Devdas (1955)
Sharat Chandra Chatterjee wrote many stories and novels in Bengal bringing realism into them with powerful storytelling. His stories have been made into movies 46 times! However, in the top of the list among these is “Devdas.”
Sharat’s classic novel of lost love “Devdas” was made into a movie, it seems like umpteen number of times. The chronology of these movies is very fascinating. The very first time this was made into a movie was in 1928. It was a silent movie. Naresh Mitra played Devdas and directed it. In 1935 it was simultaneously made in Hindi and Bengali by the great P.C. Barua. It was a talkie. In Bengali version Barua himself played Devdas whereas the Hindi version had the immortal K.L. Saigal playing the lead. In bith versions Jamuna played Paro and Rajkumari played Chandramukhi. Bimal Roy was the cameraman for both the movies. In 1936 Devdas was made in Tamil with lead played by P.V. Rao. In 1953, the movie was made in Tamil and Telugu. Nageshwara Rao, the Telugu actor, played the lead in both versions. His performance is landmark in acting and is still talked about. Bimal Roy, by this time who was producing and directing movies in Hindi, who was the photographer of 1935 versions, made it in 1955 with the great actor Dilip Kumar in the lead. In 1974, the movie was remade in Telugu, with Krishna playing Devdas. Not to be left behind, the movie was made in Malayalam in 1978. In 1982, Kamala Hasan played the title role in yet another Tamil version. In 2002, with Shah Rukh Khan in the title role, it was made in Hindi again.
In 1970, Gulzar attempted to make Devdas with Dharmendra playing the lead, Hema Malini as Paro, and Sharmila Tagore as Chandramukhi. For some reason Gulzar abandoned the idea after making some progress with the movie. R.D. recorded few songs for the film.
It is Barua’s movie as the yardstick rest of these movies are measured. Bimalda’s version, bosted stellar cast, great performances, rich lyrics, music that was set to the period the movie was trying to create was an artistic triumph but a financial failure. It wnFilmfare awards for best actor (Dilip), best supporting actress (Vyjayanti Mala), and best supporting actor (Motilal). Vyjayantimala refused to accept the award claiming that she was the heroine of the movie.
Asssiitant music directors of "Davdas (1955)" were Jaidev and Suhrid Kar.
Following is a picture of those four people who are responsible for behind the camera work of “Devdas.” From left to right these include Sharat Chandra Chatterjee (the author on whose book the movie is based on), Bimal Roy (producer and director), S.D. Burman (the music director), and Sahir Ludhianvi (the lyricist).