| Devi | |
| Director: | Satyajit Ray |
| Starring: | Soumitra Chatterjee Sharmila Tagore |
| Music: | Ustad Ali Akbar Khan |
| Cinematography: | Subrata Mitra |
| Editing: | Dulal Dutta |
| Runtime: | 93 minutes |
| Country: | India |
| Language: | Bengali |
Devi is a 1960 Bengali-language drama by director Satyajit Ray, starring debutante Sharmila Tagore and Soumitra Chatterjee. It is based on a short story by Prabhat Kumar Mukhopadhyay. The film is based on believing on a dream, that a Zamindar (Chhabi Biswas) has witnessed, where he is dilutional about his daughter-in-law revealing herself into a Goddess incarnate, worthy of being idolized and worshiped.
Kali, the divine Goddess is widely worshipped in India and Bengal.
In 19th-century rural Bengal, Umaprasad lives with his wife Dayamayee in a joint family, with his father Kalikinkar Choudhuri (Chhabi Biswas), who is a devotee of the goddess Kali, and with his elder brother Taraprasad, his wife Harasundari (Karuna Banerjee) and their son Koka. They live in a large mansion with domestic help and other privileges of a zamidari setup. Dayamayee, a young bride shares a special maternal bond with Koka.
Umaprasad (Soumitra Chatterjee) leaves for Kolkata (Calcutta) to learn English and gain college education. Dayamayee (Sharmila Tagore) stays back to take care of her father-in-law Kalikinkar and provide help to the Choudhuri household. Kalikinkar continues to mind his zamindari business along with his daily prayers and rituals. One night while asleep he sees a dream, where he witnesses the eyes of goddess Kali merge with Dayamayee. When Kalikinkar wakes up in the morning, he thinks this dream was a message from Goddess Kali, telling him to worship Dayamayee as an incarnation of herself, revealed through the images in his dream. He starts the worship rituals at Dayamayee's feet as she now is the Goddess incarnate. Taraprasad was watching this happen. A meek person with not much standing in the family accepts his father's directions and starts worshipping Dayamayee. Their family priest, upon orders from Kalikinkar, instals Dayamayee as the Goddess idol and starts performing the worship rituals. Soon Tarapada and many others are joining the prayers and rituals with Dayamayee as the idol. However, Taraprasad's wife Harasundari who thinks more logically, rejects Kalikinkar's claims. She finds this ridiculous and writes to Umaprasad, urging him to return home at the earliest. Meanwhile, Kalikinker changes Dayamayee's life, secluding her from the household and making her sit as an idol for everyone including the villagers to worship. Many people start visiting. They would drink the charanamrito (water used for washing goddess's feet and is considered sacred) the potion that would keep them away from miseries. As the word spreads, one day, a man brings his unconscious little grandson to the prayers as a last chance, after the doctors had given up of his survival. The lifeless child is offered the charanamrito. Miraculously after drinking the potion, the little boy has his life back. This incidence confirmed everyone's belief that Dayamayee really was the Goddess incarnated. This had a profound impact on Dayamayee. Following this miracle, as absurd as this may sound, she now starts wondering if she could possibly be the Goddess herself. At this point, Umaprasad returns home. He is confused, horrified and sad. He makes an attempt to counter his father's assertions but meets with no success.
Umaprasad is frustrated. He asks his wife Dayamayee to leave. He has a boat ready at dawn to take them to Calcutta. Once they reach the riverbank, Dayamayee changes her mind. She is scared to leave and begins to wonder if her actions might bring harm to Umaprasad and the family. Heartbroken and bewildered, Umaprasad returns back to Calcutta. Dayamayee stays back at home. She lives in isolation. She is stifled by the loneliness forced upon her. Even Khoka stays away from her and so the rest of the family. She is turned into an idol for worships and rituals.
One evening, Koka has a high fever. The family refuses to consult a physician. Kalikinkar holds on to his trust of Dayamayee's charanamrito. He requests Dayamayee should hold the child for that night and offer charanamrito. Koka's mother pleads Dayamayee to tell their father-in-law to ask for a physician, but her requests fell on to deaf ears. Dayamayee too immature and timid and is unable to voice her opinion. She keeps Koka with her that fateful night hoping her divine touch would cure him.
Umaprasad returns home and finds his father weeping at the real goddess's feet. The charanamrito and the divine touch didn't change the course of fate. Dayamayee has a breakdown, devastated from this incident. She had no say in any of this, only if she had listened to her husband and had left with him.
The Academy Film Archive preserved Devi in 1996.[1]
The film received critical acclaim upon its release.[2] On Rotten Tomatoes, Devi holds a score of 100% based on 10 reviews for an average rating of 7.6/10.[3] Directors William Wyler and Elia Kazan have described the film as "poetry on celluloid".[4] [5] The director Francis Ford Coppola considers Devi to be Ray's best work and called it "a cinematic milestone".[6]
The film was adapted into the opera The Goddess by Allen Shearer.[7]