Devdas (Shahrukh Khan) makes his way back home to India after spending 10 years studying in London. He plans to marry Paro (Aishwarya Rai), his childhood best friend, but his parents (Vijay Crishna, Smita Jaykar) do not want Devdas to marry her. They believe that Paro's family, who descend from a line of dancers, is of a lower class than their own. Eventually, Paro marries another man, and the despondent Devdas descends into life-threatening alcoholism.