Devdas, based on a popular Bengali novel by Sarat Chandra Chatterjee revolutionized the entire look of Indian social pictures. Rather than just translate one medium to another, PC Barua uses the novel as just raw material, creating his own structure and transforming what was purely verbal into an essentially visual form. Avoiding stereotypes and melodrama, Barua raises the film to a level of noble tragedy. The film's characters are not heroes and villains but ordinary people conditioned by a rigid and crumbling social system. Even the lead character Devdas has no heroic dimensions to his character. What we see are his weaknesses, his narcissism, his humanity as he is torn by driving passion and inner-conflict.

The film is a complete departure from the then prevalent theatricality in acting, treatment and dialogue. Barua initiates a style of acting that is natural and unaffected. His method is to underplay, to convey emotion through the slightest tremor of the voice and use significant pauses in between the dialogue to maximum effect. This naturalness of tone spills over to the dialogue as well. Rather than dialogue in a florid style as was prevalent then, Barua who had been exposed to European naturalistic trends ensures the dialogue in the film is what one speaks in real life.

A refreshing economy of style is visible throughout the film, whether establishing the love between Devdas and Parvati or conveying his anguish through the piercing sounds of the speeding train that takes him on his final tragic tryst with Parvati. The great physical distance that separates them and Devdas anxiety to redeem a promise is skillfully conveyed through some stunning use of parallel cutting. The sequence of Devdas crying out in delirium, Parvati stumbling and then Devdas falling from his berth in the train was commended for its essential 'Indianness' in conveying fate's domination over individual destiny.

KL Saigal played Devdas in the Hindi version (Barua himself played the role in the Bengali version) and the film took him to cult star status. His songs in the film Balam Aaye Baso Mere Man Mein and Dukh ke Din Ab Beete Nahin became smash hits and set the tone for a glorious filmic career till his death in 1947. Saigal remains the prototype of Devdas till today, no mean feat considering screen giants such as Dilip Kumar, A Nageshwara Rao and Soumitra Chatterjee repeated the role later.

Devdas established Barua as a front rank filmmaker and New Theatres as a major studio. The Bombay Chronicle hailed it as,

"…a brilliant contribution to the Indian Film Industry. One wonders as one sees it when shall we have another."

Barua went on to produce numerous popular films but was always referred to as the man who made Devdas right till his dying day!

Devdas has been remade a number of times, New Theatres remade it in Tamil in 1936, it was made twice in Telugu in 1953 and 1974 but the most famous subsequent version was perhaps the one by Bimal Roy who had photographed the earlier version. The film, made in 1955, starred Dilip Kumar, Suchitra Sen and Vyjayanthimala as Devdas, Parvati and Chandramukhi respectively. The undercurrent of Devdas runs strong in the central character in both of Guru Dutt's major works - Pyaasa (1957) and Kaagaz ke Phool (1959).

With the moving times even though the character of Devdas who drank himself to death for love became outdated and archaic, and modern heroes now did everything in their power to get their love, filmmakers kept returning to Devdas. Writer - Director Gulzar who began as a lyricist in Bimal Roy's Bandini (1963) started his own version of the film in the 1970s with Dharmendra, Hema Malini and Sharmila Tagore in the three lead roles but was unable to complete it and and Sanjay Leela Bhansali's version of the film, made in 2002 with Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri Dixit in the three lead roles was a huge disapointment - a wasteful extravaganza which is contrived, garish, loud and melodramatic with illusions about grandeur.