Like "Gone With The Wind" and Wuthering Heights, Devdas is based on a literary classic and is a landmark in cinema. Pre-independence Bengal and Calcutta come alive in this movie but it is not a pretty picture. The story itself verges on bathos, with a young man, Devdas (Kumar), drinking himself to death after his childhood chum and beloved Paro (Sen) marries another (older) wealthy man. That marriage happens only because Devdas' wealthy father and older brother refused to allow him to marry Paro, the middle caste girl next door. The pain is, she loves Devdas too, but cannot act on it.
The parallel story has Chandramukhi (Vyjayanthimala), a dancer & call girl from Calcutta, falling in love with Devdas as well while he is drinking away his sorrows. But he is so focused on Paro and so negatively judges Chandramukhi's profession, he cannot notice her. When Devdas finally appreciates Chandramukhi's devotion, for her own safety he dare not take her home.
This is a sorrowful classic, but with the overwrought pain, it plays more like "Wuthering Heights" than like "Gone With the Wind".
The parallel story has Chandramukhi (Vyjayanthimala), a dancer & call girl from Calcutta, falling in love with Devdas as well while he is drinking away his sorrows. But he is so focused on Paro and so negatively judges Chandramukhi's profession, he cannot notice her. When Devdas finally appreciates Chandramukhi's devotion, for her own safety he dare not take her home.
This is a sorrowful classic, but with the overwrought pain, it plays more like "Wuthering Heights" than like "Gone With the Wind".