Devdas: A love story that made pain immortal, the writer was afraid to write for 16 years

New Delhi. In the history of Indian literature and cinema, there are some characters who cross the boundaries of time and remain in the hearts of people forever. One such name is ‘Devdas’. A character whose pain the audience understood as their own, whose unfulfilled love touched millions of hearts and whose tragedy made him immortal.

Devdas was born in the year 1901 in the imagination of great litterateur Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay. It is said that this story was somewhere inspired by his own life experiences and feelings. But the writer had a fear about this character. He felt that his hero was not idealistic. He fails in love, resorts to alcohol and ultimately dies a tragic death. Perhaps for this reason Sharat Chandra did not publish this work for about 16 years.

Finally, when the novel ‘Devdas’ was published in 1917, it created a stir in the literary world. People started seeing their pain in this story. Devdas’s incomplete love story, his dedication to Paro and his defeat before the restrictions of society made the readers emotional.

When Devdas came out of literature and reached the cinema screen, its popularity increased manifold. The first silent film was made on it in the year 1928. After this, in 1936, the great singer-actor K.L. Sehgal brought Devdas to life on screen. But the depth and sensitivity with which Dilip Kumar played this character in 1955 made Devdas immortal in the history of Indian cinema.

In the year 2002, director Sanjay Leela Bhansali presented this classic story in a grand style. In the film, Shahrukh Khan played the role of Devdas, Aishwarya Rai played the role of Paro and Madhuri Dixit played the role of Chandramukhi. The emotional scenes and grand presentation of the film left the audience emotional. After this, in 2009, Anurag Kashyap made ‘Dev D’ in a modern style and took this story to the new generation.

Till date, more than 14 films and adaptations have been made on ‘Devdas’. Perhaps this is his biggest success that even after more than a century has passed, this character is still alive in the hearts of people. This symbol of love, separation, sacrifice and self-struggle is counted among the most immortal heritages of Indian literature and cinema. Devdas is not just a character, but an emotion that touches every person who has ever loved, lost or felt the pain closely.