Devi (Bengali: দেবী Devi) is a 1960 film by Bengali director Satyajit Ray, starring Soumitra Chatterjee and Sharmila Tagore. It is based on a short story by Prabhat Kumar Mukhopadhya. The title means "Goddess".

Plot synopsis

In 1860 rural Bengal, Doyamoyee (Sharmila Tagore) and her husband Umaprasad (Soumitra Chatterjee) live with Umaprasad's family. His father, Kalikinkar Roy, is a devoted follower of the goddess Kali. Since Umaprasad is away at school, Doyamoyee takes care of her father-in-law.

One evening, Kalikinkar has a dream that Doyamoyee is an avatar of Kali and must be worshipped as such. Soon other people too come to believe that she is an incarnation of the goddess. After hearing the news, Umprasad returns home but is unable to remedy the situation as Doyamoyee herself begins to believe that she is an avatar, a belief which soon turns to tragedy.

Cast

• Chhabi Biswas - Kalikinkar Roy
• Soumitra Chatterjee - Umaprasad
• Sharmila Tagore - Doyamoyee
• Purnendu Mukherjee - Taraprasad
• Karuna Bannerjee - Harasundari
• Arpan Chowdhury - Khoka, child
• Anil Chatterjee - Bhudeb
• Kali Sarkar - Professor Sarkar
• Mohammed Israil - Nibaran
• Khagesh Chakravarti - Kaviraj
• Nagendranath Kabyabyakarantirtha - Priest
• Santa Devi - Sarala

Awards

The film won the President's Gold Medal in N.Delhi in 1961 and was nominated for the Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) at the 1962 Cannes Film Festival.

References

External links

• satyajitray.org