Nine-year-old Arif Shaikh, who starred in the Bengali feature film “Dostoji” (Two Friends), has won the Best Young Actor Award in the Child Performance (Boy) category at the 24th Olympia International Film Festival in Greece.
Arif’s father, who plays Safikul in the feature, works at a brick kiln and his mother is a housewife. He is the first person in his family to go to school.
In his debut film, writer and director Prasoon Chatterjee explores friendship, loss and healing in a border village in Bengal. The film depicts the innocent friendship of two boys in Domkal village of Murshidabad district, who are separated from Bangladesh by the Padma River.
The film is set in the aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition and the subsequent Bombay blasts.
“The film showcases the true friendship between two innocent boys who are untouched by the Babri Masjid demolition and the subsequent Bombay blasts. It shows the bond between eight-year-old Palash (Ashiq Sheikh) and Safikul (Arif Sheikh), who are not influenced by the religion they follow or the society they belong to,” Chatterjee said. Indian Express,
Recalling how Arif got the role of Safikul, the director said, “After Asik was cast as Palash, we were looking for our Safikul. We visited every primary school in the area, but didn’t find what we were looking for. One afternoon, as I was packing for my return to Kolkata, an angry nine-year-old boy came to my door. The boy was Arif, whose friend Aashiq was cast as Palash. The day we were looking for Safikul, Arif was absent from school. When Arif heard that Asik had been roped in for a feature film and that there was a director looking for another boy, he himself came.
“As soon as I opened the door, he immediately asked, ‘Are children here being cast in films?’ I said yes. Then he said, ‘I’m a kid and I want to act, just call your director.’ I politely asked him to come in. He got very angry and said, ‘I don’t have much time; I want to go play with my friends, please call your director.’ When I told him that I am the director, he said that you do not look like this.
The director said that Arif’s rude reply won her heart and she was cast in the feature.
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