Devdas

'Devdas' is a beautifully made film and it has not one but two of the most memorable women characters of Indian literature - Paro and Chandramukhi.

In Indian culture, they have come to represent two ends of the social spectrum. While Paro is a respectable woman from a Brahmin family, Chandramukhi is a prostitute, a social outcaste. The difference between their social position and inner nature is vocalized by Devdas himself:

“Tum dono me kitna fark hai aur fir bhi tum kitni ek si ho. Ek badi khuddar aur chanchal, dusri shant aur gambheer. Wo kuch bhi nahi seh sakti, aur tum sab kuch seh guzarti ho. Uski kitni izzat hai aur tum kitni badnaam ho. Use sabhi pyar karte hain aur tumse nafrat…”

 

(You are so different, yet so similar to each other. One so proud and impulsive, other so quiet and serious. She cannot bear anything, and you can tolerate everything. She is so well-respected, and you are so infamous. Everyone loves her, and you everyone hates.)

Though their places in society are so distinct and disparate, they both suffer equally in love, and that is essentially the story of Devdas.

Paro

There are a few instances in Paro’s story that reveal her inner being.

When she sees that her family might marry her off to someone else, she decides to take matters in her own hand and goes to meet Devdas at two in the night. In doing so, she puts at stake everything, most importantly her social image. But she does it with her head held high, without any qualms. She was clearly a woman capable of leaving everything for love.

Everything, but perhaps not her self-respect. When Devdas later expresses his inability to accept her, she is hurt beyond measure, and she decides to not marry him. What Devdas sees as her pride, is only her assertion to be accepted as an equal.

Devdas: Itna ahankar!

Paro: Kyu na ho? Tum ahankar kar sakte ho, mai nahi kar sakti? Tum me roop hai, par gun nahi. Mujhme roop hai, aur gun bhi hai.

(Devdas: Such pride!

Paro: Why should I not be proud? If you can show pride, can’t I? You have beauty, but not quality. I have beauty as well as quality.)

What happens next is astonishing and perhaps acceptable only as a literary expression of some sort. Devdas raises his stick and hits Paro on the face to blemish her beauty, of which he thinks she is so proud. In my opinion, this kind of a scene sends a very wrong message. It says that if a woman does not accept your wishes, she should be tamed, by hitting even. 

In an earlier scene also something similar happens. When Devdas and Paro are children, Devdas very easily slaps her and makes her cry, even though Paro is only trying to love him. He thinks its perfectly fine to do so and even Paro is ready to accept him later. This shows how beating up women has become so acceptable in our culture and women have been conditioned to accept it. 

So, even though Paro has immense self-respect, she is still a product of social conditioning. She believes that it is fine for a woman to be at the feet of the man she loves. After her marriage to the Zamindar of Manikpur, she tells Devdas to visit her so that she has the fortune of serving him. Servitude and submissiveness were the expressions of love for women of her time.

Chandramukhi

Chandramukhi is no different in her beliefs. She too is a woman of her times.

When Devdas meets her for the first time, he seems disgusted by her. He is not enchanted by her beauty, rather he feels repelled by her profession. He perhaps considers her an impure woman, not worthy of any social association. This reflects society’s view of women like her and sadly it has not changed much over the years. 

But Chandramukhi shows profound understanding for Devdas’ repulsion. Instead of shunning him, she senses that he is saddened to see her condition and would want her to leave her profession and live a more dignified life. She is moved by this and begins to love him.

If Paro was willing to leave everything for Devdas, Chandramukhi actually left everything for him. This is the most extraordinary thing about her character. She gives up her profession and goes away from Calcutta. She tries to live an ordinary life in a village, in the hope of meeting Devdas' expectations.

She eventually manages to achieve his acceptance and affection, though not permanently and never completely, because his heart is set on Paro. But she is happy to have made a place in his heart. Vyajayanthimala has portrayed her character with a lot of sensitivity.

The great thing about her portrayal is that it invokes genuine respect and sympathy in the heart of the viewer, perhaps a little more than Paro, because while Paro was out of Devdas' reach after her marriage, Chandramukhi could be his, and yet he cannot accept her because his heart is set on Paro.

It's a pity that the two women never meet each other, at least not in Bimal Roy's version. They just have a glimpse of each other in one dramatic scene, which stays with the viewers long after the film is over.