Devi: The Divine Ray
Sharmila Tagore as Devi
I would go a step further and say, Devi is probably the most overtly political Ray film, that takes a stand in favor of change without getting offensive to tradition.
It beautifully captures the struggle between tradition and modernity without rushing to any judgment. The film is set in late nineteenth century Bengal. Kalikinkar Roy, a Zamindar who is a devotee of Goddess Kali, has a vision that his daughter in law is the incarnation of the Goddess. The poor little bride’s husband is away in Calcutta to take his university exams and he plans to go abroad to study further. He’s the first in his Goddess Kali devoted family to get modern education. It’s only the previous night he was making plans of taking his wife along to Europe where he plans to study like Raja Rammohan Roy. However destiny has something else in store for his beautiful young wife Daya.
Daya’s (Sharmeela Tagore) life takes a different path after her father in law’s vision. She has to stay away from rest of the family in a lonely dark room and present herself to get worshipped by the devotees.
The word spreads and people from all around gather to seek her blessings. Everyone seems to have placed their faith on her except her sister in law, who seems to understand her misery. She even persuades her husband to rescue her but her efforts go in vain. He blames her of jealously.
Devi has some beautiful silent sequences that I miss in Ray’s later films especially Agantuk and Shakha Prashakha. When Daya’s husband comes back from Calcutta and finds her on the temple podium as the goddess, they don’t talk. And Ray lets their eyes do the talking. In another magnificent scene Daya, is lying on her bed. The room has an aura of sanctorum sanctum where people dare not enter. Little Khokha who is very fond of his aunt-now the goddess-is playing outside. Once his ball enters his room, he’s hesitant to follow. Though he comes in after much persuasion but goes without saying a word leaving Daya to feel the pinch of divinity.
What’s great about Devi is that it doesn’t rush into a conclusion. Story unfolds at its own pace. Characters evolve through the film and they’ve shades of life.
Something that simply catches my imagination is the irony of Daya’s life. The incarnation of Goddess, who supposedly knows everything and controls the universe but has little control over her own life. Ray captures this beautifully.
I would also go back to Devi for its memorable background score composed by Ustand Ali Akbar Khan and superb performances by Soumitra Chatterjee, Karuna Bannerjee and Chabi Biswas. And of course not to miss Sharmeela Tagore who lives the Goddess on screen and makes our rational minds actually believe that she’s the goddess incarnated.
Though transition or journey is a recurrent theme in Ray films, Devi powerfully capture the dilemma of the time. One of the best Ray films.
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