Devdas (1955)

Original title

देवदास

Directed by

Bimal Roy

Genre

drama film, romance film

Country

India

Runtime

2h 39m

Rating

6.0 of 10 from 27 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A wealthy man returns home after years away and finds his childhood love is now engaged to another. His grief and shame lead him into a downward spiral as he turns to alcohol and a courtesan's companionship.

melancholicromanticslow-burnvisually lushtragicearnestpoignantclassicalintense

What happens

Devdas is a 1955 Indian Hindi-language period drama film directed by Bimal Roy, based on the 1917 Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay novel Devdas. It starred Dilip Kumar in the title role, Suchitra Sen in her Bollywood debut as Parvati "Paro" and Vyjayanthimala in her first dramatic role as a tawaif named Chandramukhi. Motilal, Nazir Hussain, Murad, Pratima Devi, Iftekhar, Shivraj co-starred, along with Pran and Johnny Walker in extended cameo appearances. In 2005, Indiatimes Movies ranked the movie amongst the Top 25 Must See Bollywood Films. Bimal Roy's Devdas was also ranked at #2 on the University of Iowa's List of Top 10 Bollywood Films. The film was also noted for its cinematography and lighting by Kamal Bose. Forbes included Kumar's performance in the film on its list, "25 Greatest Acting Performances of Indian Cinema". Although Devdas was a moderate success at the box-office when initially released, partly due to its heavy themes, and the release of several Kumar's films around the same time including Azaad (1955), Uran Khatola (1955), and Insaniyat (1955), it found greater success in re-releases in subsequent years. The subsequent popularity of the film made the role one of Kumar's most famous. It is considered to be the best-known cinematic rendering of the novel. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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