Devi (1960)

 Satyajit Ray's "Devi"

With his 1960 film "Devi," Satyajit Ray had to move forward without his beloved character of Apu, center-point of the Apu trilogy which began his career. Ray had now established himself as the most prominent voice coming out of Indian cinema and "Devi" proved that his craft style was more than just a single character story. What emerges is a new story on spirituality, fanaticism, and patriarchy. 

The film follows a beautiful young woman named Doyamoyee, who is the daughter-in-law to the wealthy and powerful zamindar Kalikinkar Roy in 19th-century rural Bengal. Kalikinkar is a devotee to the goddess Kali, whom he suddenly believes to be inhabiting Doyamoyee after a frightening dream one night. After this proclamation, many Bengalese come to have her heal their sick. Doyamoyee's husband, Umaprasad sees this as delusional on his father's end and feels that his wife is trapped by this spiritual pedestal. 

Although there have been many filmmakers that have lauded "Devi" as Ray's best work, I found it to be lacking from his previous efforts. The images presented by Ray are beautiful and sublime, however the thematic point the film was making about religious fanaticism and the need to adhere to patriarchal power to be a little unexpanded. I found myself very much enjoying the film, but felt that its thematic contents weren't as emotionally charged as I typically expect from Ray.

However, the final moments of the film really brought this unexplored thematic point home. The level of adherence to religious spiritualism trapped the characters in their own personal tragedy to come. Not only this, it mentally ruined Doyamoyee, who was trapped by this adulation. "Devi" is a powerful film, that's for certain. But, to me, it is a milder experience from the great Indian master.