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Is there a Devdas in every Indian male? |
At 50 crores and the costliest movie ever made in Indian film industry I was intrigued and I watched Devdas a couple of weeks ago.
I was aware of the name Devdas, I am familiar with nick naming any guy Devdas, who has suffered or is suffering because of love. With mixed feelings of expectations, I went to watch Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas. I have not read Saratchandra Chatterjee's Devdas nor am I aware of his other writings. So all my commentary here is solely based on the current version of Devdas.
Within the first few minutes of the movie I realized I did not consciously know a very important detail of the story, that Paro loved Devdas! That was a big surprise to me and caught my attention immediately. But by the time the movie ended I was wondering why the movie was named Devdas. It should have been Paro.
For a change this was a movie where women fell in love with men. And women ran the villainous roles. It still baffles me though why Paro's mother had to give Devdas's mother the curse of a girl child to her bahu. The curse had no significance in the story.
I was almost laughing when Devdas's mother accuses Paro of stealing guavas from their garden. I remembered a similar situation in Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali, where Durga is accused of similar things. No offence to the great movie but it just made me smile and wonder what's with the guavas!
I was also very happy to see the movie because there were no outdoor shoots in Europe. I almost feared that Devdas and Paro would end up in Europe for a song. I felt very sympathetic for Paro (not Devdas).
I certainly would have liked the dialogues to be delivered in a calm manner rather than screaming and being bellicose. All the flashy settings, the prancing around and the loudness take away any sense of solemnity in the story, and I doubt if there were any intentions to make this story earnest. I am not saying that you have to be solemn always but as I see it, the potential of the issues the story addresses I would have liked a calm and earnest discussion among the parties involved. Anger is like momentary madness and gives the so-called ability of humans to reason a back seat.
I am of the impression that Chatterjee tried to recreate a story in England with Indian settings- "the class struggle". In Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas more importance has been given to glitter and fan fare. Even before the end I felt Devdas did not love Paro so much as to die for her. He wrote how many 2-3 letters from England! He certainly seems to have hated himself for not being able to break away from social norms and pursuing his interest.
Leaving the movie aside I was moved and impressed by the story. I can't wait to get an English translation of Devdas and read it. I was reading a very interesting analysis of Devdas with reference to the colonial rule and the Indian male psyche in the early 1900's (1). I cannot resist the temptation to quote the author verbatim, she writes
"These psychological limits compel the Devdas character to both desire independence from, and seek the recognition of, an absent master. By deconstructing the psychic violence implicit within the narrative and the mise-en-scene of sexuality in the various Devdas films, I will establish how their eponymous hero became emblematic of the ideal of masculinity in the South Asian imaginary during the first half of this century, and why his lack of political and sexual agency continues to affect a "collective catharsis" (Fanon, 145) among these audiences to this day."
I felt this was depicted well to a certain extent in the movie as to Devdas's relationship with his father. Devdas wants to love and marry Paro but he insists on getting his fathers approval, whom he does not care about much anyways.
Devdas comes to hate himself for his inability to overcome social conventions, but it did not seem to me that he tried to break away from them. And it is very surprising that people sympathize with Devdas rather than condemning him for not being a go-getter.
Which makes me wonder about the fact that we keep making different versions of Devdas and why do people watch it. By no means can Devdas be considered a hero or a role model.
The other part, which intrigues me, is what everybody is saying, that there is a devdas in every Indian male. Was Devdas's death a sacrifice? Far so much of a talk about how movies are spoiling our youth and making them corrupt and giving them ideas, It baffles me even after so many hit love story movies the concept of marrying for love has not even been acknowledged into a large part of Indian society.
With all these and knowing the whole story beforehand why did people flock to the theater to watch Devdas? Does the society get some kind of sadistic pleasure watching young man in love die for his love? Sharukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Madhuri Dixit can be part of the answer. The other part might be this "a Devdas in every Indian male" business.
Devdas was written in 1917 and we have come a long way from those times. We have achieved quit a lot but we need to do more with respect to social and political issues concerning an individual. Why is that even today marriages (Love marriages) between people of different castes, different languages, different ethnicity, different economic status, different color etc objected to so much.
It does make perfect sense to marry your own kind (religion, caste, social status etc. etc.) when you decide to spend the rest of your life with a person you hardly know, it makes things easier. But why should there be an objection to people who have known each other for a while can stand each other, get along well and are willing to take the same risks of an arranged marriage couple.
I have come across a good number of Devdas' myself; I have lost a good friend who committed suicide for love. Know a lot of people who had to break relations because parents would not agree. And know some more who are still battling it out with their parents.
I am amazed at the objections parents have. First it is religion, caste, class if not that then it is language or something like that. Some parents object on the sole reason that they do not like the concept of love marriage. Some parents think choosing a partner for their son/daughter is a god given gift and nobody can take that away from them. The most stupid objection to a love marriage I have heard is the parents considering the girl their son loved was not pretty enough for their standards.
Some parents and even modern university graduates have objections to love marriage on the ground that love marriages are solely based on lust. I for one can surly not see anything other than lust in an arranged marriage.
I don't understand this reluctance parents have to see their children happy. They might have an idea that love is just lust, they may have never experienced it so they don't understand. They might tell you that your lust will go away. But people in love who stay together long enough know love from lust.
Even in today's world individual freedom comes at a great cost, society still insists on imposing its customs on individuals. And like any other conflict in this world it is always the big things that go to war and the small things suffer.
This imposition of the society to adhere and confirm to social norms and the lack of romantic freedom is probably the reason there is a Devdas in every Indian male. Will this version of Devdas have any impact? Will people ever get the message Chatterjee was trying to say? I can only wonder.
Devdas is a good story to illustrate that you can for the most part change only things that you do and the only harbinger of change is your self. I wish Devdas would put forth a message to people who want change, be it in personal life, social customs, political view but are not willing to change unless someone else takes the first step, that the catalyst for change is your self
Devdas who did not fight a good fight is certainly not a hero to me. I prefer individuals who are vigorous and who are the basis for change, not sentimental alcoholics.
Reference: 1. Devdas: India's Emasculated Hero, Sado-Masochism and Colonialism by Poonam Arora. Posted at http://social.chass.ncsu.edu/jouvert/v1i1/devdas.htm
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