Bengali films that capture the essence of Durga Puja
For Bengalis, Durga Puja is so much more than just a puja. It's about homecoming, pandal hopping, feasting, and above all, celebrating the much-awaited reunion of friends and family as Maa Durga visits her home with her children for 10 days. Over the years, filmmakers like the late Satyajit Ray and Rituporno Ghosh, and Kaushik Ganguly, among others captured the festival in different ways.
'Devi' (1960)
Starring Sharmila Tagore and the late Soumitra Chatterjee, Ray's 1960 drama film Devi is based on Prabhat Kumar Mukhopadhyay's short story. Ray won a National Award for the film. Set in 19th-century rural Bengal, the film highlights the patriarchy, religious bigotry, and superstitious beliefs prevalent in society and depicts the psychological damage these can cause to a 17-year-old girl, Doyamoyee.
'Utsab' (2000)
One of Ghosh's iconic films, the 2000 drama film Utsab stars Madhabi Mukherjee, Mamata Shankar, Rituparna Sengupta, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Pradip Mukherjee, Arpita Pal, and Deepankar De. As a family reunites during the festival, the film focuses on the emotional turmoil of each member as they begin discussing the sale of their ancestral home while dealing with their own personal problems.
'Debipaksha' (2004)
Directed by Raja Sen, the 2004 Bengali film Debipaksha stars the late Chatterjee, Sengupta, Sandhya Roy, Satabdi Roy, Koel Mallick, Kaushik Sen, and Biplab Chatterjee. Using Durga as a metaphor, the film, chronicling the five days of Durga Puja, tells the story of the triumph of good over evil as Haimanti (Sengupta) deals with the aftermath of molestation and eventual vengeance.
'Bodhon' (2015)
The 2015 drama film Bodhon, directed by Ayananshu Banerjee, stars Pal, Joy Sengupta, Gouri Ghosh, Shankar, Prabir Das, the late Chatterjee, Konineeca Banerjee, Shayoni Ghosh, and Debshankar Haldar. While the film title means the awakening of Durga which takes place on shashthi (the sixth day), the film chronicles the several battles that Ishani (Pal), a wife and a mother in her mid-30s, faces.
'Uma' (2018)
Srijit Mukherji-directed 2018 film Uma stars Jisshu Sengupta and his real-life daughter Sara Sengupta in the lead along with Srabanti Chatterjee, Anjan Dutta, Anirban Bhattacharya, and Rudranil Ghosh. Based on a true story surrounding the life and death of Evan Leversage from Ontario, Canada, Uma follows a father (Sengupta) who makes the entire Kolkata city celebrate Durga Puja in March for his dying daughter.
