Shreya Ghoshal made her playback singing debut, following her 2000 meeting with Bhansali at a contest in Sa Re Ga Ma Pa.

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

It stars Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Dixit, while Kirron Kher, Smita Jaykar and Vijayendra Ghatge play supporting roles.

[6][7] The film was released in theatres worldwide on 12 July 2002, proved to be a commercial success, and received mixed response from critics.

While the composing of Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam required Darbar to do much research, he wanted to create the music for Devdas "straight from the heart".

Darbar called the film's soundtrack "not even 5 [percent] of Bhansali's interpretation" and said he "wanted the music to match these heights without bothering if it had the required Bengali flavor.

She first met Bhansali on 9 March 2000, while she participated in a contest from a children's episode of the musical game show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa.

"[15] Darbar suggested Bhansali use Dixit's vocals for the song "Kaahe Chhed", although he was initially uncertain about Maharaj's opinion.

Rajeev Chaurasia, the associate director of the television channel MTV India, was appreciative of the soundtrack and described Ghoshal's rendition from "Bairi Piya" as "brilliant".

The channel managed music airplay and special shows for Devdas—featuring the film's behind-the-scenes, interviews of Bhansali and meet-and-greets with Shah Rukh Khan—through June and July 2002.

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

"[17] Rediff.com's Sukanya Verma noted that the soundtrack's "old world charm, classical connotations and complex melody makes it exquisite", speaking of how the songs are "like a good bouquet.

"[13] In a review published by the BBC, Shamaila Khan rated Devdas nine-out-of-ten stars, writing that it "has the same classical touches that Darbar's last album did".

[32] Joginder Tuteja of Bollywood Hungama opined that Darbar's compositions and Badr's lyrics are "classical-based" and "very rich", respectively, while adding that the former does "a commendable job".

[33] Kavita Awasathi from B4U, who gave a rating of four stars, shared similar thoughts of Darbar, with her elaborating that he "has once again weaved magic [and] done an admirable job here".

[38] The New Sunday Express' film critic Baradwaj Rangan found "[t]he 'Bairi Piya' picturisation alone shows more about the Devdas–Paro relationship—his arrogance and temper, her deference and penchant for teasing him—than reams of exposition would have.

"[40] Paresh C. Palicha, reviewing for The Hindu, wrote that it "deserve a special mention" and said that Badr "gives a true musical feel".

"[61]Rai Bachchan and Dixit performed "Dola Re Dola" at the Unforgettable Tour in 2008 and critics commended them;[62][63] Jon Caramanica from The New York Times called it "one of the night's most stirring",[64] with Nicky Loomis of the Los Angeles Times adding that they had performed "some of the most graceful traditional Indian-style moves of the evening".