No, it's set in a fictional state. Basically, between Delhi and one fictional state.

A state modeled after any particular state? Have you named it yet?

We'll call it something, some Pradesh. (Laughs) There are many states in the cowbelt.

Devdas has become mythological, yes. But that's because there have been films -- great and not-so-great -- keeping the story alive for newer generations. What's your take: why has this relatively simple story been so special in the first place?

What's interesting about it is that it's a lament of a character called Devdas. It's interesting when fiction has that kind of obsession, and then for the character to come up against these rather strong women. They're strong women in the context of their time.

And Devdas carries his own feudalism, his own world inside his head. So Devdas' battle is as much with the outside world as it is with himself, which is why he's this tortured soul, drowning himself in alcohol. Devdas is about regret, and in every person's life there is some regret. There is a girl that went away. Devdas is essentially about 'if only I had...' you know.

What was your opinion, say, about Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas?

Sanjay is a very interesting filmmaker. I think he searches for a language. He is kind of an inheritor of filmmaker's like Mr Shantaram. He has that style. Grand. For me, his Devdas is very different, the way he approaches that lament. That kind of melodrama drowns any subtlety, you know. It's all about the spectacle and grandeur. I much prefer Bimalda's Devdas.

In the picture: Madhuri Dixit, Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas.

Also Read: Readers' take on Devdas

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