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regular-article-logo Thursday, 25 April 2024

'My Name is not Devdas': Book reimagines Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's 1917 classic

The story is set in the college campuses of the national capital

PTI New Delhi Published 15.09.22, 04:45 PM
Bengali novelist Chattopadhyay wrote the classic over a 100 years ago.

Bengali novelist Chattopadhyay wrote the classic over a 100 years ago. File Picture

An upcoming novel "My Name is not Devdas" turns Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's well-loved literary classic "Devdas" on its head as it sets the love triangle in the college campuses of the national capital.

Written by screenwriter-author Aayush Gupta, the contemporary reimagining of the iconic novel is touted to be a "fast-paced, savagely funny" novel where the titular character is not the tragic lover of yore and Paro -- his forbidden childhood sweetheart -- is not the spurned woman.

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September 15 marks the birth anniversary of the popular Bengali novelist Chattopadhyay, who wrote the classic over a 100 years ago.

"It is set in campuses that resemble warzones, flitting in and out of the defining movements of student consciousness in the last decade, affecting relationships that survive on a mutual adherence to 'isms'.

"This in equal parts is the story of Devdas, Paro and Chandramukhi, and their struggle to overcome identity in the pursuit of happiness," said Gupta, whose debut novel "Toppers", a young adult political thriller, was published in 2016.

From KL Saigal, Dilip Kumar, Shah Rukh Khan to Abhay Deol, several Indian actors have essayed the role of Devdas in era-defining film adaptations. Gupta's book is billed as a one-of-its kind literary adaptation of the 1917 novel.

"My Name is not Devdas", as much a product of its time as the original was of its own, is the "story of a self-destructive generation, absolute in its beliefs, convinced of its own righteousness, and doomed to repeat the mistakes of its antecedents".

It follows the three characters -- Devdas, Paro and Chandramukhi -- as they traverse the ideologically divided landscape of Delhi's college campuses.

According to publishing house HarperCollins India, the book is a "tragic tale told with savage humour", as the terrible tales of our times perhaps deserve to be.

"Over the years, Devdas has become something of a trope -- for unrequited love, for longing, for pain, for self-destruction.

"In 'My Name Is Not Devdas', the hugely talented Aayush Gupta takes the century-old triangle of Devdas, Paro and Chandramukhi and brilliantly sets their story in today's Delhi -- so that the angst, turmoil and lack of self-fulfilment that haunts the characters is familiar, yet completely contemporary," said Udayan Mitra, executive publisher at HarperCollins India.

The book, slated to release on October 25, is available for pre-order online.

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