Dostojee: Poetry of courage

Illustration/Uday Mohite

Prasun Chatterjee's stunning debut film Dostojee (Two Friends, Bengali with English subtitles), is one of the most lyrical and poignant films I have seen in a long time. It is an Indo-Taiwanese collaboration that has been at over 20 film festivals worldwide, including the BFI London, Goteborg and Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festivals, and the International Film Festival of Kerala. It is about the charming friendship of two little boys, Palash (Asik Shaikh) and Shafikul (Arif Shaikh), both 8, living in a small village in Murshidabad, on the Indo-Bangladesh border. Their faraway village still feels the impact of the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992 and the Bombay Bomb Blasts of 1993. And yet, the friendship of the innocent boys survives every challenge - unlike adults, who are quick to take leave of their senses, and become putty in the hands of religious and political bigots. The film, with English subtitles, released in cinemas all over India on Friday. I highly recommend that you see it this week itself, as this poetic gem is up against other studio-backed strong contenders, including the superb Godavari (Marathi) and the Marvel-backed Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Neighbours Palash and Shafikul, son of a Hindu priest and Muslim weaver, enjoy a rich childhood, despite poverty - gambolling by the river, flying kites and gawking at Amitabh ‘Bochchon' at the local ‘video parlour'. Following news of the Babri Masjid and Bombay Bomb Blasts, the adults in this Muslim-majority village decide to build a Chhota Babri Masjid, while Hindus decide to build a Ram temple. But Palash secretly enjoys sweet semai that Shafikul shares at Eid, and Shafikul, after secretly attending the Ramjatra on the Ramayana, asks the actors smoking together backstage: Are you not enemies? "No, we're good friends. We just have to dress like enemies for our bread and butter," Ravana replies. Palash and Shafikul's friendship will survive the greatest tragedies, but will the adults ever learn? Even Palash's Hindu priest father, keen to adapt, says, "I'll have to read the scriptures to learn the rituals of Ram worship," as Ram is more popular in North India than in the East (where Durga and other Hindu gods are more popular).

The direction and screenplay are both assured, upping the emotional ante in the second half, when tragedy strikes, but it is unrelated to Islamophobia. The film warmly tributes Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali, with its magnificent, kaash-flower filled landscapes, young protagonist with a protective older sister, the Hindu priest father in dire straits, and evoking the magic - and tragedy - that monsoon brings. But, Chatterjee has a completely unique, original voice. As Ray chose still photographer Subrata Mitra to shoot Pather Panchali, so too Chatterjee chose still photographer Tuhin Biswas for the cinematography for Dostojee - and the pay-off is a magnificent portrait of rural life, including a magical sequence with fireflies at night. And there won't be a dry eye in the audience at the most haunting climax, with Shafikul in a mango orchard.

Chatterjee draws marvelous performances from mostly village non-actors, especially the two boys. Arif Shaikh as Shafikul, particularly, turns in a fine performance, as his eyes, bright with mischief, are later clouded with melancholy. Palash's mother (Jayati Chakraborty) and Shafikul's sister Apa (Swatilekha Kundu) are good too. Sujay Datta Ray and Santanu Mukherjee's editing is good, and Prasun Chatterjee and Rohit Sengupta's sound design elevates the film. Satyaki Banerjee's music, used discreetly, works well. The producers are Kathak Talkies, and backed by Prosenjit Ranjan Nath, Soumya Mukhopadhyay and Ivy Yu-Hua Shen, a woman producer from Taiwan. Self-taught filmmaker Chatterjee, who belongs to a refugee family that migrated to India from Bangladesh, following communal riots, has given us a jewel that will be engraved in my heart for a long, long time. Watch out for Chatterjee, who won the Golden Shika Award at the Nara International Film Festival, Japan, which includes the offer to make a film in Japan, with a budget of $1million (Rs 8 crore).

Meenakshi Shedde is India and South Asia Delegate to the Berlin International Film Festival, National Award-winning critic, curator to festivals worldwide and journalist.
Reach her at meenakshi.shedde@mid-day.com