Shah Rukh Khan has often criticised his character of Devdas and has stated that while playing the role in the Sanjay Leela Bhansali film he wanted the portray him as “spineless” and “somebody you should not look up to.” In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter India, Bhansali, however, said that he sees Devdas as a story of a man who loved.

“What is the story of Devdas? That he’s a loser, he doesn’t do anything, he gets upset… My actors didn’t understand why we’re telling this story. They said, ‘Oh, it’s romanticising alcoholism’. I said, ‘This is the story of a man who loved.’ What is our biggest duty in this life? To love and give love. Does anyone love like Devdas. I wanted to say, ‘If you love somebody, that’s how you love’. Devdas is a story of a man who loved. People have been making Devdas (for years). Why? They say he’s a loser. He’s not a loser. He’s the most noble of any of my characters. He loved Paro. You ask him anything, he would say, ‘Paro’. That is love. That is a love story,” said the director.

SRK had previously voiced his reservations about playing the character. Recently at the Locarno Film Festival he said, “I don’t like to play characters that demean women, I didn’t want him to be liked in the film for the reason that he disses a woman and doesn’t commit to her, I wanted him to come across as a person who is spineless and not somebody you should look up to. Bhansali made the film beautifully, but I don’t think anybody wants to be Devdas, it is not a character you take back home. I just didn’t want a character who has commitment issues with women to become popular in a different sense, I think I achieved that.”

Bhansali will next be helming Alia Bhatt, Ranbir Kapoor and Vicky Kaushal starrer Love & War. SRK will be seen in an actioner King, with daughter Suhana Khan.