The Goddess (1960)
"Devi" (original title)

Devi focuses on a young woman, who is deemed a goddess when her father-in-law, a rich feudal landlord, envisions her as the Goddess Kali.

Director:

Satyajit Ray

Writers:

Prabhat Kumar Mukherjee (story), Satyajit Ray (screenplay)

Stars:

Sharmila Tagore, Soumitra Chatterjee, Chhabi Biswas

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Sharmila Tagore	...	Doyamoyee
Soumitra Chatterjee	...	Umaprasad (as Soumitra Chattopadhyay)
Chhabi Biswas	...	Kalikinkar Roy
Karuna Bannerjee	...	Harasundari (as Karuna Bandyopadhyay)
Purnendu Mukherjee	...	Taraprasad (as Purnendu Mukhopadhyay)
Arpan Chowdhury	...	Khoka, child (as Shriman Arpan Chowdhury)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Anil Bag
Khagesh Chakravarti	...	Kaviraj
Anil Chatterjee	...	Bhudeb (as Anil Chattopadhyay)
Arabinda Kumar Chowdhury
Shanta Devi	...	Sarala
Mohammed Israil	...	Nibaran
Nagendranath Kabyabyakarantirtha	...	Priest
Bholanath Koyal	...	(as Bholanath Kayal)
Anil Mitra

Storyline

Devi focuses on a young woman, who is deemed a goddess when her father-in-law, a rich feudal landlord, envisions her as the Goddess Kali.

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Plot Keywords:

reincarnation | india | religion | superstition

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

India

Language:

Bengali

Release Date:

19 February 1960 (India)

Also Known As:

The Goddess

Box Office

Gross:

$93,215 (USA)

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in The Story of Film: An Odyssey: Episode #1.6 (2011)

User Reviews

Watch out for people with Visions

"Devi" (Hindi, 1960): Directed by Satyajit Ray, and banned in India until the intercession of Nehru, this is the story of a lovely 17 year old wife, who is suddenly labeled as a "Goddess" (while her husband is absent to complete his final exams in college), due to a dream ("vision") by her father-in-law. What follows is a fascinating, multi-angled look at the transitional Indian culture (and MOST cultures, frankly). Is this any different, any worse, or any more desperate than seeing the face of Jesus in a grilled cheese sandwich or the grain of a wooden door? Is her overnight change in status unique? Are the people who have confused motives, hopelessness, or malleable minds any less vulnerable here and now? The quality of the video copy I viewed was rough – a copy of a copy of a copy – yet even then, the power of Ray's vision shines through. This is a serious, beautiful, insightful, tragic film. (It has something of a "cousins" relationship to the film "Anchoress".)