WASHINGTON: Time magazine has ranked Bollywood director Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 2002 film ‘Devdas’ eighth among the ten greatest movies of the millennium with ‘WALL.E’ at the top and ‘The Artist’ in the tenth spot. It described Shah Rukh Khan as an "all-world charismatist" and Madhuri Dixit "a hot number who danced flamencos on men's libidos".
"A year after 'Moulin Rouge!' had its world premiere at Cannes, another visually intoxicating musical opened at the festival, introducing sang-and-danced Bollywood dramas to the international culturati," it said of the film starring Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri Dixit.
"Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's 1901 novel inspired at least a half-dozen film versions before this one - in its time, the priciest movie in Indian history (at about $10.6 million)," the prestigious US news magazine noted.
Time describes Shah Rukh Khan as an "all-world charismatist" and Madhuri Dixit, as "a hot number who had danced flamenco on men's libidos for a decade or so before appearing in this worldly-wise role" of a prostitute.
"The piece is played with such commitment that the tritest plot twists seem worth believing - and dancing to, in nine nifty production numbers. But the fervid emotion is what makes the thing sing," it said.
"Beyond that, Devdas is a visual ravishment, with sumptuous sets, fabulous frocks and beautiful people to fill them; it has a grandeur the old Hollywood moguls would have loved," Time gushes.
"From Toy Story in 1995 to Toy Story 3 in 2010, John Lasseter's Pixar animation house produced 11 features, all winners - and a few the very best films of their year," the Time said picking "the studio's biggest hit" Andrew Stanton's ‘WALL.E’ for the top spot.
The top ten films made since the year 2000:
1. WALL.E, 2008
2. The Lord of the Rings, 2001-03
3. Avatar, 2009
4. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, 2000
5. The White Ribbon, 2009
6. The Hurt Locker, 2009
7. Synecdoche, New York, 2008
8. Devdas, 2002
9. Moulin Rouge!, 2001
10. The Artist, 2011