The Thuggee are the Ninja of India. I mean that in a very
specific sense: they’re an extinct Asian sect of killers who have been
blown out of all proportion and broadly stereotyped by Western genre
media. In any pulpy adventure story involving India, the Thuggee are
bound to show up sooner or later, doing their best Amrish Puri
impressions as they prowl about in search of victims for Kali Maa. All
of which means that Kali has a bit of an image problem here in the West;
we know her mostly through the actions of a band of criminals who
killed in her name, even though they are no more representative of
Kali’s worship than David Koresh is representative of Christianity.
(Granted, the necklace of severed heads doesn’t help.)
The Thuggee don’t appear at all in Devi Maa (2000). Instead, we get a very simple, heartfelt story of faith and sacrifice which happens to involve killer houseplants, explosions, a man with a beach ball for a head, and a giant fire-breathing cgi skeleton.
As the film opens, we learn that “the rule of demons has spread everywhere.” In order to combat this menace, the Goddess (who is sometimes Kali, but also sometimes Durga and others; rather than pretend to a knowledge of Hindu theology I don’t have, I’ll just call her Devi Maa when she’s not actively smiting evil, and Kali when she is) plans to be born as a human. The king of demons learns of this, and plans to sacrifice the child in order to steal Devi Maa’s power.
About that king of demons - the DVD cover calls him Asur Raj, but in the film people mostly call him Prince, so that’s what I’m going with. Prince is not one for subtlety. He wears a Fu Manchu moustache and a red jumpsuit with pictures of cartoon devils on it. He also has “666″ shaved into the back of his head, and late in the film he repeatedly refers to himself as “Shaitan.” Despite this, people trust him. They’re happy to accept his aid, and invite him home to live with them. You may think that this is because Prince is infernally charming, but he’s not. He’s really not.
While Prince is busy killing kindly sages with houseplants, a woman named Savitri is having a prenatal exam. During the ultrasound, the baby is seen to morph into a Trishul and back, repeatedly. “This is strange,” the doctor says. (You think?) Savitri goes to the Goddess’s temple, and offers her mangalsutra in exchange for a healthy baby. When her baby is born healthy, Savitri promptly forgets about her promise. This is her first mistake; there will be others.
Devi Maa disguises herself as a flower girl, and gently nags Savitri into keeping her promise. (Yes, at the same time she’s also the baby. She’s a goddess.) Savitri gives in, but, at the last moment, decides to substitute another necklace for the mangalsutra. Then she has the bright idea of having baby Satya drop the necklace into the collection box. Naturally, the baby drops right into the box. After she’s pulled out, the priest insists that she’ll have to live in the temple from now on; everything that falls in the box belongs to the Goddess, after all. Savitri and her husband argue, and finally agree to honor the Goddess’s decision, but when the divinations reveal that the child should stay in the temple, they refuse and run out. This is mistake number . . . I’ve lost count, and there are still plenty more to come.
For the rest of the film, Devi Maa assumes various disguises (most notably Satya’s teacher) and basically stalks Savitri and her family, constantly telling them they need to keep their promises. Little Satya is charmed and fascinated by the disguised Devi Maa (only natural since they ‘re the same person, kind of) which freaks Savitri out even more. The obligatory comic subplot involves a simple-minded shoemaker who’s a devout worshipper of Devi Maa who manages to “trick” the Goddess into being his houseguest for a month. Meanwhile, Prince uses up minions and the special effects budget in various attempts to kill the kid, before finally tricking Savitri’s husband into inviting him home to protect Satya from the Goddess. It all leads us to a final climactic battle between Prince, at the height of his power (and assisted by his pet giant skeleton) and Kali in full “Destroyer of Evil” mode. And it turns out to be no contest.
This is a film which operates on two separate levels. On the one hand, it’s a wild and crazy b-movie with stilted dialogue, a paper-thin plot, and cheesy special effects. On the other hand, it’s a very sincere instructional film about faith and the proper rules of worship. It’s like a medieval passion play, or like Johnny Lingo with computer graphics. And as a reviewer, this presents me with a dilemma. This isn’t just a movie created to entertain, it’s an expression of faith. Can I really make jokes about it? Well, yes, obviously, but I’ll feel guilty tomorrow.
My DVD doesn’t have credits, and the imdb doesn’t even recognize that this movie exists, so I don’t know which actor played what part, with one exception. It doesn’t really matter anyway, since this really isn’t an actor’s movie. The characters are really there in order to provide context for religious instruction. Savitri makes mistakes and asks stupid questions. Her husband is befuddled. Prince is evil. The shoemaker is allegedly funny. The most human character is probably Devi Maa herself, played by Meena; she actually has personality traits unrelated to her assigned role in the story. While she knows she’s right, she’s still willing to listen to her devotees and reevaluate her positions. More than that, though, she’s obviously having fun. This is a goddess who enjoys her work. It helps that Meena is gorgeous, and has very intense eyes. Between that and the thin supporting cast, it’s hard to focus on anyone but her.
