From Satyajit Ray's Devi to Sujoy Ghosh's Kahaani — a look at the divine feminine power in Indian cinema
Over the years, the Indian film industry has portrayed the divine power of Devi Durga in various ways and forms. Here’s a look at some of those references.
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Satyajit Ray’s 1960 Bengali film, Devi, features Sharmila Tagore as a newly-wed bride, Dayamoyee, in a rich Bengali household. Her father-in-law has a dream that Dayamoyee is an incarnation of the Goddess Kali and hence starts worshipping her. This, however, takes a toll on Dayamoyee’s life who eventually starts believing that she indeed is a goddess. This masterpiece of Ray is a milestone in many ways. Image courtesy: YouTube screengrab
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Ritwik Ghatak’s 1960 film, Meghe Dhaka Tara features Supriya Choudhury, as the protagonist, who embodies the role of a nurturer for her poor refugee family. She becomes the sole earner of the family and bears all the responsibilities, worries, woes without a flinch, and finally meets a tragic end. In the film, Nita (Choudhury’s character) is born on Jagaddhatri Puja, which again is an allusion to the all-nurturing trait of hers. Image courtesy: YouTube screengrab
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In 1994’s Anjaam, directed by Rahul Rawail, Madhuri Dixit’s character goes through hell — her husband’s murder, being falsely accused for it, assaulted in prison and suffering a miscarriage. Dixit’s character revives after the song, ‘Pratighat Ki Jwala’ (Torch of revenge) where she is seen punishing the jail matron with shots of the Devi interspersed in between. Image courtesy: YouTube screengrab
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In the 1995 Telugu film Ammoru, Ramya Krishnan was seen in the role of the divine goddess Ammoru, who manifests in the mortal world to protect her devotee Bhavani (played by Soundarya) from the evil clutches of Gorakh (Rami Reddy). A mythological fiction tale shot in trademark Tollywood style, Ammoru was a path-breaking film during the ’90s. Image courtesy: Facebook.
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In Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s 2002 film, Devdas, Madhuri Dixit plays the enchanting nautch girl Chandramukhi. She is invited to celebrate Durga Puja by Paro (Aishwarya Rai) amid all the rich landlords. Milind Gunaji’s character takes this opportunity to demean Chandramukhi calling her a prostitute and much more. In turn, Dixit slaps him and reminds him that the idol of Durga is crafted using soil from those ignominious quarters of prostitutes and that it is because of rich landlords like him that these women have to enter the business. Image courtesy: YouTube screengrab.
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In 2012’s Vidya Balan-starrer Kahaani, Balan’s character Vidya Bagchi is seen wandering through the streets of Kolkata during Puja. Her arrival in the city is marked by the Devi’s arrival in puja pandals and during the climax scene, she unleashes her pent-up fury on Indraneil Sengupta’s character. Director Sujoy Ghosh ends the film with the goddess’ immersion scene and Amitabh Bachchan’s voice-over announcing that as and when evil prevails, the Goddess comes to rescue her children. Image courtesy: YouTube screengrab
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