| Director | Bimal Roy |
|---|---|
| Budget | ₹50 lakh |
| Box office | ₹1 crore |
Devdas is a young man from a Minor Zamindar Bengali family in India in the rural Bengal of the early 1900s. Parvati, known as Paro, is a young woman from a lower caste but middle-class Bengali Brahmin family with less affluence and status. The two families live in a village, and Devdas and Paro were childhood friends.
Devdas leaves for some years to study at a boarding school in Calcutta (now Kolkata). When, after finishing school, Devdas (Dilip Kumar) returns to the village, Paro (Suchitra Sen) looks forward to their childhood love leading to marriage. According to the prevailing social custom, Paro's parents would have to approach Devdas' parents and propose marriage.
When Paro's grandmother (Sarita Devi) makes the proposal to Devdas' mother (Pratima Devi), the latter rejects her. To demonstrate his own social status, Paro's father, Nilkant (Shivraj) then finds an even richer husband for Paro.
When Paro learns of her planned marriage, she risks her honor to meet Devdas at night, desperately believing that Devdas will quickly accept her hand in marriage. Devdas meekly seeks his parents' permission to marry Paro, but Devdas' family forbids it.
In a weak-minded state, Devdas flees to Calcutta, and from there, he writes a letter to Paro, saying that they were only friends and there was no love between them. Soon, realizing his mistake, he goes back to the village and tells Paro that he is ready to do anything needed to save their love.
By now, Paro's marriage plans are at an advanced stage, and she declines to go back to Devdas and chides him for his cowardice and vacillation. Parvati's marriage is finalized with a wealthy zamindar and widower (Moni Chatterjee) with children older than his young second wife-to-be.
In Calcutta, Devdas' carousing friend, Chunni Babu (Motilal), introduces him to a tawaif named Chandramukhi (Vyjayanthimala). Devdas takes to heavy drinking at her house, but she falls in love with him and nurses him. His health deteriorates because of a combination of excessive drinking and despair — a drawn-out form of suicide. He frequently mentally compares Paro and Chandramukhi, remaining ambivalent as to whom he really loves.
Sensing his fast-approaching death, Devdas returns to meet Paro to fulfill a vow to see her before he dies. He dies at her doorstep on a dark, cold night. On hearing of the death of Devdas, Paro runs towards the door, disregarding "purdah", but her family members prevent her from stepping outside.