Bollywood and television go great lengths when it comes to projecting festive sequences on-screen. With the Durga Puja festival going on, Advocate Anjali Awasthi (AAA) actor Umesh Ghadge says he loved the puja sequence in Sujoy Ghosh’s Kahaani.

Umesh, who has been part of projects like Made in Heaven, Scam, Breathe, and Ghum Hai Kisi Ke Pyar Mein, to name some, said, “I can instantly recall and say that it’s from Sujoy Ghosh’s film Kahani, which was based in Kolkata. Durga puja procession was merged with the plot beautifully. Cops are looking for Vidya, and she is looking for the killer of her husband. And this was intercut with the procession. Vidya, after fulfilling her revenge, gives a slip to the cops and merges with all the women in the Durga Maa procession since she is also wearing the same traditional Bengali white saree as hundreds of other women.”

“Durga is a symbol of woman power and known for combating and defeating demons of society, which is what Vidya’s character does in the film. And the high point of the whole sequence was when the villain points a gun at her, who was shown pregnant all through the film, suddenly removes the padding used to fake the big stomach from behind her saree. It was a jaw-dropping moment. Something never seen before or expected,” he added.

He mentioned that the message from the sequence was very clear: a woman becomes a superpower to eradicate the devil from society if an evil force threatens her dignity or becomes a threat to the society. Just like Durga Maa, who killed Mahishasur.

Umesh also confessed that the festival is just as fun as other Indian festivals. He said, “The whole family dresses up and visits relatives and friends and distributes sweets. I am a Maharashtrian. So we have a tradition of exchanging ‘Aptyachi pane’ (Bahunia racemosa), also known as bidi leaf, with each other as a symbol of gold and prosperity and seeking blessings from the elderly.”

“Then we used to visit various Santoshi mata pandals at night. I also have fond memories of going to play garba/dandiya raas during Navratri. And watching huge effigies of Ravan burning was a spectacular and scary sight when I was small,” he added.

One evil of society you want to eradicate? “Not just one but two—one is sexual abuse and the other is animal cruelty,” Umesh ended.