After travelling to 26 countries and winning eight international awards, film-maker Prasun Chatterjee’s debut feature film Dostojee is releasing in theatres on November 11. The film has won the prestigious CIFEJ Prize, which is supported by UNESCO. It becomes the fifth Indian film to have received this award in the last four decades, from 1981 when the award was first created.

Prosenjit welcomed Team Dostojee to his Ballygunge home recently, and handed over the Malaysia Golden Global Awards 2022 for Best Actor to the two actors of the film, Asik Shaikh and Arif Shaikh.

“Dostojee has been made with a lot of heart and honesty. It has already picked up many international awards. It is a wonderful moment for Bengali cinema. Once the film releases in theatres, I’m sure it’ll be watched by people in large numbers. I remember the actors as I had seen them in the film. Once I met them, I saw that they have grown up. Four years have passed since the film was shot. I would urge everyone to go and watch the film in the theatres. Dostojee will create history,” says Prosenjit, who is presenting the film.

The team with Prosenjit

“The journey has been amazing for us. Bumbada was really moved after watching Dostojee, and asked how he could help and support us. I felt that it would be really nice if Bumbada presented the film. I told him that. Also, the actors could not travel to Malaysia to pick up the awards. We are extremely happy that Bumbada handed over the awards to them. We are grateful to Bumbada. Asik and Arif were really happy receiving the awards from Bumbada,” says Prasun.

(from the left) Abhijit Guha and Haranath Chakraborty

Dostojee is a story of friendship between two little boys in a remote village of West Bengal adjacent to the India-Bangladesh border. 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, certain incidents lead to their separation. The film goes on to show how the boys face the farewell and spread wings to fly again.

Pictures: B. Halder