16 years of Devdas: Did you know these 16 things about the film?

Known as this generation’s K. Asif, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s magnum opus ‘Devdas’ (2003) was projection of his grand vision and scintillating canvas on celluloid.

As the movie completes 16 years today, we at Deccan Chronicle take a look at the 16 unknown facts of the movie. Here they are:

1. The film is based on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s novel from the early 90s, ‘Devdas’ and is touted as an adaptation of the classic love tragedy ‘Romeo and Juliet’.

2. It was the first time Sanjay Leela Bhansali spent whooping Rs. 50 crore for overall production. Back then it was considered one of the most expensive Hindi films ever made with Rs. 20 crore spent on six sets itself!

3. Interestingly, Aishwarya Rai walked the Cannes Film Festival red carpet, one of her most looked-forward-to event, for the first time representing ‘Devdas’ in 2002. In 2017, the actress once again was the face of the film as part of L'Oréal Paris Open Air Cinema.

4. The Sanjay Leela Bhansali directorial has been termed India’s official entry into the Oscars.

5. Moreover, ‘Devdas’ was included in Time Magazine's top 10 movies of the millennium worldwide.

6. 'Silsila Yeh Chahat Ka' became so popular that musical duo Chase and Status sampled it for their song 'Eastern Jam', while Snoop Dogg also sampled the same song for his song 'Snoop Dogg Millionaire'.

7. With high cost came high maintenance as over 700 light men and 42 generators were used during the shoot!

8. Real weddings faced problems since most light and décor was used for the grand and lavish sets.

9. Despite being non-alcoholic, Shah Rukh Khan reportedly consumed a few pegs of alcohol to add authenticity to his character.

10. The role of Chunnilal, an alcoholic and Shah Rukh Khan’s friend, played by Jackie Shroff, was initially offered to Govinda, Saif Ali Khan and Manoj Bajpayee.

11. Remember the beautiful glass in ‘Silsila Yeh Chahat Ka’? That Paro's utensil was made out of 1.22 lakh stained glass pieces which had to be retouched with paint every time it rained. Talk about perfection.

12. The cost of setting up Chandramukhi's kotha in the film was Rs. 12 crore and the lake outside would dry out many times.

13. Sanjay Leela Bhansali and (unusual in his films) music director Ismail Darbar took two and half years to finish the music for the film, but it was totally worth it.

14. Loved Aishwarya Rai's earrings in the song ‘Dola Re Dola’? But it caused her trouble! Reportedly, her ears started to bleed during the shoot, which nobody knew about till the shoot ended.

15. The costume Madhuri Dixit wore while dancing to ‘Kahe Chedd Mohe’ weighed 30 kg, which was one of the first heaviest costumes which evolved from an SLB film.

16. Kareena Kapoor was supposed to be cast as Paro but wasn’t because her mother declined the role because Bebo was too young.