Devdas, you insufferable f*ck.
Let me count the ways.
- You’re drunk.
- You’re lazy.
- Nothing is ever your responsibility.
- You’re overly demanding.
- You indulge in melodrama at all the wrong times.
- You’re self-pitying.
- You’re solipsistic.
- You are most definitely a narcissist.
- Have I mentioned that you’re drunk? And you smell terrible.
- You’re so needy.
- You’re ungrateful bordering on spiteful. Do you kick puppies too?
- You make women so crazy, they become self-loathing.
- You make women so crazy, they degrade themselves even further.
- You make women so crazy, they pull out all their eyebrows and resort to ACT!ING!
- You make women so crazy, they have to enter protection/relocation programs.
I hope someone out there has seen this version of Devdas (1979) so we can discuss it, including, but not limited to, whether it is actually worse than other versions or if the horror of seeing one of your favorite actors play one of your most hated characters can be worked around.
BongAlong 
It is most certainly one of the worst versions – there have been too many. I had managed to wipe it off my memory some years back (soon after seeing it). And now you…!
MWAHAHAAHAAAAAAA! I am on a plan to watch all the films that have Uttam and Soumitra as co-stars so this had to happen.
There is no version of Devdas where he is even remotely likeable, I think. In your terms, you could put Rahul Khanna in the role and he’d still be a Grade A douchebag. This is one tale that doesn’t get any better through the manner of its telling. The only thing I’m glad of is that he didn’t end up with either girl in the end — the gene pool is eternally thankful to him for this service.
I wonder why so many actors/directors seem to want to do this movie. Is it like all those women in the movies who fall in love with a bad boy and believe they can “reform” him? Does these people think they can make him likeable somehow, and succeed where everyone else has failed?
That’s my opinion as well. I really do not understand why anyone wants to make or watch this story, especially after so many other versions. As for character motivations…all I can say is it is a willfully ignorant person who thinks they can reform someone. Sigh.
I thought Abhay Deol did a damn good job. He was a douche-y Dev but even then I liked him.
The magic of DevD for me is that it seems to un-do most of the douchery by the end (or at least that’s how I remember it – haven’t seen it in ages). And Abhay makes a great spoiled asshole type.
BWAHAHAHAH! I’ve been waiting all week for Friday so I could take a peek and this was absolutely worth it. OMIGOD, how terrible is this? So deliciously terrible! I must find a copy so we can watch together and revel in it.
WE SHALL WATCH IT. And now that you have seen this post, you know the best dialogue, so don’t worry about subtitles. It is so terrible. It is not the finest work from either of our boys (or anyone else). Caveat: my DVD doesn’t play for about ten minutes RIGHT EXACTLY when Devdas meets Chandramukhi, so I have no idea how her epic love is kindled. Hmph.
I thought I was the only one to be so turned off by Devdas’ character…what a relief! Though I haven’t seen this version, which seems to make it even easier to loathe him. Paro didn’t know it, but she was well out of that relationship. I particularly like that first picture of him “NOOOOOO!” but I think I’ve seen that on the last episode of M*A*S*H…
Oh goodness no, I detest Devdas! I hate him as much as I hate Heathcliff, even. UGH. Agree about Paro – RUN GIRL RUN.
Sorry if this sounds weird/obscene/both, but I mistook the last shot (#16) for *a dick* in soft focus… until I realised it was a sari-clad woman. Uh. Come to think of it, does anything depict Devdas better ? He *was* a dick.
I have not seen all the silver screen version of Devdas but after watching seven different version of the film I found this one is the undoubtedly the worst one! It is something extremely painful! Even the Prasenjit-Tapas Paul starer Shakti Samanta version is better than this one.
I’ve found at least 13 filmed versions of Devdas and am sort of academically interested in seeing more of them, but I hate the story so much that that might just be too punishing. I’m always glad to find others who have suffered through this one! It seems relatively obscure despite the two big-name male leads.