For Parvati, Devdas symbolises the adorable rebel from a feudal family who breaks rules only to come back to them in the end, proving that he is no rebel after all. For Chandramukhi, Devdas represents the generosity that characterises a prince who wills himself to self-destruction through excess. Devdas failed to offer social respectability to the two women in his life. Somewhere down the line, the audience forgot to draw the line between the Devdas they saw on screen and Pramathesh Barua, the real man who was merely playing out a role. Never before or since, has any screen character meshed so completely, so seamlessly and so ideally with the actor who brought the character to life on celluloid.