The Nine Goddesses Trapped in a Room

The Nine Goddesses trapped with the same destiny

One or two mild taps by a deaf-mute girl on top of an old CRT black and white television set to adjust to the optimum frequency, wherein a background song "Jeeya Jaaye Naa" is being played and a news about a tragic incident that happened two days ago that has shaken the entire nation and has angered every other citizen is the premise used to introduce these nine ladies apparently trapped in a living room. These nine women don't seem abnormal, and are busy with their regular lives, although being thrusted into a room, "without being asked for their choice or without even taking their opinion". These nine women represent different social classes, religion, language, abilities, age and of course a gamut of different experiences as human beings. Some of them are judgmental, some are empathetic, some are cruel while few are indifferent showing a variety of traits, each one different from the other, all the while being very real and relatable, and having highly polarised opinion about letting another inmate come into that room that is slowly getting overcrowded by "the increasing population." 

The question is, if they are so different and if they belong to such different places of the society, how are they confined in the same room? What binds them to the same fate? What causes them to be with one another despite having so many differences? Directed by Priyanka Banerjee, Devi is a short film released on the 2nd of March, 2020 by the Large Short Films. Some thirteen minutes long, this short film questions the society for its ruthlessness, baring the harsh reality with utmost subtlety and its supremely metaphorical screenplay with a prolific storytelling ability of Banerjee. Contextually, one of the characters shouts, "There aren't any Gods here" as Jyoti, the saree clad, Hindu inmate, played by Kajol, roams around the house with her pooja ki thali, worshipping the demigods and pleading with the other women not to quarrel among themselves after "dhoop-batti", signifying the restraint, women are expected to maintain in certain situations. In another such brawl, when Maushi, played by Neena Kulkarni, says that not allowing anybody else in the room will bring peace to the souls of the inmates. Several such sequences in the movie stand out as one of the finest written screenplays of a Hindi movie. It is categorically outlined in one conversation when the character played by Shruti Hassan, asks, how are we (the audience) concerned about the person standing outside who is buzzing the doorbell repeatedly wanting to take shelter? Which is when a prompt reply "how are we concerned about each other yet we are staying together" from Neha Dhupia's character says a lot by specifying the fact that it can happen to one of ours. Shivani is used well by the director to suggest means for classifying the inmates from those who should be expelled from the room.

The use of metaphor in using nine ladies representing the nine Goddesses (or the NavaDurga from Hindu mythology) is extremely well thought of. The performances by Yashswini Dayama as the deaf-mute girl is breath-taking. The highly talented Kajol does most of her part by her eyes and shatters every piece of difference among others when she decides that it is better to manage here somehow than "there" among "those" demons, re-establishing the reason for using the "jeeya jaaye na" background track toward the beginning.

The noisy television used as the background score is effectively used and poignantly introduces the twist in the tail that shakes up the conscience of every individual viewer. The use of alternate close ups of each of the differing characters and the single shaded light with low brightness signify the irrelevance of these differences. The names of characters, Jyoti and Arzoo are metaphorically presented to represent light and hope respectively as also differentiate between the two religions that are primarily being shown here. Each of these nine women are dressed differently to emphasize the fact that clothing or the kind and size of it does not prevent or attract the perpetrators. Some are excessively talkative card players while one can't speak at all and another old lady is often dumbstruck. One is from the corporate world, one keeps on drinking, one is waxing her already waxed legs, and one trying to study for a medical exam that she is never going to appear for. The entire revelation takes a sharp 180 degree turn as Maushi angrily reveals a harsh information about Arzoo, the woman in Burqa. The mood of the film changes from this point and people keep on guessing, until the final twist is presented with an unanswered pause following a reminder by Jyoti "Do you remember how frightened we were when we came here?", as the new entrant is welcomed by Jyoti into a room filled with women, most of whom showed dissent to let the tenth inmate in. A heart-shattering agony sweeps away the very basis of humanity that questions the need for a society, that can't uphold the very virtues that it preaches.

The audiences can make their own interpretation of the place these nine people are in. Whatever the situation they might have faced, they were eventually at the same place, facing the same consequence as the person waiting outside to be let in.

Produced by Electric Apples, that is, by Niranjan Iyenger and Ryan Ivan Stephen, this is a short film that is going to make a mark for sure. Starring Kajol, Shruti Hassan, Neha Dhupia, Neena Kulkarni, Mukta Barve, Shivani Raghuvanshi, Yashaswini Dayama, Sandhya Mhatre and Rama Joshi, this is a must watch for every citizen of the world, even at the cost of watching it with a subtitle.