Devrai

Devrai (English: Sacred Grove) is a 2004 Indian Marathi film directed by filmmaker duo Sumitra Bhave–Sunil Sukthankar and produced by the Schizophrenia Awareness Association and K. S. Wani Memorial Trust.

He wants to conduct research on the Devrai but his mother refuses to help out with funds as she has limited resources and a daughter to marry off.

He becomes attracted to Parvati (Amruta Subhash), the wife of a family servant Shambhu, and fantasises her as a goddess who is an inhabitant of the grove.

Seena tries to offer support to Shesh but Sudesh becomes upset and gets him admitted to a psychiatric facility where he receives treatment by a senior psychiatrist (Mohan Agashe).

Soon though help comes in the form of the sessions at a day care center run by a social worker (Jyoti Subhash) for mentally ill patients.

A dip in Shesh's condition soon comes about and one night during a frantic conversation with Seena he divulges the information that their help Shambhu has murdered his wife Parvati.

Seena can see she has failed to take care of her older brother with minimal help from her grudging husband who has concerns with his son being exposed to this volatile home environment.

After reminiscing about the happy days of her childhood and youth spent in the quiet and tranquil village she agrees to Seena's proposal.

There Kalyani along with Parvati and Shambhu put Seena's mind at ease about the care of her schizophrenic brother whereupon she returns home to her family.

[1] Director Sukthankar said that they held discussions with psychiatrists and attended SAA's self-help groups to observe the affected patients.

The citation states that "in this chaotic world, when every body talks about the importance of environment, conservation and preservation but no body cares to learn from the wisdom of myth created by our forefathers and create a space for every mind to realise its potential without judging, discriminating or condemning.

Atul Kulkarni won the Special Jury Award at the Mumbai International Film Festival for his performance.

[8] The film was presented at the India International Disability Film Festival at Anand theatre in Chennai on 7 July 2005 and was appreciated for portraying "the struggle of a person caught between his two worlds" and "the situation of his family too that tries hard to help him", and the filmmaker duo Bhave–Sukthankar were lauded for "presenting the experiences of a schizophrenic as honestly as possible.