Devar is a 1966 Hindi film directed by Mohan Sehgal. It stars Dharmendra, Sharmila Tagore, Deven Verma and Shashikala. The music is by Roshan and the lyrics by Anand Bakshi; this is their only film together that met with success. The film is based on the short novel Naa by the Bengali writer Tara Shankar Bandopadhyay. This novel was already adapted into a 1954 Bengali film of the same name, and the 1962 Tamil movie Padithaal Mattum Podhuma.

Plot

Shankar and Bhawariya are childhood lovers who have been parted by unfortunate circumstances. Shankar's cousin Suresh is an advocate. Matchmaker Ram comes up with marriage proposals for both the cousins. Following family traditions, it is decided that the boys will meet the respective brides by proxy. Suresh falls in love with Madhumati. He cooks up a wicked plot. He writes two letters to each of the families due to which an innocent and less educated Shankar is badly treated by his parents. One day accidentally Shankar learns that Madhumati is Bhawariya, the girl whom he used to love. So also, Bhawariya's brother, a handwriting expert learns of Suresh's wicked plan. Bhawariya's brother asks Suresh to accept his guilt before Shankar’s parents presuming that it is Suresh sitting on the chair, but it happens to be Shankar who listens to this and learns of everything. In a rift between Shankar and Suresh, Suresh dies accidentally, for which Shankar is held as the culprit. Madhumati who is determined to see her husband's murderer hanged, changes her words in the end and saves Shankar. The film ends without Madhumati ever knowing that Shankar is her childhood lover.

Reception

The Essential Guide to Bollywood (2005) says that the film "contained deep elements of Bengali literature... The film is remarkable for projecting the ironic twists of fate in an unconventional format with the lead pair bound to the 'wrong' spouses till the very end." In 2014, The Friday Times noted that this film was "probably the only role that [comedian Deven] Verma played that had shades of grey... He may have played a villain but many left the theatre wondering how such a good looking, suave man could have such a complex character."

Cast

Soundtrack