If nothing else, I learned a lot about proper worship from this film. It turns out Kali prefers a nice bowl of porridge to the still-beating hearts of the innocent. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, Indiana Jones!
The Thuggee don’t appear at all in Devi Maa (2000). Instead, we get a very simple, heartfelt story of faith and sacrifice which happens to involve killer houseplants, explosions, a man with a beach ball for a head, and a giant fire-breathing cgi skeleton.
As the film opens, we learn that “the rule of demons has spread everywhere.” In order to combat this menace, the Goddess (who is sometimes Kali, but also sometimes Durga and others; rather than pretend to a knowledge of Hindu theology I don’t have, I’ll just call her Devi Maa when she’s not actively smiting evil, and Kali when she is) plans to be born as a human. The king of demons learns of this, and plans to sacrifice the child in order to steal Devi Maa’s power.
About that king of demons - the DVD cover calls him Asur Raj, but in the film people mostly call him Prince, so that’s what I’m going with. Prince is not one for subtlety. He wears a Fu Manchu moustache and a red jumpsuit with pictures of cartoon devils on it. He also has “666″ shaved into the back of his head, and late in the film he repeatedly refers to himself as “Shaitan.” Despite this, people trust him. They’re happy to accept his aid, and invite him home to live with them. You may think that this is because Prince is infernally charming, but he’s not. He’s really not.
While Prince is busy killing kindly sages with houseplants, a woman named Savitri is having a prenatal exam. During the ultrasound, the baby is seen to morph into a Trishul and back, repeatedly. “This is strange,” the doctor says. (You think?) Savitri goes to the Goddess’s temple, and offers her mangalsutra in exchange for a healthy baby. When her baby is born healthy, Savitri promptly forgets about her promise. This is her first mistake; there will be others.
Devi Maa disguises herself as a flower girl, and gently nags Savitri into keeping her promise. (Yes, at the same time she’s also the baby. She’s a goddess.) Savitri gives in, but, at the last moment, decides to substitute another necklace for the mangalsutra. Then she has the bright idea of having baby Satya drop the necklace into the collection box. Naturally, the baby drops right into the box. After she’s pulled out, the priest insists that she’ll have to live in the temple from now on; everything that falls in the box belongs to the Goddess, after all. Savitri and her husband argue, and finally agree to honor the Goddess’s decision, but when the divinations reveal that the child should stay in the temple, they refuse and run out. This is mistake number . . . I’ve lost count, and there are still plenty more to come.
For the rest of the film, Devi Maa assumes various disguises (most notably Satya’s teacher) and basically stalks Savitri and her family, constantly telling them they need to keep their promises. Little Satya is charmed and fascinated by the disguised Devi Maa (only natural since they ‘re the same person, kind of) which freaks Savitri out even more. The obligatory comic subplot involves a simple-minded shoemaker who’s a devout worshipper of Devi Maa who manages to “trick” the Goddess into being his houseguest for a month. Meanwhile, Prince uses up minions and the special effects budget in various attempts to kill the kid, before finally tricking Savitri’s husband into inviting him home to protect Satya from the Goddess. It all leads us to a final climactic battle between Prince, at the height of his power (and assisted by his pet giant skeleton) and Kali in full “Destroyer of Evil” mode. And it turns out to be no contest.
This is a film which operates on two separate levels. On the one hand, it’s a wild and crazy b-movie with stilted dialogue, a paper-thin plot, and cheesy special effects. On the other hand, it’s a very sincere instructional film about faith and the proper rules of worship. It’s like a medieval passion play, or like Johnny Lingo with computer graphics. And as a reviewer, this presents me with a dilemma. This isn’t just a movie created to entertain, it’s an expression of faith. Can I really make jokes about it? Well, yes, obviously, but I’ll feel guilty tomorrow.
My DVD doesn’t have credits, and the imdb doesn’t even recognize that this movie exists, so I don’t know which actor played what part, with one exception. It doesn’t really matter anyway, since this really isn’t an actor’s movie. The characters are really there in order to provide context for religious instruction. Savitri makes mistakes and asks stupid questions. Her husband is befuddled. Prince is evil. The shoemaker is allegedly funny. The most human character is probably Devi Maa herself, played by Meena; she actually has personality traits unrelated to her assigned role in the story. While she knows she’s right, she’s still willing to listen to her devotees and reevaluate her positions. More than that, though, she’s obviously having fun. This is a goddess who enjoys her work. It helps that Meena is gorgeous, and has very intense eyes. Between that and the thin supporting cast, it’s hard to focus on anyone but her.
If nothing else, I learned a lot about proper worship from this film. It turns out Kali prefers a nice bowl of porridge to the still-beating hearts of the innocent. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, Indiana Jones!
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