Durga Puja has always been a favourite of filmmakers while staging emotional peaks in a narrative. Be it stormy confrontations, celebratory songs or crucial plot twists, the festival has been a crucial backdrop in several Hindi movies, and not just a narrative digression. This Durga Puja we revisit five such scenes where the autumnal festival took the narrative forward.
Chandramukhi faces off against Kali babu in Devdas
Durga Puja comes at a crucial turning point in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s 2002 drama Devdas. Parvati (Aishwarya Rai), in her search for Devdas (Shah Rukh Khan) had befriended Chandramukhi (Madhuri Dixit), a courtesan, and invited her to the festivities at her zamindar mansion. They enjoy the Puja and dance their hearts out in front of the entire village, before Parvati’s son-in-law exacts revenge for a past insult by outing Chandramukhi’s identity.
Sekhar becomes jealous of Girin in Parineeta
Pradeep Sarkar stages Durga Puja on the big screen twice in his 2005 film Parineeta. In the first sequence, early on in the film, the festivities depict the growing bond between Sekhar (Saif Ali Khan) and Lolita (Vidya Balan). Later, when Girin (Sanjay Dutt) enters Lolita’s life, the same festivities act as a mirror to Sekhar’s growing jealousy. As a burning piece of coir falls off Girin’s dhunuchi at the Durga Puja pandal, Lolita runs to clear it, irking Sekhar.
Vidya takes revenge from Milan Damji in Kahaani
The climactic twist in Sujoy Ghosh’s 2012 thriller Kahaani is a shocker for every first-time viewer. On the last day of Durga Puja, Vidya Bagchi (Vidya Balan), offers herself as bait to lure Milan Damji (Indraneil Sengupta), a mole in the intelligence bureau, out of hiding. Little did anyone know Vidya is actually a covert operative herself, out to take revenge for her husband’s death from Damji. Ghosh builds the climax as a metaphor for Maa Durga slaying demon Mahisasur.
Pakhi’s asthmatic condition is revealed in Lootera
Vikramaditya Motwane’s 2013 drama Looetra opens with a shot of Maa Durga’s face. Set in a quaint village in West Bengal, the festivities are taking place in zamindar Soumitra Roy Chaudhary’s (Barun Chanda) mansion. A jatra pala (local theatre) is being held on the sidelines of the autumnal worship of Durga. In the audience, accompanying Roy Chaudhary is his daughter Pakhi (Sonakshi Sinha), who soons begins coughing uncontrollably, and is taken to the inner chambers. This is how the audience comes to know about her underlying asthmatic condition.
Rani confronts Rocky’s family in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani
Karan Johar uses Durga Puja as a showdown between Rani (Alia Bhatt) and Rocky’s (Ranveer Singh) family as she tears down their patriarchal mindset in his 2023 romcom Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani. Soon after Rocky dances to Dola Re Dola at a Durga Puja pandal, with Rani’s father Chandon (Tota Roy Choudhury), Rocky’s father Tijori (Aamir Bashir) and grandmother Dhanlakshmi (Jaya Bachchan) leave the venue in a huff, only to be confronted by Rani. A lecture on progressive values follows.