Devdas Ending-The final goodbye

Story:

Childhood sweethearts, Devdas and Parvati grow up in a small village with a love-hate relationship which changes to love when they mature. Devdas' dad does not approve of his marriage or even any friendship with Paro, and sends him away to Calcutta where he is introduced to a dancer, Chandramukhi, who adores him and falls hopelessly in love with him. Devdas in not aware of Chandramukhi's affection and love for him, as most of his time is spent in a alcoholic stupor, and love for Parvati.

Technicians:

Directed by	Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Produced by	Red Chillies Entertainment Bharat Shah
Screenplay by	Prakash Kapadia
Based on	Devdas by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay
Starring	Shah Rukh Khan ad Devdas Mukherjee Madhuri Dixit as Chandramukhi Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as Parvati Chakraborty Jackie Shroff as Chunnilal Kirron Kher as Sumitra Chakraborty Smita Jaykar as Kaushalya Mukherjee Milind Gunaji as Kalibabu
Music by	Ismail Darbar
Cinematography	Binod Pradhan
Edited by	Bela Sehgal
Production company	Mega Bollywood Pvt.Ltd Red Chillies Entertainment

Devdas released in 2002 and it was the talk of the town at that point. I was 5 years old  and was really young and immature to understand the film completely. What i really was gobsmacked by ,were the sets, Aishwariya Rai and Dola re song.
The film also was received well by western audiences alike and was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Language Film and was also India's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It was ranked #74 in Empire magazines "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema" in 2010. Time Magazine named Devdas as the best movie of 2002 among all the movies released around the world that year. The film was recently included in Time Magazine's top 10 movies of the millennium worldwide.
I re-watched the film 2 years back , only to realize that it's not just an inspired adaptation Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel 'Devdas' but it is a more of a Sanjay Leela Bhansali film. Since then i have watched this film more than 4 times just to realize how much i love this film. There is so much depth and intensity in the film. It is filled with multiple underlying currents and motifs, and each time i have watched this film, i have come across something new in it. But the most fascinating part of this film is its climax.
Every now and then i keep watching the film's climax and i have always been taken aback by it's aesthetic value.It actually summarizes Devdas-Paro's relationship. It never fails to leave me emotional or surpirsed, each time i watch the climax. There is a lot more than what one sees, and for me this is the victory of SLB as a filmmaker. He not only uses the background music as a powerful tool in depicting the ending, but also the cinematography,performances,screenplay to show the real love of Devdas-Paro till the end.

The Climax:

The climax begins by Paro being informed by one of his step-son that the man who has been lying outside their house is Devdas Mukherjee. Paro is shocked to hear this starts running towards her beloved Dev(Devdas). We can see the bright ,huge red-colored curtains swaying restlessly as if there is a bad news for Paro. The choice of the color of the curtain is also interesting, they are red colored. Godess Durga is associated Red color, that is the color of love and destruction(blood). And Parvati's other name is Durga.

Even Paro's saree has a broad red colored border in it. Paro also wears a big red bindi(very common in traditional bengali women) and sindoor. Also the scar that she has is very visible on her face, is also red colored. But most importantly it's her eyes that turn red with anger,grief and angst when she learns about Devdas's arrival at her mansion.
The scar is symbolic of Devdas getting married Paro, if not with all rituals and customs but symbolically they have accepted each other as life-partners. In the song 'Humesha Tumko Chaha', Devdas hurts Paro, that leaves a scar on her forehead. The blood is wiped out vertically by Devdas making put the vermilion on her face. Interestingly, Paro is dressed as a bride, as she was getting married to the zamindar, but actually it is Devdas who marries her, not really the zamindar. That scar is not just a scar for Paro but its a symbol of love and bondage from Devdas.

 Coming back, The surroundings during the climax seem to have the color of red too..

Paro always lit a diya, in the name of Devdas. It was her way of showing love,affection,respect and longing for him. While Paro starts running towards Devdas, we see the flame of the diya, also swaying with Paro, as if the diya understands Paro's pain.

