas begins to drink and meets Chandramukhi, a courtesan.
Context
Drawn from the novel by Saratchandra Chattopadhyay, the film was released on 30 March 1935; Barua himself plays the role of Devdas, opposite Jamuna, and Bimal Roy was responsible for the photography. He then made a Hindi version with K. L. Saigal, followed by an Assamese version. The Indian prints are said to have perished in the fire at New Theatres in 1940; the only one known, in the archives of Bangladesh, is cut by nearly forty per cent, and a digital copy has been handed over to the Indian archives.
Who it is for
An incomplete print in Bengali, in which one jumps from one scene to another where the film stock is missing.
Prizes and reception
The role of the weak, self-destructive hero, fixed by this film and its Hindi version, has become a cult figure, endlessly taken up by Indian cinema.
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