Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Devdas, adapted from Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s novel, stands as one of the landmark films in Indian cinema and also in Shah Rukh Khan’s filmography. At the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland, Shah Rukh Khan revealed how Bhansali convinced him to accept the role, despite SRK being reluctant, because he thought he was “too cool” to play Devdas.
Speaking of Devdas, SRK said, “It’s been remade in the country many times and it’s about a guy who’s an alcoholic, doesn’t commit to a girl, goes away. I could not find any essence in it at my age. Many years later, when Mr. Sanjay Leela Bansali, who I think is one of the most talented filmmakers of our times, he came down and he said, I want you to do Devdas.”
Shah Rukh revealed that his initial reaction was a no. “I said, no, he’s a loser, an alcoholic. I’m too cool to be Devdas! So, it kind of petered out, and then before leaving, he just said one thing, which still sticks with me. He said, ‘I’ll not make this film if not with you, because your eyes are like Devdas.’ So I said, okay. He said, ‘I would not cast anyone.’ And for a year he didn’t. Then we met again, and I said, ‘Okay, if you can’t find eyes like mine, I’ll do the film.’”
Shah Rukh also said that he doesn’t want anyone to look up to Devdas, even though the enactment was nice. “I don’t like to play characters which demean women. I’ll be honest. I didn’t want him to be liked for the reason in the film that he, you know, sort of, this is a woman and doesn’t commit to her. I wanted him to come across as a person who’s a bit of a spineless person. It’s not somebody you should look up to.”
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