Shah Rukh Khan announces he acquired the rights of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Devdas, recalls the film facing financial issues during its making

Reflecting on the film’s legacy, Shah Rukh Khan shared insights into the challenges and triumphs of bringing this epic love story to the screen. With over 18 film versions already in existence, including the legendary Dilip Kumar starrer, the pressure to deliver a fresh interpretation was immense. “By the time I got to see the film, I think they’d made 18 films based on the same novel, or 20, and lots of other plays and songs,” he added. Shah Rukh recalls his peers discouraging him from acting in the film as it was a contrast to the earlier characters he had played. “By the time Sanjay Leela Bhansali wanted to make this film, I think the general sentiment in India was that it felt outdated. The country was undergoing a cultural shift towards a more liberalized mindset, with audiences increasingly gravitating towards lighter, commercial fare like college musicals,” he shared.

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Making a film as big as Devdas, with opulent sets and intricate costumes, had its known set of challenges. SRK also shed light on the film’s production, revealing that it was plagued by financial woes and overran both budget and schedule. Despite these challenges, he found the experience fulfilling, particularly as a tribute to his mother, a fervent admirer of the original story.

 

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“It was the most expensive film being made in India so it went through its own share of troubles. Money issues, and producers vanishing, we had to complete the film in a few days. It went overtime, over budget, but I had a great time doing the film because I felt it kind of was a tribute… memory to my mother who loved the film. A lot of actors in Mumbai told me not to do the film. ‘This is not your zone. You are more pop culture’. But I really wanted to do this because it was some kind of fulfilling of an unfinished dream and for my mother’s love. We showed it to Dilip Kumar also and he appreciated it. I give all the credit to the director, Sanjay Leela Bhansali,” he stressed.

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The film’s opulent visuals and grand scale required unprecedented resources. Shah Rukh recalled, “We used to have 90 gen sets on the sets at one time to light up the area, and there were no generators left in the city of Mumbai because it had to be lit up so much. Very opulent, very lavish, very rich and very big and the costumes and the drama and everything of it.”

 

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Ater praising his co-actors Aishwarya Rai, Madhuri Dixit and Jackie Shroff, Shah Rukh spoke about playing the titular character. “I was good in it. As you always wanted to play stalk characters.. an alcoholic and I fitted into the character. I had never worn such an intricate Indian garb before.” But wearing a dhoti-kurta was far from easy. “Very difficult to walk, to keep from falling many times. You had to tie it along, and you need a specialist to tie after some times when I couldn’t tie it because it kept falling off in between the shots,” Khan said, referring to the sarong-like dhoti he had to wear around his waist. “So, I got a zipper, which is blasphemous, but… I was always so worried that it’ll fall off while I’m doing the scene,” he joked.

Shah Rukh Khan called Devdas a “modern-day masterpiece”, which went on to attain cult status and gain international recognition. “It does define a lot of Indian cinema (through) its opulence and its beauty, and its larger than life-ness, its theatrics. So, it is a very dialogue-oriented, very dramatic musical film that you will see. And there are some outstanding dance center pieces, I think, some of the best that I’ve ever shot in the world.”