20 years of ‘Devdas’: Makers say film sparks love, longing and romance even today

As Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s magnum opus 'Devdas' clocked 20 years on Tuesday, the team behind the 2002 film cherished creating a "melancholic yet poetic" piece of art.

Based on Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay's 1917 novel of the same name, the period drama featured superstar Shah Rukh Khan in the titular role.

Bhansali's production banner celebrated the milestone in a post on Instagram, along with throwback posters of the film.

"Devdas is mystical. Devdas is melancholic yet poetic. Devdas is a character and a film so special that it sparks love, longing & romance within us even today... Devdas, 20 years later still stands for all this and a lot more! Here’s celebrating #20YearsOfDevdas,” read the post by Bhansali Productions.

In the movie, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan played Devdas' childhood sweetheart Paro and Madhuri Dixit Nene essayed the role of courtesan Chandramukhi, who lends support to Devdas as he descends into alcohol after Paro gets married to a much older man, Bhuvan Choudhry.

Dixit Nene also marked the occasion by sharing a picture of hers from 'Devdas', which was posted by one of her fans, on Instagram Stories.

"Thank you for being such a big fan," the actor wrote with a heart emoji.

'Devdas' was written by Bhansali and Prakash Ranjit Kapadia.

Chattopadhyay's novel has been adapted for the big screen many times, with filmmaker Bimal Roy's 1955 classic starring Dilip Kumar, and KL Saigal's 1936 version being the most popular ones.

Bhansali’s “Devdas” had its world premiere at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival, where it was screened out of competition.

Upon its release in India, the film received a positive response and won many accolades, including five National Awards -- best popular film providing wholesome entertainment, best playback singer for Shreya Ghoshal, production design for Nitin Desai, best choreography for Saroj Khan and best costume design for Neeta Lulla, Abu Jani, Sandeep Khosla and Reza Shariffi.