MovieChat Forums > Devdas (2002) Discussion > Has anyone else read the book? And if s...

Has anyone else read the book? And if so, are you confused?

posted 16 years ago by roseytrebles
20 replies | jump to latest

Hi everyone,
I was just wondering if anyone else here has read the original story "Devdas", because I did a few weeks ago and I have to admit that it left me completely baffled. This is, I suppose, a matter of opinion, but I always felt that the movie pushed the idea of Paro being Devdas's "one true love," so to speak, and the one that he loves most passionately and until the end; after all, the slogan on the official website is something about "one woman whom he could never love, and another whom he could never stop loving", etc. Even the summary on the back of the book that I got said the same thing, and the introductory essay by the translator also said the same thing. She even compared Devdas to the legend of Krishna, Radha, and Mira, which theory I had heard before too and really liked (plus there are references to all three in the song lyrics of the movie). Anyway, though, when I read the book I was totally baffled by the ending because it really seemed to me like the author favored Chandramukhi! And I mean "favored Chandramukhi" in the sense that in the end Devdas seems to pick her over Paro. There's that whole part about how Devdas envisions them both side by side, until eventually he thinks of Chandramukhi more than Paro (he compares his love for Paro to a flickering candle that's about to go out). And when he's in the wagon trying to get to Paro in time, it's not Paro he's thinking about--it's Chandramukhi, and how much he's going to miss her. At this point he thinks of Paro as "more than a sister" in his mind, and then it's something like, "...and then there was Chandramukhi." And he thinks of her and cries most of all, imagining her alongside of his mother, etc. And of course he also tells her that "of course" he loves her, and calls her "wife," and says that in the afterlife if they meet he'll never be able to part from her (as opposed to the "renounce" that the movie's subtitles use.)

In the movie when Devdas tells Chandramukhi that he loves her, I always got the sense that it was more that he was accepting her love for him, and accepting that she had tried to help him and he'd treated her like scum before--and, yes, he does love her, but more as a friend or a mother, or at any rate not in the same way that he'll always love Paro. And he doesn't let her save him either, or even want her to let her, because he just leaves. Everyone that I've ever seen this movie with (and...cough...I've seen it a lot) has also gotten this sense from the scene, pretty much automatically. This scene in the book kind of has the same feel too, but then the ending when he's about to die...gosh. I just don't know. But if he does go for Chandramukhi, I don't know why he keeps on drinking and stops letting her take care of him. He does promise her as well that he'll come to her if he feels unwell, but he never does that and goes to Paro instead (though even there it feels like he's doing it more just because he promised). It could be, I guess, that when he thinks of Chandramukhi and cries at the end it's because he realizes that she represents the life he still could have had if he ever could have gotten over Paro--the wife that he could have loved, sort of, but not in the same way. He tells her very straightforwardly in a letter that he doesn't think he should love again, and also says that he never did love again, "or at least not willingly." Which I don't think counts at all. Anyway the whole thing left me really flummoxed and disturbed and also feeling kind of crazy, since it seems that all (or most) also go with this interpretation of Devdas always loving Paro, of it being this eternal love story of star-crossed lovers, but I got such a different sense from the book...I'm more than willing to agree with the world on this since I've always rooted for Paro, while Chandramukhi represents a classically unrequited love, but I'm obviously really confused. I don't think that this has any effect on the movie though, because I really think that they have this view too; it's just the book that has me baffled, and I'd love to hear thoughts from anyone else who has read it. (Or anyone who has read this post, since I've practically transcribed the whole book by this point.) Maybe it's a matter of culture, or translation, or perspective that I'm just missing. Maybe Devdas himself doesn't really realize what he feels. Or maybe it's just me; I have a terrible tendency, whenever I want to see a movie or a book a certain way, to become immediately convinced that my way can't be right.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] roseytrebles 16 years ago

Hahah yeah I know, the more of Shah Rukh’s movies that I watch, the more I find that almost all of them have some complication that bothers me and that I have to analyze, and Dilwale Dulhania is one blissful exception. Although even then…cough…I kind of wonder whether Raj really would have just given up on Simran if her father had said no. But probably not, right? He might have taken a pause, but no. Probably not. I’m trying to think if there’s literally any one that I’ve seen where absolutely nothing made me a little uneasy…plus he dies in so many of them…Swades, maybe, but no! Even in that one I feel just a little bit sad that—oh no wait, I won’t say. If you haven’t seen it then I don’t want to ruin it. Well I can’t think of any so DDLJ is probably the winner; it’s such a great movie.

