How do you look back on the experience?
Exhilarating,edifying and exhausting. If I am told to do Devdas all over again, I don’t think I’d be able to do it again.
Devdas exudes a deep flamboyance. Isn’t that way off from Bimal Roy’s stark black-and-white treatment of the love triangle?
I’m not apologetic about colours. I’m instinctively attracted to them. We’re conditioned to our images of Devdas from the black-and-white era. I feel in today’s times too much grey blues and pastel shades would’ve been extremely depressing after a point. I wanted a bright Devdas.
But Saratchandra Chatterjee’s characters were very sober and simple.
Sobriety and simplicity have nothing to do with colours. The simplest of villagers wear the brightest of clothes. I think colours have to do with the state of the mind. To me bright colours suggest life. I made Paro wear red which is the colour of Durga Mata, sindoor, gulal ….all symbolizing positivity. To me red is a powerful colour . And when Paro wears the colour she appears a very forceful character.
So how did you contrast Paro’s basic simplicity with Chandramukhi’s flamboyant lifestyle?
In the fabric they wear, the embroidery on their saris, the weave of their blouses…everything . Parvati’s glamour was quite removed from Chandramukhi’s glamour. Everything about Chandramukhi was more elaborate and in-your-face. At the same time nothing about her was gaudy.
Audiences expected a jugalbandi between Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri Dixit?
I cast them because somewhere inside him Devdas looked for his Paro in Chandramukhi. The two women may appear diametrically different. But somewhere they came together in their personalities, at least in Devdas’ mind. In terms of beauty grace, screen presence and commitment to the craft, I feel Aishwarya begins where Madhuri leaves off, just as Madhuri began where Hema Malini left off . They’re wonderfully graceful dancers who never look unbecoming, no matter how cheap the movements.
I’ve seen your special bonding with Aishwarya on the sets.
Aishwarya will always be very special for me. I feel very very close her. We’ll always have our differences of opinion. But we love each other immensely . On camera…my God! She generates so much power. The colour of her eyes keep changing according to the mood of the scene. Aishwarya is fragile and strong. But Madhuri is equally fantastic. It was always my dream to work with her. I want to thank her for making my dream come true. I can do so many films with her, but I can’t. I don’t know what her future plans are. Devdas was one of her best performance. It was so delicate and yet so mature.
What were the vibes like when the two actresses shared screen space?
There was no sense of oneupmanship between them . Even when they were dancing together there was so much empathy and good vibes between them. I was never given reason to feel any bad blood between them. I was petrified when I had to shoot their song and dance together. Not that they weren’t aware of what the other was doing. But it wasn’t a negative looking- over- the- shoulder. If any one of the two actresses had tried a toppling game she’d have fallen flat. There was no such feeling on the sets.
But when you have two such magnetic maquee maharanis together there’s bound to an edge of competitiveness?
Believe me, I never felt it I’m not saying they weren’t conscious of each other’s presence or abilities. When one of them would come out of her van the other would look her over, but not in any negative way. Ash and Madhuri got along together like two sisters sharing the same house. Of course there was an edge of competitiveness between them, like there was between Salman Khan and Ajay Devgan in Hum …Dil De Chuke Sanam. But my actors never play games with each other. I guess I’m lucky.
You know there was so much of Devdas’s pain and suffering in Ajay Devgan’s character in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. Why didn’t you cast him as Devdas?
Ajay’s character was my starting point to make Devdas. I slowly moved towards this film from there. But having gone through the process with Ajay, there was no challenge or excitement in casting him again in a similar role. It would have been process of continuation instead of creation. With Shah Rukh it was a completely new experience. I wanted my Devdas to be a simple, volatile, man-child who’s angry and mean and yet has a sad streak that shimmers in his eyes. Shah Rukh as Devdas could convey shades of anger and self-destruction. I feel any humanbeing who can’t control his anger ultimately destroys his creative energy . Being a good human being Devdas would rather destroy himself than others who love him. “I can’t destroy Paro or Chandramukhi, so I’ll destroy myself,” is what my Devdas feels. Shah Rukh seemed just right. And I was right.
How do you rate his performance?
He’s flawless. Shah Rukh understood the character without losing his spontaneity. Obviously the pressures of matching up to Saigal Saab and Dilip Saab were there. But he never allowed them to bog him down. I don’t know what to say about him. I had my doubts before working with him. But it’s his most endearing and honest performance. After seeing him you’d want to embrace him. The performance came amidst all his personal problems. He was able to project the personal turmoil on screen. If I were to make Devdas again I’d still cast only Shah Rukh.
And why did you cast Aishwarya again after Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam?
If Paro was anything like Aishwarya’s Nandini in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam then I’d have never cast her. For me any actor has to be explored differently to be cast again.
And Jackie Shroff as Chunnilal?
He was an absolute jaan . He’s such a wonderful person in real life. He’s a Chunnilal in real life. Whatever he does he does in style. He’s always on his own trip. He lives life king-sized, no questions asked.
How different was your Devdas from the ones we’ve seen so far?
For me the starting point to make Devdas was Devdas’s dying moment when he said , “Paro”. That fascinated me. Here was a character who loved completely and endlessly. That made him a very honest character . That honesty compounded with an abrasive and mean streak made him a child-man. Devdas wasn’t afraid to show his emotions. There’re so many contradictions to his character. I haven’t tried to unravel those contradictions. He’s enigmatic and that’s the way I let him remain. Otherwise, where’s the justification for him destroying himself so completely?
How different was your Devdas from Bimal Roy’s?
Mine was more vocal and expressive. In that sense he’s closer to K.L.Saigal’s Devdas who broke alcohol bottles to express his rage. Dilip Saab’s Devdas held it all inside, refused to express his frustration.
How much did you have to design your Devdas to accommodate Shah Rukh Khan’s personality?
Not at all. I agree Devdas was a very restless man like Shah Rukh. But Devdas is a man who does very little. The challenge of having Shah Rukh express implosive rage was what got me interested. If I let Devdas behave like Shah Rukh he’d be a lot more mobile on screen. Unlike the Shah Rukh Khan in Darr, Baazigar , Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge there’s an amazing childlike vulnerability and honesty in Shah Rukh of Devdas . When my Devdas looks at his mother he looks as a child not a man. To me Devdas is as honest a child in his emotions. Unlike the character in the novel he never disguises his emotions . He doesn’t calculate his emotional expressions. He’s uncorrupted. That’s the most endearing part of his personality. He’ll always be the archetypal lover because he’s innocent . And we crave that innocence in our life.
How apprehensive were you that the audience might take some time empathizing with your film like its music?
Anything different takes time. But if I gave too much thought to my apprehensions I’d have never made Devdas. The magic of the novel can never go unrecognized. But yes I was apprehensive . The film took a huge budget and two-and-a-half-years of Himalayan struggle. I never wavered in my determination. I feel good about Devdas. When I look at it now I say, “But how did this happen!”. I don’t know where the creative energy came from. Not once did I think about, “Yeh ab kitna chalega?” It was serious cinema. I was offering a very serious literary work in an acceptable and approachable style. Devdas can never perish. 50 years down the line some other filmmaker would be making it.