Review of 'Doshar'

doshar- the companion.
film by rituparno ghosh .

it's a black and white film in the literal sense but several shades of grey exist in the storyline. perhaps one of the most disturbing and different tales on marital infidelity i have seen. the story starts with a man and his lover returning from radisson - a resort on the outskirts of kolkata after a supposed ' business tour' weekend (both were colleagues) when the disastrous happens - they have an accident where the woman dies and the man is hospitalised and the accident is covered in the press. from this coverage the spouses of both get to learn about the extra marital affair they never knew about till this point.

the rest of the story is about how each deals with this incident, more focus on Konkana who essays the role of the man's wife. she does a wonderful job- potraying a range of emotions and flitting between one and the other - disgust, obligation, love etc. The best part of the film is that it is very very real and therefore very disturbing - the way the world reacts to an incident like this, the man seldom in the wrong and the woman almost always - whether she is the mistress or the wife. so while the office is willing to forget the mistake the man has made , they refuse to even have a memorial service for the woman who is killed in the accident ! interesting also how everyone suggests that the wife make the compromise and live on with her spouse, except ironically her mother in law.

what is beautiful about her character is the strength she tries to potray and hold her own , and finally about the compromise that she ends up making. but what is well depicted is that her way of dealing with things appears quite similar to how many women we know would deal with a similar situation, without much help from anyone else, in a matter of fact way. while she makes her compromise in the end, she relentlessly mentally tortures her spouse in a cold and strong manner, not asking for sympathy but making him feel like a worm nonetheless.

what was a little unfair however is almost a trend with this director, he always potrays the man like a tool who is a loser only interested in having sex, the story is told from the woman's perspective and the reasons for the man's behavior are never explored. i guess the director too needs to limit his scope of story telling so it's ok. the folks i watched the movie with found the movie very slow, but i thought it was a natural pace, giving an opportunity for great screenplay and script to be played out.

i would recommend the movie, for the complexity it deals with in a non - judgmental and more importantly real way.

By,
Soma Ghosh