The Companion (2006) User Reviews

a good thing, all over again. in b&w

[abhijit1507 · 8/10 · 14 April 2006]

dosar released today in calcutta. the film stands out for several reasons. one, its in black and white. director rituporno ghosh (of fame such as Unishe April, Dahan) went to great lengths to procure scarcely available b&w film and then work on post production. apart from some jumps in skin tone and lighting the experiment is largely successful.

as far as the content goes there is much to look forward to. its a story by shirshendu mukhopadhyaya, acting by the brilliant konkana sen (a much more creditable actress than her mother, the legendary aparna sen), the background score, the poetry...

...but (yes there is one) this is just another rituporno film. anybody who hasn't seen his other films will be delighted at his treatment, his sensitivity, his ability to talk about relationships in a manner that marks a genius...yet for bengali viewers who have been seeing his work for sometime now, it is "abaar rituporno" (again rituporno)...

future times might declare dosar as his best or as a landmark film, for it has all the ingredients.

there are two clear winners here. one is of course bengali cinema. the dirty tag of tollywood has plagued it for several years (and the fight is far from ended) but the crowds in the theatre suggest that good bengali cinema has a chance of rescuing itself from the morass it currently it is in.

the other is konkana sen. arguably her best performance to date, she stands at par with any legendary actress in Indian cinema with dosar.

one last comment about the film. this is the first time a bengali commercial film, in recent times, has been this explicit in depicting sexual bonding. clumsily done, but maybe thats intended.

Smart Movie !

[debi_chat · 7/10 · 1 September 2010]

Remember the song "Perhaps Love"? it went something like.."some say love is everything/ some say they don't know.."...you would be forced to encounter this dilemma over and over while watching this movie.

incredibly enough, the plot is a love-quadrangle ! one wonders if there is anything left in this genre that the oxygen channel has played to its death...but rituparno does a tremendous job of redefining adultery and its legacy on a marriage.

what I liked most about the movie is the extent to which the characters were real. This is a movie where the characters speak like I speak, falter like I falter...even their mobile ringtones, their accessories...everything reeks of contemporary-ness (i made that word up)...urban, educated, working class...captured perfectly on the canvas and then rituparno has proceeded to paint the story of love, lust, trust, security, duty, responsibility, morality and so on...

watch it if you are a bong (and you know who you are), watch it if you are not one...

Theme Black n White was just perfect

[geetarani201 · 8/10 · 20 November 2012]

I have heard a lot about the movie but hadn't seen just because the movie was in black and white but after reading so many positive reviews,yesterday when i was getting bored i have seen this movie and find that the movie is amazing.I am happy that i have seen this movie and also not happy because i had missed this movie before.Black and white theme suits in the movie the most,the director was right,the movie does not demand the colors and if this would be made with colors then the emotions in the movie does not came up like this as happens in Black and white.Apart from its theme,everything in the movie was excellent,the story was different,the star cast was awesome,all were very good in their characters.I have seen almost all the movies given by Arindam Chaudhuri's planman production and this is the best movie they have given and all should watch this movie at least once.

A brilliant film in black and white.

[dwslink · 9/10 · 6 November 2012]

Dosar is one of my favourite Bengali film.All credits to the director for the way he has made the film.It is one of the many hits from Planman Motion pictures and simply amazing.I would say I have seen many movies but none impressed me to the extent this film has. The plot is brilliant and the way it has been executed is superb.Added to all this the brilliant performance by the lead actors Prosenjit and Konkona Sen,also my favourite stars.It is in the second half that both really were amazing when Prosenjit,who cheated on his wife Konkona had to regain her trust.The best thing and something that made it more superb is that the film was not in color but in black and white.To release a black and white film in 2006 with such a plot and that too so brilliantly could have been done only by Rituparno Ghosh.

At least some have raised this issue........

[salonisinha607 · 9/10 · 6 February 2013]

The movie shows the truths of life which most of the women in our country are going through. The movie is mind blowing with lot of emotions and especially because its shown in black and white. Dosar is a movie talks about the story of husband and wife,how husband cheated his wife and wife cannot leave him due to her duties towards her marriage. Dosar was the first movie which touches my heart and make me cry. I felt the pain of a wife betrayed by her husband. In our country are facing these kind of situations and living with their husbands just because of their duties towards their marriage. I am happy,some have raised this issue through this movie Dosar.

Bengali cinema is not far from the competition

[saroj-sinha44 · 7/10 · 26 November 2012]

The level of movies,be it in Bollywood,Hollywood or Tollywood is increasing day by day.English and Hindi films are producing superb films but Bengali cinema is not far from the competition.Dosar is an awesome film and an excellent example.Its a beautiful film on a couple and the various problems in their life. Konkona Sen and Prosenjit Chatterjee are superb actors and need no introduction on how good they are.This film where they play the role of a married couple is among their best till date.No should miss this film if you are a fan of any of these two stars. Such movies with such performances do not come out everyday. This is Bengali film and that too in black and white and kudos to director Rituparno Ghosh for the way he has made this tremendous film. It is a superb and tremendous film that is too bad to be missed.