Anyhow I think you’re absolutely right about Devdas the film because I never got that sense from it either—and I mean, not only does he die saying “Paro,” then there’s that voice-over where he’s like, “Let’s go…” or “Come on…” something like that. Though for some reason the subtitles leave that part out. I probably will have trouble getting much of a response on this one, but at any rate it felt kind of healing just to type out all of my worries. I even made a Devdas-Paro fan video to reassure myself on this. And when I say I’m American I really am just American American, specifically of Irish-German origin; I live in North Carolina but I’m originally from California. I actually don’t know too many Indian people, but I love Indian cinema and Indian culture so I’ve come to know some things about it—not nearly enough, though, and I’m always still learning. I do know some other Americans like me who like it all too, though, so there is that, and my little sister is in on it as well. And I’m afraid I really did/do just say “gosh”--I guess I’m kind of old-fashioned at times…but now that I’m thinking about it I tend to use it in writing more than in actual speech. So anyhow, what about you? Are you from Philadelphia originally?

Ah, I’ve just thought of one—Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa. I mean once you accept that the girl is totally nuts. Though actually then…oh good grief. But no no, I will not let that one thing bother me. It's just too ridiculous.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] roseytrebles 16 years ago

Thanks so much for the suggestions--I have seen Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, and really loved them both even though they're such different movies. I haven't seen any of the others you listed though because, as you might have guessed, I've been basically just watching a lot of Shahrukh--so I'm grateful for the suggestions because I have been wanting to branch out a bit! And yeah, I agree; I think that SRK is really underrated in general and targeted for playing only a certain type of role, when he has managed to do some very different things, and do them very well, throughout his career--that is, from what I've seen and/or heard about. I totally loved him in Darr and Baazigar (Sunny drove me absolutely crazy in Darr...SRK was so much more charming even though he was--ehm--crazy), though I haven't seen "Anjaam" yet...I hear he's a good villian in that one too. And he was great in Chak de India and Don too, definitely...I thought he also was really excellent in Dil Se too, even though that movie seriously messed with my head. I've heard that Yess Boss and Pardes are some other "non-SRK" type roles that he's done, but I haven't seen them yet. Also I just saw Paheli and totally loved it, and his performance too. There's only one theater around here that plays any Bollywood movies, and also only one video store that rents them out (which is quite nice--though, sadly, the videos are often bootlegged, or don't work, or have sketchy subtitles), but I guess it suffices. I just went with some friends to see "Race" and "One Two Three" shortly thereafter, which seemed bizzarre when put together. And you know, now that I'm thinking about it--I"m changing topics entirely--I bet that in DDLJ he wouldn't have ultimately given up on Simran. He seemed so convinced even as the train was leaving that she was going to come to him--almost like he hadn't even considered giving up. This could be because had such huge respect for her family and her father, though--which I think, just from what I've seen, is one attribute that Indian culture seems to have over the American way. Or it's just different, at any rate. I'm sure you'd have much more insight into that than me though-- obviously!

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] roseytrebles 16 years ago

Yeah I know, it would be cool to see SRK in a Hollywood movie--but in a way I think it's also cool that he's stayed in India and helps Indian cinema gain recognition. And if Hollywood hasn't offered him anything, so much the worse for them. They can be such snobs anyways about letting Indian movies into the Foreign Films category of the Oscars...I think Devdas should have been put in the category for sure, but I heard that they screened it for the Academy late in the afternoon and everyone was tired. How stupid. And yeah, I am going to see U Me aur Hum today! I got tickets for it and Krazzy 4 last night...I've never seen SRK on the big screen before so I'm really excited about his item number. I love Kajol and Kajol with SRK, obviously...I've never seen her in a movie with her husband before, so that will be interesting. I've seen Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham as well--the only SRK-Kajol movie I still haven't seen is Karan Arjun. I'm kind of holding off on it for a while because after that there will be no more SRK-Kajol to see afresh, and it will be sad...though I hear they're doing My Name is Khan together soon. And I actually just saw Lagaan a couple of weeks ago, which was my first Aamir Khan movie; I thought he was really good, though SRK will always be my favorite. I think it's really cool that Indian culture and family is such a huge topic, because it's really not so much in the US, as you've probably observed. Heh.

