Justice for Paro
Paro is the most tortured character in Devdas.
Parvati is a character from the novel দেবদাস written by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay in 1901. My favorite adaptation of the romance novel is the 2002 Hindi film of the same name, directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
Paro was well-mannered, adhered to all the female beauty standards of the time, was loyal to one man for 10 years, obeyed her parents, and her in-laws, yet she was miserable throughout the whole film. Paro is a reminder that regardless of how strictly a woman follows society’s rules, she'll still get treated like shit.
Paro was loved by her neighbors until they discovered her relationship with their son, suddenly she’s too poor, uneducated, and not up to their standard. When Paro wanted Devdas to stand up for their 10-year relationship and marry her despite his family’s disapproval, he abandoned her and went to a strip club (of that time period). Paro eventually gave in to her mother’s request and agreed to marry a rich old dude but then Devdas came out of nowhere and cut her face with a necklace like wtf.
Paro accepted her husband’s conditions, and his past marriage, and began raising her old ass step-children as her own. But when they found out she was close friends with her ex they berated her and barred her from leaving the palace. The novel is famous for Devdas’ suffering, he binge drinks and then dies of liver failure (not apologizing for the spoiler, you’ve had 120 years to catch up). Devdas deserved to suffer. That abusive pos had it coming. But Paro didn’t deserve to be subjected to so much pain. She was vilified by everyone towards the end of the film. But to me, she is still as pure as she was first introduced in the film.
We are introduced to Paro through the song “Silsila Ye Chahat Ke”, the illustration here depicts a scene from the song. This is where Paro is happiest because the egotistical Devdas hasn’t entered her life yet. In this song, she’s reminiscing about her childhood friend that was ripped away from her because he had to go to London to study law with white people.
Paro is a beautiful WOMAN and a beautiful reminder that people will always find faults in you.