Nobody beats Konkona Sen Sharma

[namankhurana93 · 9/10 · 28 March 2013]

I have seen very few Bengali movies and this is the best i have seen in Bengali.I have seen this movie dosar for my favorite actress Konkona Sen,she is just mind blowing.She gave life to the characters in the movie and i think she is more brilliant in Bengali movies rather than bollywood movies.The way she acts,the way she delivers her dialogs,nobody beats her in Bengali movies.Apart from Konkona,Prasenjit was also very good in the movie,he compliments Konkona in the movie.I like both of them as they act like real characters.Taking about the movie,based on women infidelity,none of the director producer takes this kind of risk and make these types of movie,hats off to both the director and the producer.

"Forget about dialogues, the hero here is lying on bed throughout the film"

[smkbsws · 7/10 · 16 September 2020]

Experiment with black and by Ghosh. And contrary to his previous films, this movie is lacking dialogues. Forget about dialogues, the hero here is lying on bed throughout the film; and for this he got special jury mention in the national awards. Konkona Sensharma's acting is one of driving force here. Also, the supporting actors really rocked as their roles, at the first glance, does not bother about what is actually happening in the main story; but their decisions and acts impacted its flow. This was based on a short story by Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay.

Really different film;great to watch

[bak-and-sid · 9/10 · 22 October 2012]

Dosar is Planman Motion Picture's film made in Bengali.What makes this film amazing is the fact that it is not in colored.This was a kind of risk taken by the production team to release a film in Black & White in 2006.Atleast this is what I really feel.But the movie is just too good to miss.Rituparno is an excellent director no doubt.He is one of the best director today that we have.Through Dosar,he goes on to show his excellence and the reason why he is the best.Prasenjit as Kaushik Chatterjee and Konkona Sen Sharma as Kaberi Chatterjee have given brilliant performance.In the film,both are in the lead and are a married couple.Dosar is about how at a point Kaushik betrays his wife.The second half is more interesting as the main story begins from there where we get to see some brilliant performance by both,specially Prasenjit.Kudos to the team of Dosar for coming out with such a brilliant movie.

one of the finest films ever made

[sharmarohit869 · 7/10 · 13 February 2013]

The movie is a Bengali movie purely based on the strains of 21st century terribly affecting the relationship between a man and a woman.Prosenjit Chatterjee and Konkona sen were in the main leas role and was really awesome.Konkona looks so real in her character as if she is suffering from the pain that her husband betrays her.Prosenjit too were very nice in the movie and brilliantly played his role dealing with the mental trauma caused by an accident and then winning his wife's trust back.In the end,both compromise because of the social stigma and pressure. The most contemporary Bengali filmmakers in the industry,Rituparno Ghosh,made lot of excellent movies in the past and this is one of the best movies in the industry.The director has shown various finer moments helplessness for a wife in very intelligent way

Konkona's performance leaves me speechless

[singhparvinder660 · 9/10 · 5 November 2012]

Director Rituparno Ghosh and actor Konkona Sen Sharma have come a long way since Titli, where they worked as a team for the first time.In Dosar, Ghosh's forthcoming Bengali film, they get back together as a team and Kolkata Newsline caught up with duo who have been the best known cultural ambassadors to emerge from Bengal in recent times. Konkona's talent just leaves me speechless. Dosar is a Bengali film that Kakon is doing after a very long gap.she has grown leaps and bounds as an actor and also discovered herself in the process. The talent she always had, but what amazes me is the keen intelligence she exhibits in choosing her roles. Not for her is any and every film, she knows her mind and only does films that touch her heart.

Shot entirely in black and white

[monikasharma702 · 8/10 · 9 November 2012]

Shot entirely in black and white, Rituparno Ghosh's Dosar (The Companion) opens with Kaushik Chatterjee (Prasenjit) and his colleague and lover Mita Roy checking out of their weekend retreat in a riverside resort. On their way back to Kolkata they meet with an accident. She dies on the spot while he is critically injured.In hospital,Kaushik's wife Kaberi (Konkona Sen Sharma, brilliant) is trying to find the right expression to mask her anguish and display her indignation over her husband's infidelity. She even tries hiding behind dark glasses and refuses to sign the hospital form as a mark of protest.Kaberi reacts in different ways to the disclosure of the affair and to Kaushik's painfully slow recovery.

movie would not have been possible without Rituparno

[kumari_mohini · 9/10 · 26 February 2013]

I have seen a lot of bengali movies and this is best among them.The movie starts with an accident in which the women died on the spot sitting next to the man who was driving,the man survives with lot of injuries.After the accident his wife get to know that his husband had cheating her by having an extra-marital affair with the deceased woman and the ugliness that the revelation brings in its wake is what the film is all about from then onwards. .Starring Prosenjit Chatterjee and Konkona Sen Sharma in the lead role of husband and wife,both were simply amazing.Other most special thing about this film is that it was shot in black and white and not in color.Without the brilliance of Rituparno,this movie would not have been possible.