[–] eden_echo 16 years ago

I actually own the novel (an on-line friend got it for me through Amazon), it has the actors on the cover and the back.

It's a good book but I gotta say I love the movie more!

"I promise you, before I die I'll surely come to your doorstep"

[–] roseytrebles 16 years ago

Cool!--that's the edition that I have too. So did you not find the pro-Chandramukh-ish ending disorienting at all?...or maybe not pro-Chandramukhi-ish? I don't mean to force you to reexamine your opinions--I'm just really curious to know what someone else thinks. And yeah, my heart totally belongs to the movie too. :)

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] roseytrebles 16 years ago

Hey, that's nice of you to say. :) I was actually just saying to someone else recently that there seems to be a problem with people, often especially--I might as well say it--young girls, who go in for Bollywood as a lark but who never really get past seeing it as a bunch of stereotypes. I've tried getting people to watch some of these movies too and a lot of them can't get used to the differences in pacing and the extra time added for the musical numbers. It's gotten to the point now where when I see a non-Hindi movie I'm always taken aback by how short it seems, heheh. They're like baby movies. Anyway, I really liked "U me aur Hum" too, and also didn't really like "Krazzy 4"--I only went to it to see Shahrukh, but it was well worth it! I like Hrithik fine too, but never as much as SRK. It was really really exciting to see him on the big screen finally...I remember getting particularly fed up with the end of the movie where Juhi's on the steps outside and just starts lecturing everyone about their prejudice towards mental illness. It seemed to kind of come out of nowhere. Anyway, I can't wait until SRK's next one comes out...I think it might be Bhootnath next?...and I'll have to try out the Indian board here--thanks for the tip!

[–] anahita3740 15 years ago

Devdas is the most confusing Bollywooooood movie that has ever made, unfortunely I haven t read the book yet,,but all I can say is this;;

Paro loved Devdas as she stayed loyal to him for ten years and thay candle was the symbol of the love that she was keeping alive in her heart,,,
And Devdas loved her since chilhood, with every breath that he takes,,
But destiny aparted them ,,,
Paro made a mistake with getting too harsh with Devdas on her wedding day due to too much love that she had spent for reaching him and she couldn t,,,
but I am Iranian and I think I can feel it what that means like if ur lover will come back to u just on ur wedding day that is fixed and saying sorry,,,
Paro couldn t bring shame to her family honor,,and she sacrificed her love for her parents and the honor of her family and the reason that her mother was treated badly by Devdas family,,,and that s why when the mother frowned at Devdas,still Paro kept the hand of Devdas and stopped him from leaving the place,,and started singing I have always loved and no one else,,,
In the eastern world the family comes first,,,Devdas wrote a letter to Paro and said family comes first and left her,,,and other hand Paro said that her father s honor count as well too and left Devdas however in her heart she still was crying,,and took her flame with herself ,,,
And Chandramukhi was a woman that wished for love and happiness,,she found that in Devdas the only man who treated her as the way she was not for making love and passing time,,even Devdas didn t like her singing and he was keeping thinking of Paro all the time and his mistake,,,
the story wanted to say that all women should get the chance of love because they are all the same and the fact they all have heart and are humanbeing,,,but only strong women can win the heart and Chandramukhi was a strong woman and proved to Devdas that one can give love without getting back any love,,that s why Devdas finally said that Chandramukhi u are a woman who has been left unloved inspite all the things that she has done for him,,
And I believe a woman must be strong and win the heart with her spirit,,like Chandramukhi,,,but Paro didn t show her power as a woman and she was left to make decision on her behalf for her marriage and life,,but she was stubborn too and wanted to show to Devdas and her family that she is rich too,,,

[–] roseytrebles 15 years ago

Hi again--heh--

So do you think that because Chandramukhi is a stronger woman, she ultimately "wins" Devdas in the end? In the sense that she would be with him for all eternity, and she ultimately vanquishes Paro? I can definitely see that point of view but at the same time it seems lopsided, because it seems unfair for Paro to be punished forever because she's a weak person. After all, Devdas is weak--incredibly weak--and he doesn't seem to have to pass the same kind of test.

