DEVAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Honestly, I am not a movie savvy. But I have sat through all the kinds. They have all made me cry. Either they were too good or they were a torture!
One and only movie that I have literally assimilated every bit is DEVDAS; the third directed by SHRI SANJAY LEELA BHANSALI (note the SHRI). The legend has directed a couple of movies but never have I seen the same magic existing in any of his earlier or later works. One of the reasons why I look up to him is he could pull off the impossible act of getting the real actor out of SRK! I watched DEVDAS only and only for Aishwarya Rai (Ash). After I watched the movie, I couldn’t believe that it was a torture! I somehow felt guilty about it. The 2nd time I watched it on TV. It was bearable that time. It was the third time I watched the movie that something caught my attention…apart from Ash and those award winning songs!
Once we had a little discussion about the various versions of the movie in college. The first had K.I.Saigal in it. The second had the dream cast of those time,Vaijanthi mala, Suchitra sen and Dilip kumar (the first two are in black and white). The third version(2000)had the dream cast of today’s times, Aishwarya rai, Madhuri dixit and Sharukh khan. The fourth was DEV D(2009), the most contemporary version of DEVDAS.
My favorite professor SIMON expressed his views about them. He din’t find the Ash starrer catchy at all.

Aishwarya rai in DEVDAS

I beg to differ here.
I haven’t watched the first two versions but the last two were fantastic! DEV D is still a mystery to me yet I don’t have any idea why I loved it!

Ash was the reason I used to watch the movie. As I was an ardent admirer of hers, I used to go all ‘gaga’ about her beauty (all kinds) in the movie. While watching the trailers grabbing I would get excited every time she went ISHHHHH! But later, it struck me that there is something more than just Ash! What are they?
EVERYTHING. The colors used are just so vibrant and vast, you can never find them being used in such a collective form anywhere in this world! The dialogues are very thought provoking. Every act in the movie is constructed with importance to the detailing.

incredible chemistry

he says,"you will end up with a rich
but old man".

doing fake predictions

she says "poor you! You will never
get married!"

The song BAIRI PIYA is shot on the theme where SRK makes her we ar the precious bangle he has got for his love. The song has Ash and SRK playing, provoking anger and teasing each other. This is the ultimate CHEMISTRY two individuals can share! Not kissing and exposing and getting drenched for heaven’s sake! That’s VULGARITY…NOT CHEMISTRY! So as I was saying, this song has a teasing part, where SRK takes Ash’s palm and acts as if he can read her future. He tells her that she will be getting married to an old fellow and laughs off. Obviously Ash isn’t amused and reacts the same way. She tells him looking at his palm that he will never get married! It was very light and hilarious for them at that moment and both never realized that their fake predictions were to come true! These scenes are not something people observe when they watch the movie unless one is doing a thesis on it! (:P)
The sets represent the ‘larger than life’ kind of life back in those days. The lavish use of stain glass has helped achieve the magical and dreamy aura fit for the movie.
          

he smears the blood at the junction

she realises the MOMENT of her
marriage to him

he wipes off her blood

The other moving scene is between SRK and Ash again, just before she gets married to the old man. He hits her on her forehead with her beaded necklace as an outcome of her ego outburst. He doesn’t feel bad but he takes her in his arms and tries to get rid of the blood. Here is what one must pay attention! According to the traditional Indian wedding, the husband always smears the RED KUMKUM at the junction of his wife’s    hair partition and her forehead. To this day all HINDU Indian women smear the kumkum at the same junction. But as fashion has enslaved every individual in this earth, the wives do smear something red there…more like a red lipstick I would say! (:I). So it’s a conception that anything red smeared on this junction indicates that the woman is taken.
Now! When SRK wipes the blood off her forehead, he unconsciously smears some on the junction. So the scene silently tells us that they have become man and wife sans the heavy rituals! She does get married to the old man later, which shows her righteousness to her promise and her family.

the scar he gives her

the flame gets windy when Dev is
in his last stage of death

terminally ill Dev at Paro's gate

she gets the message of his condition
by getting hurt on the scar

The scar remains on her forehead as a symbol of SRK himself so when he gets terminally ill in the train; she actually gets hurt on the scar again hinting her about her lover’s state! The highlight of this movie is the lamp that represents the soul of Devdas (SRK). She starts lighting the lamp as a kid when Dev goes away to study law in London and returns 10 years later. She never lets the flame die. Even after she gets married to the old man, she still takes care of the FLAME. When DEV reaches the gates of her mansion almost dying, she runs towards him running wildly and crying DEVAAAA… The gates close at the right time preventing her to cross    the threshold and at the exact time Dev breathes his last breath and so does the lamp.

Paro runs to Dev's rescue

the flame dies with devdas

gate prevents her from crossing the
threshold

devdas dies the same moment the
flame dies

Symbols have played a huge role in the history almost everywhere in the world as they were in existence prior to the evolution of languages. The use of symbolism in this movie is very interesting, exciting and very engaging!
                                                    

Moon represents Paro (Ash) indicating the purity and the beauty.
Flame represents Dev’s soul which burns according to his condition (anger, sick etc..)
Scar on Paro’s forehead represents Dev himself.
These are some of the symbolism involved in this movie. Wish to discover more!
I am now forcing myself to stop and hey! Please don’t get me started about the music, the lyrics, the costumes and the choreography! I can literally make you feel sick with my hyper state!

Shahrukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Sanjay Leela Bhansali
at Cannes film festival 2002

All the sentiments and emotions in the movie are purely Indian which obviously enlightens about the whole CULTURE thing! The director has, through this movie, beautifully and intelligently merged all art forms on a single platform! No exaggerations intended but seriously if anyone sees me watching this movie, they would jump to conclusion that I am in a coma! I seriously cannot miss the slightest of the details because every time I watch the movie, I keep discovering new things. Every time it is an experience and a movie like this can never be recreated …even by the same director! He has not directed a movie but his own dreams and visions which is extremely tough because, in the process of making, so many changes can occur and force you to do so. But as legendary as he is, He has made his movie one too.