Devi
Ratings: 3/5
Duration: 13 Mins
Director: Priyanka Banerjee
Genre: Drama
Release Date: 02 March 2020 (You Tube)
Star Cast: Kajol, Shruti Haasan, Neha Dhupia, Shivani Raghuvanshi, Neena Kulkarni, Rama Joshi, Yashaswini Dayama, Mukta Barve
Plot: Devi a 13-minute watch short film depicts the story of rape victims. Throughout the short film, the calling bell rings repeatedly, which indicates that a member is waiting to enter a room, which is already full with women from different walks of life. Nine women of different temperaments, ages, and from different socio-economic and religious backgrounds. For instance - a bored-looking ‘career oriented woman’, an upper-class ‘party girl’, a saari cladded ‘sanskaari wife’, a young medical student, a trio of middle-class Maharashtrian aunties, a deaf-and-mute teenager, a Muslim lady in burkha.
Who are these women? What do they represent? What brings them together in this room? Most importantly, who is this new entrant that is creating a heated argument within the inhabitants, is what the story is all about.
Review: Devi directed by Priyanka Banerjee resembles short film FOUR, which gained hype due to the presence of many known faces across eras – Kajol, Shruti Haasan, Neha Dhupia, Shivani Raghuvanshi, Neena Kulkarni, Rama Joshi, Yashaswini Dayama, Mukta Barve as they all came together in the same frame.
While the perfect, mythical version of Devi is worshipped, this film shows how the real women are being violated and ill-treated.
To the matter of fact, these groups of women are seen quarreling about the hassles of accommodating another victim in the room and are seen sharing the sexual violence they have faced and even compare the degrees of torture each had to undergo in such a way which pushes the viewers to ask themselves about the world we are living in.
And when it comes to performances, among the most impactful performances are that of Kajol and Neena Kulkarni’s. Kajol performs with a lot of restraint. While Kulkarni is remarkable as a conservative, Marathi middle-aged woman. She has been violated, but her empathy thrives on discrimination.
Overall, the film delivers a strong message and drops a reminder to the viewers that rape can happen to anyone irrespective of the clothes a woman wishes to wear, her age and social standing and most importantly a husband can rape his wife too! This 13 minute film also shows how much we have normalized sexual abuse and even rape in our country.