The diya also stood for Devdas and his life. It is also her hidden love for Devdas in the diya. This is described in the introductory song of Paro , 'Silsila yeh chahat ka' , 

Silsila yeh chaahat ka na maine bujhne diya, ho, hmm
Silsila yeh chaahat ka na maine bujhne diya
O Piya, yeh diya na bujha hai, na bujhega
Meri chaahat ka diya
and later in the song,
O piya yeh diya chaahe jitna sataaye tujhe yeh saawan
Yeh hawa aur yeh bijliyaan
Mere piya ab aaja re mere piya
Ho, mere piya ab aaja re mere piya.....

Just imagine the way SLB has operated everything and has co-related so many parts of the film in the climax. It's fascinating to see there is someone like him who really understand pure,true love and all its aspects.
Paro is now running towards Devdas who is having his last moments of his life and has come to have just a glimpse of her. We see that Paro's saree is swaying violently with her. The white color symbolizes of Paro and red color is Devdas, and together they complete each other. Without either of the two, they will remain incomplete in their lives and in their love.

Now comes my most favourite part, when Paro Running through the pillars, she and Devdas are reminded of how their parents(extending to the society) had separated them in their childhood. Then, Devdas had left to London for studying, but now he is going away, forever. Paro knows that he'll never come back. Paro's saree represents their marriage (Devdas and paro) and love. It is now swaying which means, one of them is getting separated again for eternity.

This sequence of the climax is aesthetically most beautifully shot ,i have ever come across in any of the other film's climaxes. There is pain, pathos, desperation, angst and of course suffering in both Devdas and Paro's faces.
Also Devdas is lying on a bed of red flowers. These flowers symbolizes him and his love for Paro. No matter whatever happens, he will not go without seeing Paro.

Now the final moments are coming closer, Paro is running towards Mansion's gate, where just infront, Devdas is lying, his hand is stretched out so that he can meet Paro before he dies. Zamindar orders his servants to close the gate while Paro is running towards Devdas. We see, that Paro's footprints are imprinted on the floor(that also red in color) symbolizing of the fact that Dev-Paro's love story will be imprinted in the history forever and they will always be remembered as true lovers.

Even the streamlined lane she is running matches with colors of her saree.

And Paro is running on the centre red colored design(Rangoli pattern). It is as if she is going through a test(Agnipareeksha), to prove her love.  There are huge fountains on either side of the surface. They signify the sadness and tears of Devdas-Paro's love story.

Now, in the final moments, Devdas sees Paro approaching towards him but unfortunately the gates are closed before she could make it. At the same moment, Devdas dies and the diya flame goes off. Devdas has gone forever and Paro has lost her one and only love. Here, the gates represent the society(or the families of Dev and Paro) who don't want them to be together. Earlier in the film, this society separates them when Devdas is leaving Paro, when is going to abroad for education, later the society separates them when Paro marries the Zamindar and finally the same society separates Devdas-Paro forever as Devdas dies near Paro's mansion. Point to be noted, the gates are also maroon( a shade of red) colored which represents destruction(Devdas has been destroyed forever).

In many interviews SLB has said that the inspiration for the climax of this film comes from his own parents tragic, unhappy love story. His father, before dying had let his hand out to his mother but he died even before his mother could reach him. A lot of this film is born out of SLB's personal experiences. That is why may be it is more of a SLB film than anything else.

Devdas Climax scene

Trivia: 

The climax of the Devdas(2002) is the longest as compared to other versions of Devdas and was shot in broad daylight. The other versions were shot at night(same in the novel as well).
I keep watching this ending again and again, at the cost me being hurt and sad but makes me delighted to see SLB soar as a director with every aspect of filming this scene. And those who feel it is melodramtic, long and useless, can have their own opinions but they can never run away from SLB's fine direction sensibilities and his aesthetics. The 'Are..Óh Deva' line will keep haunting me forever.

Anila Velidimalla