devdas - the non-hero
92 years later. After tens of adaptations on the screen. The magic of Devdas-the story still draws Indian directors, actors and audiences alike. Umpteen number of times, I have claimed to be a huge fan of Saratchandra Chattopadhyay. This widely translated and wildly famous novella - Devdas has been my favorite among all his work I have read.
Devdas-of Saratchandra- is a pathetic loser. He can't stand up for his love. After his biggest mistake in life (of letting Paro walk out of his life), instead of redeeming himself he indulges in self-distruction. He does not face reality, he runs away from it. He hides behind his inebriated self. When you think the abomination is at its zenith, Devdas drops further. He loathes touch of Chandramukhi, who is the only reason he hasn't died of starvation and ill-health. He dies of his vices and illnesses on the doorstep of Paro. To culminate the loser in him, he is not able to keep his promise of meeting Paro once before his death.
And he is our hero. For lots and lots of Indians, Devdas is a story that invokes immediate empathy. In a nation full of inhibitions, tradiations, hierarchies and interjections, a dillusioned youth provides the perfect role-model. Suppressing one's wishes and submitting to the collective decisions based on various bourguise justifcations is a standard state of affairs even today.
And so the Devdas lives.
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The reason for this blog originally was to publish it on the eve of release of DevD. But thanks to my old ally procrastination, it is too late. Now that I have seen the movie, will close out the post with a brief review of Dev D.
Dev D
A good watch. Abhay Deol pulls off another wonderful performance in that unassuming way of his. Mahi Gill is easy on eyes. Kalki isn't. Awesome songs.
That being said, the movie in my view, does not capture the spirit of Dev D. While I can stomach jealousy being the reason of split between Paro and Dev; I can also tolerate Kalki attempting to recreate the magic of pathetic one-sided love (that has been so wonderfully done by Rekha in Muqaddar ka Sikandar and Madhuri in otherwise totally forgettable Bhansali's Devdas) what I can not take is the redemption.
Devdas the character has a poetic beauty in being beyond redemption. Devdas is a loser by choice. He abdicates the beauty of what is just to get an inebriated glimpse at what could have been. It not so much that he can not redeem himself, it is that he has nothing to redeem himself for. Chandramukhi might be beautiful, wealthy and madly in love but she has one fault that Dev can not overlook. She is not Paro.
That pain of knowing and that hope of forgetting drives Devdas to destruction. That destruction is his destiny. And I would not have it any other way.
