Following the flow...

Devi (Goddess, Bengali,1960)
Director:Sathyajit Ray
The film starts with the worship of Goddess Kali, fireworks and Diwali.
Uma (Soumitra Chatterjee) and wife Daya (a young Sharmila Tagore) lives with his
osteoarthritic and staunch Kali worshipper father. The father is rich with many servants at his disposal. He also houses Uma's brother, wife and child Khokha in their home.
Uma leaves for Calcutta to sit for his B.A. exams. During his absence, the father dreams that Daya is actually the reincarnation of Goddess Kali herself! He rushes to Daya's room to prostrate in front of her, joined by others in the household.
Pretty soon Daya is placed on a dais and daily prayers done upon her with aarti, bells and all. Daya, the docile occupant of the patriachial home follows suit without giving a fight.
Meanwhile, Daya is trapped in a lonely world. Her chirpy world comes tumbling down. Her demure smiles vanish, her regular play with Khokha ends abruptly.
On Uma's return, a shocked Uma cannot accept that the whole fiasco is based on just a dream. Just at that time, a poor man's child is miraculously healed from a near death condition and the father thinks that was sufficient proof for his assumption.
Even though unable to stomach the whole fracas, he is incapable of disagreeing his father's thought due to, I think, the environment the intellectuals grow in - the respect for the elders, the desire not to rock the boat and to question the age old tradition and religion.
Uma confronts his wife about the things around her. She basically tells him that she was following the elders' guidance. When he suggests to run away from all that to Calcutta, she declines. She actually thinks that she just may be Kali's reincarnation and her going away may harm him (the husband) in some way. Uma leaves for Calcutta alone.
A friend there tells him about how he had expressed himself and exert his conviction when he converted religion.
During his absence, Khokha falls seriously ill. Again, Daya is given the sole responsibility to cure him. As expected Khokha dies.

Sharmila Tagore

Uma returns home to find a distraught father blaming Goddess Kali for letting him down. A showdown ensues. Uma emphasizes that the real 'killer' was himself for failing to seek proper medical treatment. By then Daya had lost all trace of sanity and had become a raving lunatic!
The End.
This movie stirred the hornet's nest of the predominantly Hindu population during its release in 1960 for poking fun at some of India's old beliefs. The message in the film may be shared by many of the newer generation of the educated Indians who are living in a patriarchal (or matriarchal) family. The dilemma of maintaining the status quo whilst not agreeing to seemingly nonsensical beliefs after being exposed to the various sciences and scientific cum psychological exposures which explained various apparently divine happenings must be hard on them. Instead they must be looking at supposedly religious rituals as symbolisms and not at the physical aspect of things.
And also rocking the equilibrium is not going to taken lightly lying down by traditional practitioners. This is going to be many a disheartened relationship, crying hearts and familial or marital disharmony. And there is a thin line between extreme piety and lunacy? Ignorance is bliss.
Happy Navarathri- the worship of the 9 forms of the Goddess in 9 days.