Devi



Written and directed by Satryajit Ray
From the story Devi by Prabhat Kumar Mukherjee
Cinematography by Subrata Mitra
Edited by Dulal Dutta
Music by Ali Akbar khan
The movie was released in 1960.

Since this is one of the films you may write about, I provide neither plot nor analysis. However, here are some issues to keep in mind.

1.
Notice that the stage for the disastrous end is set by Doyamoyee's subordinate role as the childless bride of the younger son, Umaprasad. Notice also how Kalikinkar Roy (literally, "servant of Kali") enjoys almost total authority within the family. Bengal society in the middle 1800's is thoroughly patriarchal.

2.
There are two confrontations between Kalikinkar Roy and Umaprasad. Especially the first can be linked to the readings from Locke and Hume. Clearly, however, religion and patriarchy are, in this case, thoroughly mixed. Notice also how the father and the son are bearers of two different cultures: remember what Doyamoyee asks her husband at the beginning of the movie. Don't dismiss the father merely as an old fool. The belief that a woman is Kali's incarnation is rare but not unheard of. For example, Ramakrishna, a Bengali mystic who lived at the time in which the movie is set, did worship his wife as Kali's incarnation.

3.
Kali is a deity both of creation and destruction, as her appearance implies. She wears a girdle of severed arms and a necklace of skulls. She has four arms. In the two left hands, she holds a decapitated head and a bloody sword; with the two right hands, she blesses her followers and makes a gesture, similar to that in Buddha's statues, signifying "be without fear."

4.
By not forcing  her to go to Calcutta with him, Umaprasad respects Doyamoyee's autonomy even if he is convinced that she has been manipulated by the older men in the family.   Since the consequences are terrible, has he done something wrong?  One might say that in being manipulated, Doyamoyee has lost her freedom.  So, should her husband compel her to be free?