 Not his dad s favorite, Devdas Mukherjee, is a slacker, though sensitive and talented. His daily chore is to spend time with his childhood friend, Parvati, the Mukherjees  neighbor, who belongs to a middle-class family. Devdas is sent away abroad so that he can improve himself. Several years, upon his return, things have not changed, his dad still regards him as a slacker, though Devdas is welcomed by the rest of his family, the welcome could have been warmer had Devdas chosen not to visit Parvati (Paro), rather than his own mother. Devdas and Paro are in love, and hope to marry. But Devdas  dad has other plans, vehemently opposing marriage to a lower caste family, and as a result Paro gets married to a much older widower with grown-up children her age, and Devdas leaves home, becomes an alcoholic, a womanizer, who is unable to get Paro out of his mind, loving and hating her at the same time. Devdas meets with courtesan, Chandramukhi, and ends up falling in love with her also, thus getting her a bad reputation. Then Paro decides to talk Chandramukhi out of getting Devdas away from alcohol, to which Chandramukhi agrees, but the question remains whether they will act in time to stop Devdas before he self-destructs.