Devi
Master filmmaker Satyajit Ray explores the conflict between fanaticism and free will in Devi (The Goddess), issuing a subversively modern challenge to religious orthodoxy and patriarchal power structures. In rural India in the second half of the nineteenth century, after his son (Soumitra Chatterjee) leaves for Kolkata to complete his studies, a wealthy feudal landlord (Chhabi Biswas) is seized by the notion that his beloved daughter-in-law (a hauntingly sad-eyed Sharmila Tagore) is an incarnation of the Mother Goddess—a delusion that proves devastating to the young woman and those around her. The elegantly stylized compositions and the chiaroscuro lighting by cinematographer Subrata Mitra heighten the expressionistic intensity of this domestic tragedy, making for an experience that is both sublime and shattering.
Blu-ray Special Edition Features
- New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- New program featuring interviews with actors Sharmila Tagore and Soumitra Chatterjee recorded in 2013
- New video essay by film scholar Meheli Sen
- New English subtitle translation
- PLUS: An essay by film critic Devika Girish
Cover based on an illustration by Satyajit Ray
Blu-ray Special Edition Features
- New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- New program featuring interviews with actors Sharmila Tagore and Soumitra Chatterjee recorded in 2013
- New video essay by film scholar Meheli Sen
- New English subtitle translation
- PLUS: An essay by film critic Devika Girish
Cover based on an illustration by Satyajit Ray
Cast
- Chhabi Biswas
- Kalikinkar Roy
- Soumitra Chatterjee
- Umaprasad Roy
- Sharmila Tagore
- Doyamoyee
- Purnendu Mukherjee
- Taraprasad Roy
- Karuna Banerjee
- Harasundari
- Arpan Chowdhury
- Khoka
- Anil Chatterjee
- Bhudeh
- Kali Sarkar
- Professor Sarkar
- Mohammed Israil
- Nibaran
Credits
- Director
- Satyajit Ray
- Produced by
- Satyajit Ray Productions
- Screenplay adapted from the short story of the same title by
- Prabhat Kumar Mukhopadhyay
- Based on an idea by
- Rabindranath Tagore
- Cinematography
- Subrata Mitra
- Editor
- Dulal Dutta
- Art director
- Bansi Chandragupta
- Music
- Ali Akbar Khan
- Sound
- Durgadas Mitra
A scene from Devi
