The lovelorn, self-wallowing, tragic, anti-hero Devdas is going to be born yet again in two new avtaars. It seems as though Sarat Chandra Chatterjee’s controversial 1917 Bengali novella is caught in a karmic cycle as film-makers continue to breathe life into Devdas. The tale has etched itself in the history of Indian cinema and is an integral part of our collective memories. Why does Devdas never fail to capture the fancy of film-makers? A story of love thwarted by class barriers that led a man to alcoholism and a courtesan, only to have him die in the end on his childhood sweetheart’s doorstep. Yes, there is the romance that surrounds unrequited love, but 80 years after the first film version and 13 adaptations later we should be sufficiently satisfied.

If viewed in lieu with its time, like the novella, the film was one of social protest. It carried an indictment against prevailing social evils. Faced with the same anguish of having found true love but unable to realise their passions because of parental opposition, Devdas became popular with the youth because it brought out the cruelty of the situation. One would think the story would be outdated by now, but remakes of Devdas unexplainably continue to draw in viewers. Eric Barnouw and S. Krishnaswamy in Indian Film stated in reference to an early adaptation, ‘And virtually a generation wept over Devdas.’ It seems as though generation after generation continues to weep over Devdas (well aware of the ending) identifying with the pain of lost love and deriving a cathartic pleasure from the experience. Maybe the completely worn out plot still succeeds because it appeals to the Indian ethos of being torn between one’s passion and social norms, only to ultimately deny individual happiness. When we feel sorry for Devdas – who is a victim of society – we in turn feel sorry for ourselves. We ensure the perpetuation of Devdas in Hindi cinema because it gives us a sense of satisfaction watching this tragic hero suffer as he spirals towards a self-impending doom.

The silver screen saw the first film adaptation of the story in 1928. After which came the talkies version in 1935, produced by New Theatres and directed by P.C. Barua, Maharaja of Gauripur in Assam. Devdas was path breaking in its move away from the Indian classical tradition of happy endings, giving Indian cinema its first real tragedy and anti-hero. An Indian counterpart of Hamlet, Devdas is distinctly human, tormented by an inner conflict – he is destroyed by his inability to act and unrelenting circumstances. It is Barua’s Devdas according to Barnouw and Krishnaswamy that ‘revolutionised the entire outlook of Indian social pictures.’ He directed it first in Bengali starring himself as the lead, then again in Hindi starring the singer K L Saigal. Both became cult figures and were immortalised along with Devdas. Barua, greatly influenced by the European naturalistic tradition, moved away from existing theatricality to introduce a style of acting that was unaffected. The train sequences in the film are remembered for introducing parallel editing (to show two events at the same time) to Hindi cinema. B.D. Garga in So Many Cinemas notes that in bringing the novella to life, Barua created a world peopled not by heroes and villains but real beings conditioned by society. A society, which, in Shaw’s words, ‘reeked of morality but touched no virtue’.

The cinematographer for Barua’s film Bimal Roy embarked on his own version of Devdas with a desire to give it a fresh perspective. He constructed the film in a way that Devdas’ tragedy became a metaphor for a profound disillusionment with the newly independent Indian nation-state. The films realistic setting and acting make the denial of love all the more poignant. Dilip Kumar starred in the movie and to this date, his image comes to mind when one mentions Devdas. A complete contrast to Roy’s rendition, Sanjay Bhansali’s Devdas is one of the most expensive Hindi films ever made with a budget of 50 crores. The film was visually engaging, with exquisite mis-en-scene, opulent sets, a plethora of colours, and a loud soundtrack, but it failed to reach the emotional intensity of its predecessors.