Greet Story Of This Films................
Devdas is the story of a love beyond all else...even life.The saga of a man called Devdas who loved,loved and just loved...Devdas shared a magnetic childhood with his lovely playmate Paro where supreme love was felt before it was understood. When youth beckoned, the loved intensified. But, alas, a fateful moment of weakness on the part of Devdas created a permanent wall of seperation between him and his beloved Paro. On one side of the wall was a heartbroken Paro who became the wife of another. And on the other, was a completely shattered Devdas.
Unable to bear the agony of a life without Paro, Devdas made alcohol his constant companion. But that could not make him forget the piercing pain. Even the unflinching devotion of a beautiful courtesan Chandramukhi, did not ease the heartache of losing Paro. It was only when his eyes closed to a permanent sleep, did the pain begin to fade...

"Why do I want to make Devdas? This was a question I asked myself much before I heard it from others. Devdas was the most widely read story and filmed more than a few times. I thought it would be a fascinating challenge for me as a director to present already known and loved characters, in my very own way, with my perspective.

Moreover, there was a lot that intrigued me about the character of Devdas. It was the paradox of a man who was a like a child, utterly lovable. Who wanted love & intensely loved. And yet could not verbalize both. He did all the wrong things, but was so pure and misunderstood that I felt like reaching out to him. I also saw a mirror of my father in Devdas. He used to react to situations exactly like Devdas did. Then is the fact, that there is a Devdas on every street. I honestly feel that this character exists in every male, especially every Indian male.

In fact all the characters in Devdas have something very special in them. They have strong minds but tender hearts. Eventually, they are people who think from the heart and not the head. And in spite of losing in life, they never lose faith in God. Therefore Devdas, which was a simple story had a soul which was so big. I felt that to do justice to this, it had to be made with grandeur and opulence.
We have lavishly mounted the film, without offending the spirit of Devdas. We have given the characters a lot of space to compliment their largeness. Their surroundings are as beautiful as them. If Chandramukhi, the golden hearted prostitute came down the steps, the steps had to be worth it. Paro was one who could challenge the forces of nature by stubbornly holding her diya in the face of the storm. Absolutely sure that it would not go off as it signified the everlasting nature of her love. This arrogantly strong yet deeply loving character had to be presented in a way that would be an ode to her. That is what we have strived to do.

The film is a tribute to a great story that transcends sexual love and makes emotion its hero. It is an interpretation of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhye's brilliant novel. But it is definitely my interpretation ".

By the time it came to creating Bhuvan's Haveli, we had no budget. But what we had was a motivated team and lots of perseverance and co-operation. And the haveli became a reality.
All the sets were kept mounted for 7 - 9 months. It was a huge production problem and a Herculean task maintaining them.
We used a record 42 generators for the film when normally only two or three are used. We used 2500 lights, 700 light men and innumerable junior artists. The marriages in Bombay entailed panic, as all generators swarmed the Devdas set.
It seemed a visual delight when one thought of the scene of Paro holding her diya in a storm and the diya not going out… But actually picturising it??? The challenge can be imagined!
A chest puffing pride was a beautiful outfit, a ghagra-choli designed for Chandramukhi by Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla. It was a heart-stopping, exquisite creation, the likes of which may never be created again. It weighed a whopping 30 kilos! To top it, Madhuri Dixit had to do an intricate classical dance wearing it. Despite her best efforts, it was impossible. Finally the outfit had to be replaced by a lighter (?) one, weighing only (??) 16 kilos. The former outfit sadly could not be used in the film.
When it came to the music, each note was nurtured carefully to see that it got its rightful place in the film. It took 2 ½ years to compose the music. Each of the songs is complexly structured. Thus each song had to be mixed 8 to 9 times and the recording spanned a record 10 days each.
A interesting incident is related to the song "Dola re Dola …." .The song was completely recorded. The lyrics revealed a line which went "Rang Birangi Chunariya…" When the song was picturised, a red Chunariya was used as the situation demanded it. It was imperative to change the line. The lyricist Nusrat Badr seeked the correct new line for one full year. Suddenly when the song was being finally mixed, his creativity gave rise to the apt line. The mixing was stopped and a few lacs were spent to insert the new line.