Devdas Lives On

THE tragic saga of a spineless lover — Devdas — has attracted filmmakers across generations,and continues to do so even today. However,Bimal Roy’s 1955 classic with its subtle dialogue,fluid direction and sublime cast of Dilip Kumar,Vyjayantimala and Suchitra Sen,is widely considered as the most important and significant adaptation of the classic in Hindi cinema. Little wonder then that the film’s dialogue will now be immortalised in a book called The Dialogue of Devdas,presented by Nasreen Munni Kabir. It is only apt that the book will be launched by Shah Rukh Khan,who played Devdas in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s 2002 adaptation of the classic. The launch will take place at Mehboob Studios,Bandra,on Wednesday evening.

The book,priced at Rs 695,will feature the film’s complete dialogue by Rajinder Singh Bedi,based on a screenplay by Nabendu Ghosh and lyrics by Sahir Ludhianvi. It is available in three languages: Hindi,Urdu and English. The book will also have comments from Roy’s family. The tragic love triangle linking the lovelorn Devdas,his childhood love Paro and the reformed prostitute Chandramukhi,was first told in Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s 1917 Bengali novella. It was then first filmed by PC Barua in 1936,followed by Roy and Bhansali,and recently,Anurag Kashyap adapted it as Dev.D.