Devdas is a 2002 Indian Hindi-language period romantic drama film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and produced by Bharat Shah under his banner, Mega Bollywood.

Based on the 1917 novel of the same name by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, the film narrates the story of Devdas Mukherjee (Khan), a wealthy law graduate who returns from London to marry his childhood friend, Parvati "Paro" (Rai).

[9] When asked by a Times of India interviewer about why he based the film on the novel, he said that it was "the most widely read story", and added, "I thought it would be a fascinating challenge for me [...] to present already known and loved characters, in my very own way, with my perspective.

[25] Having watched his performances while assisting Vidhu Vinod Chopra in 1942: A Love Story (1994), Bhansali stated that he was "extremely happy" after Shah Rukh Khan accepted to star in the film.

"[34] Ghatge portrays Paro's husband Bhuvan, a forty-old-year zamindar; he said that Bhansali initially wanted him to play a role opposite Kher (he did not mention specifically).

[36] In October 2000, Jackie Shroff joined the cast and made an extended cameo appearance, playing Devdas' friend Chunnilal (a role that was declined by Govinda, Manoj Bajpayee, and Saif Ali Khan).

[18][37][38] The production design of Devdas led by Nitin Chandrakant Desai (Bhansali's collaborator in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam),[18][39] with between sixty and one hundred assistants, including Pune-based architect Dheeraj Alkokar, helped him in several constructions.

[43] As the film is set in the 1900s, Bhansali, Desai and other crews did extensive research and discussions on house design from the period of the British Raj in Calcutta and Indian culture at the time.

[2] For representing an aristocratic family, he was predominantly used the colors yellow and green for Devdas' no-walls in-between house to make it a 1911 British-styled home, and used between 128 and 180 pillars (this was inconsistently reported), each 60-foot (18 m) high.

"[43] According to India Today's journalists, 1.22 million pieces for Paro's bedroom's stained glass were continuously made in ten days;[2] Alkokar claimed that it is aimed to "reflect her fragile beauty".

[40] A number of painted walls with standstill figures were created for Paro's mansion, features in the film post her marriage to Bhuvan, and, this time for the primary color, Desai chose "claustrophobic" red.

[51][49] For the former, which features in the film following the character's study in London, Jani and Khosla bought vintage suits, including cravat, handkerchief, and shoes, from old-clothing stores in the same city.

"[30] Lulla gave the mix-and-match product of 600 saris—with traditional motifs of Kantha and traditional-striped borders, called chudipaard and aashpaard—to her for the film's first half; according to reports from the media, it was revealed that each saris took around three hours to drape on a mannequin.

[47] Dixit believed that Devdas and the two previous versions "are entirely different", and commended Bhansali's "mounting, eye for detail [and] passion" for "[helping] raise the movie to an absolutely [dissimilar] level altogether".

[54][55] The lengha was described as a 'marvel of mirrors which took a team of skilled artisans two months to put together[8] and featured as part of 'The Fabric of India' exhibit held in 2015 at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

[69][70] The vocals were performed by Dixit, Jaspinder Narula, Kavita Krishnamurthy, KK, Maharaj, Raghav Chatterjee, Rashmi Sharma, Shreya Ghoshal, Supriya Adhikari, Udit Narayan and Vinod Rathod.

[74] Writing for India Today, S. Sahaya Ranjit singled out Ghoshal's "tuneful voice" and concluded, "In an age when film music is heavily westernised, the use of Indian instruments ... is pleasing.

"[84] Devdas was one of the most anticipated Indian films of the year, owing to its budget and the success of Bhansali's previous directorial venture, and several trade analysts regarded it as "a massive gamble".

[135] Writing for The New Sunday Express, Baradwaj Rangan wrote that the film was dominated with the "most-elaborate" costumes and spoke positively of how Dixit "effortlessly combines allure and sacrifice".

The magazine saw that Bhansali turned the film into "a tale of female bonding, between a head-strong Paro ... and Chandramukhi", and observed of how its dialogues "are declamatory with mixed metaphors and play of words aplenty", comparing it to Mughal-e-Azam (1960) and Pakeezah.

"[143] Komal Nahta, giving it eight out of ten stars, was impressed with Khan's "mind-blowing" performance, commending him for playing his role "with such finesse and aplomb that it is sheer delight to watch him.

He lauded Khan for "[excelling] in the role of his lifetime", noting that "he shows a tendency to go overboard in the scenes where he is shown in an inebriated state ..."[147] Ratna Rajaiah (also from The Hindu) hailed the film was an "outstanding example of brilliant cinematic techniques and technology", and according to her, Devdas was "a fabulous, sumptuous, glittering tribute to the lofty ideal of romantic love where almost every frame leaves you gasping at its immaculately, painstaking orchestrated beauty.

[154] Patrick Z. McGavin of the Chicago Tribune said that it "welds a powerful technical sophistication with a deeply emotional story that moves starkly from joyous exuberance to epic tragedy", and felt Bhansali had brilliantly directed the film, "[layering] abstract stylization with a charged dramatic construction".

[162] Derek Elley of Variety summarized, "By contrast, Bhansali's reworking, in splashy color and widescreen, cranks up the fantasy elements, piles on the melodrama and shears back most of the novel's plot.

"[163] Reviewing for the Radio Times, David Parkinson, giving the rating of three stars, reported Dixit had made an "exhilarating presence" in Devdas and commented that the film was "gorgeous" and "epic".

He observed that Rai "dimply and doe-eyed, coos and trills like an asthmatic mynah bird" and saw that she failed to made a chemistry with Khan, later arguing that the film "wastes the talent of its cast".

[173] Although the reviews were generally mixed, Devdas was highly successful at the box office in India and overseas, due to its cast's performances, costumes, dialogues, narrative style, and sound design.

[192] When the 75th Academy Awards was held on 23 March 2003 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, the film was not nominated and the FFI was blamed by journalists, including Gautaman Bhaskaran of The Hindu, who called their decision "shortsighted", "almost mulish" and "has been extremely detrimental for Indian cinema".

[222] Most properties from the film, including pieces of glass from the scene in which Shah Rukh Khan's character breaking his alcohol bottle after getting drunk, were offered for purchase on several Indian auction websites.

[227] Also that year, Filmfare included Rai's costumes in their listing of "10 Shades of Beauty", elaborating, "From her jewellery to her pallu, all her styling was given intricate details which made this Paro look flawless.