The aftermath of Babri Mosque demolition and the Bombay blasts in India, 1992-’93, found its violent echoes even in a remote village of West Bengal adjacent to the India-Bangladesh border where the story begins to unfold. A story of friendship between two little boys belonging to two warring religious communities. Palash (8) is the son of a Hindu Brahmin while Safikul (8) is the son of a Muslim weaver. The innocence of Palash and Safikul receives its sustenance from nature. The greenery of the village, the river and the vast stretch of paddy fields playfully rebound the echoes of the voices and the laughter of the boys. However, relentless fate arrives quietly, when separation becomes the destiny of their friendship. How the boys face the farewell and spread wings to fly again.
– The Times BFI London Film Festival
- Director：Prasun Chatterjee
- India
- 2021
- 111min.
- color
- -
- Bengali
- JPN & ENG Sub.
Prasun Chatterjee is a self-taught filmmaker, born in a lower middle class refugee family from the suburbs of Kolkata. He learnt the ropes doing group theatre for six years. Without a film school background and any experience of film-making, he managed to shoot his first short film Shades (2017), which was premiered in the International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala and screened in numerous film festivals. Possessing a bohemian soul, Prasun has spent a major part of his life wandering aimlessly across the remote villages of the eastern state of India, West Bengal along the India-Bangladesh border in search of meaning. He has experienced the lives of the villagers, their emotions, economy, the communal polarization and their innocence very closely. All these experiences manifested in his mind as the story behind DOSTOJEE, which became his first feature film.
A simple yet meticulous depiction of the unshakable friendship between two young boys. The beautiful scenery of Bengal is captured by the skillful camera work, especially the wonderful long shots, which seem to capture the emotions of the characters, and the depiction of their miserable lives is not lacking. The film has the feel of a visual poem. This is a fine film that conveys the friendship between the two boys in a pleasing manner with its visual beauty and simple expressions.
