'''Devdas''' (, ''Debdash'';
Hindi: देवदास) (also called ''Debdas'') (1917) is a
Bengali novella by
Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay.
Plot summary
The childhood friendship of Devdas (who is from a wealthy family) and Paro (Parvati) (whose family was not as well off) blossoms into love as they grow up. Devdas' father does not approve of the relationship due to difference in their families' statuses in village and the
caste. (Devdas is of the
Brahmin caste and Paro of the Merchant caste.)
Devdas realizes he cannot live without Paro and seeks her out, but she has already been married off to an older man with children. Devdas falls into despair and drinks to excess; then he meets a
courtesan, Chandramukhi,
who falls in love with him and looks after him. During his alcohol-instilled dreams, he frequently dreams of Paro and Chandramukhi. The two women replace each other in his dreams, so it is left unclear, if, in the end, Devdas overcomes his love for Paro and finds some peace by falling in love with Chandramukhi. Devdas returns to meet Paro, but dies at her doorstep before seeing her.
Translations of the novella
A new
English translation was released in 2002 by Penguin India. It was translated from the
Bengali into English by
Sreejata Guha(who also wrote the introduction).
Film, TV and theatrical adaptations
The novella has been made into a film in multiple Indian languages including
Bengali,
Hindi,
Telugu and
Tamil ★
[1]
Notable versions of the novella include:
★ ''
Devdas (1928 film)'', directed by
Naresh Mitra,
Phani Burma as Devdas,
Tarakbala as Parvati or Paro and
Niharbala/
Miss Parul as Chandramukhi.
★ ''
Devdas (1935 film)'', directed by
P.C. Barua, starring himself as Devdas,
Jamuna as Parvati or Paro and
Chandrabati Devi as Chandramukhi.
★ ''
Devdas (1936 film)'', directed by P.C. Barua, starring
K.L. Saigal as Devdas, Jamuna as Parvati or Paro and
Rajkumari as Chandramukhi.
★ ''
Devdas (1953 Telugu film)'' (also known as "Devadasu"), directed by
Vedantam Raghavaiah, starring
Akkineni Nageswara Rao as Devdas and
Savitri as Parvati.
★ ''
Devdas (1955 film)'', directed by
Bimal Roy, starring
Dilip Kumar as Devdas,
Suchitra Sen as Paro, and
Vyjayantimala as Chandramukhi.
★ ''
Devdas (1979 film)'' (also known as "Debdas"), directed by
Dilip Roy,
Soumitra Chatterjee as Devdas,
Sumitra Mukherjee as Parvati or Paro and
Supriya Choudhury as Chandramukhi.
★ ''
Devdas (2002 Bengali film)'', directed by
Shakti Samanta, starring
Prasenjit Chatterjee as Devdas,
Arpita Pal as Parvati or Paro and
Indrani Halder as Chandramukhi.
★ ''
Devdas (2002 film)'',
Bollywood film directed by
Sanjay Leela Bhansali, starring
Shahrukh Khan as Devdas,
Aishwarya Rai as Parvati or Paro and
Madhuri Dixit as Chandramukhi.
★ Untited ''Devdas'' Japanese
remakeDaimaru(Devdas) Himiko(Parvati) And Koyubi (Chandramukhi)
★ ''
Devdas (1937 film)'',
Assamese movie Directed by
P.C. Baruah with
Mohini as Chandramukhi,
Chatterjhee as Devdas and
Zubeida as Parvati
References
★ Guha, Sreejata. "Introduction." In ''Devdas'' by
Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay. New Delhi: Penguin Books, 2002.
See also
★ ''
Parinita/
Parineeta'', 1914
External links
★
Penguin India book review
★
The Hindu (newspaper) essay on the novel''