Devi

After watching Satyajit Ray's The Apu Trilogy (1955-1959), which are now my favourite films of all time, I was looking forward to watching Devi, the next film Ray directed after The Apu Trilogy. Although I couldn't feel the same kind of emotional connection with the characters in Devi that I felt in The Apu Trilogy, this film was thought-provoking and very intriguing to watch.

Devi dealt with a serious issue in Bengali society at the time in a mature manner and Ray's direction and cinematography for this film was just as superb as The Apu Trilogy. It starred Soumitra Chatterjee and Sharmila Tagore once again as a married couple, like in Apur Sansar (the final part of The Apu Trilogy). However, whereas it was Soumitra who played the lead role in Apur Sansar, this time it's Sharmila who plays the lead role in Devi. Her performance was very subtle for the first half but her delusional performance towards the end was very convincing. Overall, I'd highly recommend this movie to any Satyajit Ray fan.

8/10

"Devi" (Hindi, 1960): Directed by Satyajit Ray, and banned in India until the intercession of Nehru, this is the story of a lovely 17 year old wife, who is suddenly labeled as a "Goddess" (while her husband is absent to complete his final exams in college), due to a dream ("vision") by her father-in-law. What follows is a fascinating, multi-angled look at the transitional Indian culture (and MOST cultures, frankly). Is this any different, any worse, or any more desperate than seeing the face of Jesus in a grilled cheese sandwich or the grain of a wooden door? Is her overnight change in status unique? Are the people who have confused motives, hopelessness, or malleable minds any less vulnerable here and now? The quality of the video copy I viewed was rough – a copy of a copy of a copy – yet even then, the power of Ray's vision shines through. This is a serious, beautiful, insightful, tragic film. (It has something of a "cousins" relationship to the film "Anchoress".)

Satyajit Ray made "Devi" in 1960. It was only his sixth film after completeing his 'Apu Trilogy' and "The Music Room" but it's much less well-known and little seen today. It's also a masterpiece. The great Chhabi Biswas, (he of "The Music Room"), once again plays a rich, lonely old man who comes to believe his daughter-in-law is a reincarnation of the Goddess Kali. If the tale is a fanciful one it's grounded in the harsh realities of the India of the time, (it's set in the mid-nineteenth century), and its heart is a heart of darkness. Goddess or witch, the end result is the same; such superstition can only have a tragic outcome and this is one of Ray's finest tragedies. Working again with what was basically his stock company, Ray draws superb performances from his cast and like so much of his work, this is a great ensemble piece, superbly shot by Subrata Mitra and scored by Ali Akbar Khan. It's a film that cries out for restoration and rediscovery.

Devi / The Goddess (1960) : Brief Review -

A Satyajit Ray Classic on Superstition and Religious Dogmatism. Master Ray had to make that one woman oriented film with fictionalized mindset of society and i think this story of blind devotion and incarnation stuff was a perfect fit for it. Devi was Ray's 6th film after Appu Trilogy, Jalsaghar and Parasha Patthar and eventually it was far different with the content. A young woman is deemed as a goddess when her father-in-law, a rich feudal land-lord, has a dream envisioning her as an avatar of Kali. This leads a devotional rampage in the village and the woman finds herself caught in the crowd which she didn't want and then after the rituals stays very lonely remembering her earlier happy life. Sharmila Tagore in the lead role portrays the character with utter finesse. Those long shots have been framed by her expression without any cuts which shows how dedicated and immersed she was into the character. Soumitra Chatterjee as her husband has sort of supporting role if we go with the screen space but whatever scenes he has, he does it comfortably. Karuna Banerjee came as a complete surprise for me because the role was very sidelined and i didn't expect her to do so well with less potential of the character. I loved her in Pather Panchali so i never doubted her acting skills and she did not disappoint but moreover surpassed my expectations. The supporting cast too does well with everyone having important scenes. Devi has Satyajit Ray marking all over. From framework to storytelling to pauses and scene cutting everything has Ray's artistic touch to it. The climax is more subtle than what it looks and i am sure Satyajit Ray's Fans will understand it. However, the mass audience would never reach to the bottom of it. Overall, another Ray Classic but this time with an Important Subject like Superstition in rural areas.

RATING - 8/10*

By - #samthebestest.

Being a Bengali, I had the privilege to read the original story by Prabhat Kumar from which the screenplay was adapted, and the story had a concrete conclusion with a deep impact where Ray finished it with surrealism and abstraction. Mostly he avoided the actual ending to bypass the social stigma which prevailed at that time. Also the story provides a very intimate adoration between the lead couple which was also avoided for probably the same reason.

Apart from that it possesses all the characteristics of Ray's direction with thrilling music, cinematography and screenplay. Definitely a must watch.