In the United States, our film industry chooses to adopt novels several times on film if they’re seminal classics—The Great Gatsby, Pride & Prejudice, The Shining, to name a few. But this also happens in foreign film industries.
Devdas is the third adaptation of the 1917 novel of the same name, and the film celebrates its 15th anniversary this year. This particular version of the story of a wealthy lawyer returning from London to marry his childhood sweetheart only to have the marriage rejected by his family stars Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai, two of the biggest international film stars on the planet. That star power propelled the films to critical and box office success. It’s also a veritable cornucopia of color, with director Sanjay Leela Bhansali employing highly saturated hues throughout the musical romantic tragedy.