The interesting thing about Chandramukhi teaching Devdas about selfless love is that I think that all three of them--Paro, Devdas, and Chandramukhi--end up learning to love someone with no hope of getting any love back. I think that the love felt by each of them is purified, as I think the Layla and Majnun legend says, by the fact that it isn't realized in this lifetime. So where does that leave all of them at the end of it?....

Also I think that's really interesting what you said about understanding, as an Iranian, what it would be like to be in Paro's place on her wedding day...so you can see why she acted the way that she did? It's really nice to hear someone say so--if that's what you meant--because I've found Paro a little hard to understand at times.

[–] anahita3740 15 years ago

Hi ,,,

Devdas loved Paro but he didn t know how much until he heard the song about Lord krishna Radha then let him realise about his mistake,,
and in the eastern world being in love is considerd as the biggest weakness, especially for men,,,that s why we see in the beginning Paro started running away,,because easterns are scared of Love,,,and expressions for love,,,and the respect for family is as much as they let them make the decision for their future and destiny,,,
Maybe Paro was hard but Devdas was also too hard to her,,,he made her believe that they belong to each other forever and even took her virginity which is considerd as the most sacrifice of Paro as an Indian girl before marriage,,,she gave her a bracelet as the remark of getting engaged,,,and too many hopes which will be burned by a sad and dramatic letter of Devdas to say that his father and his family comes first,,,in this way Paro s hope was gone with the wind,,,and then it sounded more like a play to her,,,
and then Devdas came back on her wedding day and expressed his love ,,,then how can Paro stay happy,,,she was angry because she really loved Devdas and no one else but she could not stop the marriage ,,,this unwished marriage that her parents took for her as the prove to make ppl see that their daughter can get a richer one,,,
but MAJNUN was different because he really tried his best to get Layla,,,But Love of Layla made him crazy , not a mistake ,,,He expressed his love inspite of getting stoned,scarred or banished,,,
But Devdas was weak and too late and he became crazy for the letter he wrote.

and yes for watching Devdas and understanding this , u need to be eastern or have lived in an eastern country especially India,,,

[–] kimberly-shehan-1 16 years ago

The author of Devdas-Sarat Chandra Chatterjee has written a lot of women-centric novels, and particularly women who have fallen through no fault of their own. the ending of the novel didn't surprise me in the slightest (of course, I saw the film long after I read the book). Parvati had married up, whereas Chandramukhi would always be a tawaif, even though she had abandoned the life of a courtesan. so, in leaving the life, Chandramukhi proved herself more worthy of Devdas than Paro-everything Chandramukhi got: the respect of the villagers, the respect of Devdas, the respect of Deva's body servant (whose name escapes me)-she earned through her actiosn, not by marrying the thakur (like Paro). The ending is just, to me, indicative of the overall tenor of Chatterjee's work as a whole.
Hope this makes sense.

[–] roseytrebles 16 years ago

Hey thanks, that does make sense...I have to say that I liked Chandramukhi in the book more than I liked her in the movie, and she definitely proved herself to be a really strong person--stronger, I guess, than Paro. Even in the book, though, I would really feel bad for Paro if after all that it turned out that Devdas had just gotten over her for Chandramukhi...because she definitely made mistakes, but Devdas did too--they even made very similar mistakes, I think. And whatever faults she did have, she still loved Devdas, even when he treated her badly. When he dies at her gate in the end she obviously still loves him, so I hate to think that he doesn't love her anymore; it seems so harsh. Do you subscribe to the Krishna-Radha-Mira idea that Chandramukhi is some incarnation of Paro, or more of a devotee--or maybe the idea that he ends up with both of them (I guess I mean in the book's idea of an afterlife)? Or do you think that the whole thing in the book is just a road to him coming to love Chandramukhi? If so, again, I feel really bad for Paro, and kind of disturbed that after all that he could just stop loving her. That could be just me, though; I'm very prone to being disturbed by these things.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] Ace54 13 years ago

I have read the book and I can't for the life of me figure out why people keep debating over who Devdas loved.

