At the time of its release, it was the most expensive Bollywood film ever produced, with a reported budget of Rs 50 Crores

Aishwarya Rai’s performance as the sensitive yet haughty Paro and Madhuri Dixit’s as the dancer Chandramukhi were highly appreciated. Shahrukh Khan’s performance as the rebellious alcoholic Devdas is often considered one of his best performances, garnering him a Filmfare Award. The song Dola re Dola became a hit with its unique dance duet between Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri Dixit. The video received significant airplay on MTV Asia.

Awards

• Devdas was India’s entry for Hollywood‘s Oscar in 2003.
• The movie was also screened at the Cannes Film Festival 2002, though it wasn’t eligible for an award.

It won 10 awards at the 2002 Filmfare Awards:

• Best Movie – Bharat Shah
• Best Actor – Shahrukh Khan
• Best Actress – Aishwarya Rai
• Best Director – Sanjay Leela Bhansali
• Best Supporting Actress – Madhuri Dixit
• Best Female Playback – Kavita Krishnamurthy & Shreya Ghosal for “Dola Re Dola”
• Best Cinematographer – Binod Pradhan
• Best Art Direction – Nitin Chandrakant Desai
• Best Choreography – Saroj Khan
• Best Scene of the Year – Confrontation scene between Parvati and Chandramukhi.

Star Screen Awards

• Best Actor Shah Rukh Khan for Devdas 2002 (Shared with Ajay Devgan)
• Best Actress Aishwarya rai for Devdas 2002
• Best supporting actress Madhuri Dixit for Devdas
• Jodi No. 1 2002 Aishwarya Rai & Shah Rukh Khan Year 2002

IIFA Awards

• 2003 Best Movie Devdas – Bharat Shah
• 2003 IIFA Best Director Award – Sanjay Leela Bhansali
• 2003 Best Actor In Leading Role Devdas – Shahrukh Khan
• 2003 Best Actress In Leading Role Devdas – Aishwarya Rai
• 2003 Best Actress In A Supporting Role Devdas – Kiron Kher
• 2003 IIFA Best Female Playback Award Devdas – Shreya Ghosal, Kavita Krishnamurthy for Dola Re Dola

MTV Asia Awards

• 2003 The Asian Film Award

Cast

• Shahrukh Khan     Devdas Mukherjee
• Aishwarya Rai     Parvati “Paro” Chakraborty
• Madhuri Dixit     Chandramukhi
• Jackie Shroff     Chunnilal (“Chunnibabu”)
• Smita Jaykar     Kaushalya Mukherjee
• Manoj Joshi     Dwijdas Mukherjee
• Ananya Khare     Kumud Mukherjee
• Milind Gunaji     Kalibabu
• Dina Pathak     Bhuvan’s mother
• Vijayendra Ghatge     Bhuvan Chaudhry
• Kirron Kher     Sumitra Chakraborty

In 2005, Indiatimes Movies ranked the movie amongst the Top 25 Must See Bollywood Films.

Plot

Childhood sweethearts, Devdas (Dilip Kumar) and Parvati or Paro (Suchitra Sen) grow up in a small village with a love-hate relationship which changes to love when they mature. Devdas comes from a very rich and wealthy family. His dad does not approve of his marriage or even any friendship with Paro, and sends him away to Calcutta. Disheartened Devdas gives up on his love, and Paro gets married to a much older man, who has a grown-up son and daughter. Devdas realises he is unable to give up his love for Paro and returns to the village, only to find that she is married. He returns to Calcutta and falls into bad company and alcohol. He is introduced to a dancer, Chandramukhi (Vyjayantimala), who adores him and falls hopelessly in love with him. Devdas in not aware of Chandramukhi’s affection and love for him, as most of his time is spent in a alcoholic stupor, and lust for Paro.

Cast

• Dilip Kumar as Devdas
• Suchitra Sen as Parvati (Paro)
• Vyjayanthimala as Chandramukhi
• Motilal as Chunni Babu
• Pran
• Nasir Hussain as Dharamdas
• Murad as Devdas’ father
• Iftekhar as Brijudas