Devdas: A tale of tragedy
When there is love between two people and it cannot be fully embraced and rejoiced it is called tragedy. Either that be due to the circumstances placed upon them or the delusion of disbelief one has about their love, it is nevertheless a tragedy. This tale, and of tragedy is beautifully portrayed in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s romantic film Devdas.
A tale of love which revolves around a man named Devdas and his childhood lover Paro, and upon his disarray into alcoholism, the courtesan he stumbles upon Chandhramukhi. There are many other crucial characters and acts in the film, but in this piece I intend to primarily focus on these three.
Devdas and Paro were childhood friends, this friendship grew into a deep love. Both of them loved each other selflessly, especially Paro. This can be seen through the lamp that she lit for Devdas, which she kept kindled up until Devdas’s demise. But because Devdas’s father rejected their love, and his mother was manipulated by Kumud, Devdas’s sister-in-law to be against their relationship, it forced them to separate. This led to Devdas to run away from his home and in the intensity of the situation to write a letter to Paro expressing that the love between them was nothing more than childishness. Which caused Paro to fall into extreme sadness and compelled her to bury her feelings for Devdas and marry an aristocrat. However Devdas returned to Paro upon realizing the grave mistake he had made and apologized to her and wanted to marry her then and there. Nonetheless it was too late, Paro was preparing to marry the aristocrat. Despite the fact that Paro still loved Devdas and she was in pain because of it, she felt betrayed by Devdas which she expressed, her pride had been raised because of the humiliation faced at the hands of Devdas’s family thus she spoke in an arrogant tone with eyes filled with tears. Devdas, again in the intensity of it all, provoked harm unto Paro by hitting her. Regardless, they both spent the last moments they had with each other, reminiscing their past memories all in vain. Paro had to go away and Devdas helped to carry the palanquin she was in.
Devdas, now having completely lost Paro, succumbed to anguish and sorrow and went off wandering. Amidst this endeavor he came across a brothel.
In the brothel resided the infamous courtesan Chandhramukhi, whom upon their first meeting fell completely in love with Devdas. Devdas on the other hand did not reciprocate this love. He kept his distance and insults Chandhramukhi for being a courtesan, he goes as far as not even letting Chandhramukhi touch him. Chandhramukhi puts up with him, she saves and shelters Devdas when he goes on a drinking rampage and ends up on the streets, despite it all Devdas still rejects her. Although he does go see Chandhramukhi when she is dancing in her court, which could be an indication of love. Upon hearing news of Devdas’s state, Paro visits him, hoping to coerce him out of it. It pains her to see him in such a state. But he is stubborn and refuses to give up drinking.
Soon both Paro and Chandhramukhi meet and they establish a deep friendship between each other with their shared love for Devdas. It is important to clarify that even Paro hurdled insults towards Chandhramukhi, she also didn’t let Chandhramukhi touch her feet. However she does invite Chandhramukhi to her home as a friend and they celebrated the festival together.
Time passes, and Devdas and Chandhramukhi even grow close with each other, They bond while talking about Paro. It is only now that Devdas starts expressing affection towards Chandhramukhi. Devdas’s health starts declining rapidly, and knowing he has little time left he departs to fulfill his promise to Paro, that is that he will die on her doorstep, and he does so. Leaving a crushed Paro to have to live with regret and a Chandhramukhi unbeknownst of Devdas’s fate. (it is only speculated that Chandhramukhi never learned of it)
The aforementioned cases of tragedy can be taken away from the relationship Devdas has with Paro and Chandhramukhi. Devdas’s family is the barrier in between his love with Paro, this is a circumstance that Devdas did not rebel against but rather succumbed to.
He accepted his fate and destroyed himself in it. Paro was helpless and betrayed, so even she accepted it and looked for ways to overcome it. She found a solution yet it wasnt one that did justice to Devdas and her, anything it did was come in between whatever love that they had. Which can be seen when Devdas is taking his last breath and Paro is restricted from seeing him by her husband. Which shatters her for her lifetime.
The case of being in disbelief can be seen between Chandhramukhi and Devdas, when Chandramukhi loved Devdas whole heartedly all he ever did was push her away. It is not certain if he did this in order to not inflict harm or hurt Chandhramukhi because of the distressed and damaged self he had become. Or if he was truly in disbelief about whatever love he had for Chandhramukhi and did not want to cheat or betray Paro. Still, nearing the end Devdas did convey love towards Chandhramukhi. Their relationship wasn’t as strong or grounded as what Devdas had between Paro, mainly because it was one sided. A common theory is that at the end Devdas did love Chandhramukhi and only went to see Paro as a duty he had to fulfill for her.
Suffice to say, the tales that were portrayed in this cinematic masterpiece were nothing less than tragedies. From Devdas to Paro or Chandhramukhi, this brilliance of a film executes these stories in ways that provoke emotions. The cinematography is also what completes the story and what adds to the already tragic tale. Devdas is truly a magical and a melancholic masterpiece. But most of all a tragedy.