From the book, I think he loved both Paro and Chandramukhi romantically. I do believe that toward the end that Devdas loved Chandramukhi more, but it is still left pretty ambiguous. The story explores two different women, and two different kinds of romantic love. Everyone is very quick to say that Devdas loved Chandramukhi as a sister or friend, but I seriously did not get that impression from the book at all. He talks about two different women, and how one is firey and passionate (Paro) and the other is calm and forebearing (Chandramukhi). And the nature of the relationship is mirrored in the two realtionships that he has with these women.

His love for Paro is overwhelming, quick, full of passion and madness, but also full of a lot of instability and doubt. I think this is supposed to be the idea of young love. It can be very intoxicating but painfull.

His love for Chandramukhi is slow, and it takes work and self sacrafice. Chandramukhi admits that Devas was mean to her and treated her unfairly, but she still loved him. Devdas admits that he thought poorly of her because she was a prostitute and of a lower cast, but, in the end, he still loved her. They came to love one another despite each other's imperfections. I think this is supposed to represent the idea of mature love. It was harder and it took more time, but in the end, their love was more stable.

And since when is the movie considered the Word of God? The book came first and even the director and the people who where in the movie said that the movie was different from the book. Romance and passion sells in Bollywood, hence, because his relationship with Paro fit more in that catagory, it was their story that was romanticised. Chandramukhi's pinning and selflessness isn't exactly exciting for audiences.

Of course you copy of the book said that! It was the promotional book for the movie. Most of these types of copies for whatever movies they are promoting tend to go off of what the movie is about because it has a better chance of selling copies. The people who wrote "One women he could never love, and the other he could never stop loving" probably never actually read the book.

Also, to "renouce" means to give up. Or to part from. So Devdas's line to Chandramukhi toward the end is basically the same in both the movie and the book.

And you're right, he does think more about Chandramukhi toward the end. At one point he catches himself wishing that it was Chandramukhi by his side, and then worries what Paro would think if she knew he was thinking of another woman. He even begins to imagine that while he is thinking about Paro, and Chandramukhi is asleep somehwere, or when he is thinking about Chandramukhi, that Paro is asleep. I think he does this so that he doesn't feel guilty while he thinks about whichever woman he misses most in that moment. But toward the end, he says that Paro is alseep in his mind more and more. The book states:

"He thought of Chandramukhi, who had forbidden him to drink. He could see her –ever so bright, so calm and collected; she had so much love for him. Parvati had gone to sleep where he was concerned. She only flared up from time to time, like the wick of a lamp about to go out."

But I don't think that meant that he still didn't love Paro. After all, it's his love that keeps him fullfiling his promise to her. He does say that he did it out of honor, but you honor what you love.

---
"Now that I've posted, this thread will die."

[–] malika585 12 years ago

That was rather well written^^ Ace54.

I for one could never understand how Devdas was able to inspire so much adulation in these two women. He never did much to deserve that kind of love. I guess it was some weird twist of fate... to receive such love but not be able to fulfill it both times.

for the original imdb layout:
http://www.imdb.com/help/show_leaf?redesignolddesign

[–] morganseer 12 years ago

Forgive me for responding, since admittedly I haven't read the book, but I don't think that a book can always be used to interpret the movie. It's not unusual for filmmakers to change the ending if it serves to heighten the drama. So what you're really describing is two similar stories with two different endings.

[–] zeeshanabid 11 years ago

I will recommend you to watch the 'Dilip Kumar' version of Devdas. This (Shahrukh's version) is more glamour than the appeal the story wanted it to have. Thus, good for many, it doesn't truly depicts the characters, and delivers you what exactly the story wanted to give. Dilip's version is also not exactly the true translation of the story-book. However, it's somewhat, improved, because of the characterization of Devdas.

In Dilip's version, no one oppressed/suppressed Devdas or his feelings, but he himself. He was the man who made wrong decisions himself, realized those later, and tried to sort things what he messed up himself. He was always late in understanding things, and instead of going after future, he was always watching the past. You will enjoy that greatly. However, you will have to bear the black-and-white conditions, which would be difficult to bear in these colorful times.