Fine drama with searing performances

[avik-kumar-si · 8/10 · 15 February 2014]

Koushik (Prosenjit Chatterjee), on the way back from a short (supposedly official) trip with Mita, his married colleague with whom he is having an extra-marital affair, meets an accident. While the accident claims Mita's life, it only severely injures Koushik. Koushik is admitted to a hospital with critical injuries.

And it is under these circumstances that Kaberi (Konkona Sensharma), Koushik's wife, discovers about the affair. Rituparno, the modern maestro of human relationship dramas, lays out this intriguing stage in his 2006 film, Dosar. A woman caught in the situation of having to care for her fatally injured husband while having to deal with her recently-acquired knowledge of her husband's affair.

Rituparno's forte was always the chamber drama centred around a few individuals and Dosar is a fine specimen from that category of work produced in the Bengali cinema universe in the last decade. Dosar is shot entirely in black-and-white. And the stark duo-tone along with the sparingly used soundtrack aids the poignant character of the treatment greatly, allowing the viewers to immerse themselves in the state of affairs easily, without being distracted by unnecessary frills.

Konkona Sensharma, indubitably one of (if not) the most natural actors of her generation puts in a searing account of the protagonist while a bed-ridden Prosenjit glows away silently in all glory. Saswata Chatterjee, in a minor role, is wonderful too. And a special mention must be made of Parambrata and Pallavi, whose own subplot gives the film an added dimension.

A perceptive take on conjugal relationships and its troughs, Dosar deserves to be watched as much for its pathos-filled treatment of a delicate theme as for the numbingly masterful acts by the two lead actors

Different approach to the subject of infidelity

[vashu-chauhan32 · 9/10 · 11 January 2013]

The movie shot is entirely in black and white and the way movie presents,it doesn't seems like the movie need and colors,its really awesome in black n white.Its a very creative thinking of director to make a movie black and which in this time of cinema. Talking about the movie,basically the movie that takes a different approach to the subject of infidelity.Dosar is a movie that shows the story of a husband and a betrayed wife,who comes to know about her husband's betrayal only when he meets an accident in which he loses his love interest.The cast was good and Prosenjit Chatterjee has always been able to capture my attention. Konkona is a fine actress and emotes well.

Every movie lover must watch it

[gopal-sharma444 · 9/10 · 15 November 2012]

Dosar is among the best movies that I have seen.This is not just because of the script or the acting but overall.And the fact that it is a B&W picture released in 2006 is what makes it more amazing.All credits to director Rituparno Ghosh and his actors. Dosar ,aka the companion is the story about the relationship between a husband and a wife.Prasenjit Chatterjee and Konkona Sen are the lead actors of the film.Both play the role of married couple are superb in the film.I would say this perhaps is their best performance.I liked the way both have acted in the latter half of the film.And its not just them I don't think without Rituparno Dosar would have been possible.An amazingly beautiful film with excellence in all departments,it is a movie that must be watched by every movie lover and not just Bengali audience.

Prosenjit & Konkona Sen are brilliant.

[ksuresh571 · 8/10 · 9 November 2012]

Dosar is an awesome film that has been beautifully made by Rituparno Ghosh.Starring Konkona Sen and Prosenjit Chatterjee,the movie for me is an ultimate entertainer.One of the best Bengali film that I have seen till date is how I would actually describe the film. The movie deals with the relationship between husband and wife and how a serious accident changes their life completely.As the critically injured husband trying to make amends with his wife after having an extra-marital affair, Prosenjit has perhaps given the best performance of his career so far. Being severely injured and hence practically immobile during the entire movie, Prosenjit has emoted superbly through only his eyes and his dialogue delivery and timing is also excellent. Konkona Sen Sharma as the wife dealing with a gamut of complex emotions has given a very skilled performance as well. Overall, a must see movie.

Both Prasenjit and Konkona are superb in the film

[mahetagolu · 9/10 · 6 February 2013]

The movie shows the differences between the couple arises after a car accident.The life of a couple completely takes a turn around after a fatal accident reveals a dark secret about a husband to his wife. Kaushik and Kaberi are happily married until this incident leaves Kaushik injured and wounded and left Mita,his girlfriend and colleague dead.The film is about how after this accident life becomes difficult for both of them. While Kaushik was left with the difficult task of regaining his wife's trust back, he at the same time also had to deal with all the mental trauma.Kaberi for her part had the worst situation in front of her.Both Prasenjit and Konkona are superb in the film where they have to display intense emotions and they have done it with brilliance.

Brilliantly made by Rituparno Ghosh

[s-sahrawat444 · 9/10 · 14 December 2012]

The film is about how Kaushik betrays his wife,Kaberi and is involved in an extra marital affair with his colleague,Mita.Kaberi comes to know about his relationship only after a fatal accident that takes away Mita's life and leaves Kaushik seriously injured.This was a moment of great shock and dilemma for Kaberi.Apart from seeing her husband seriously injured in the accident,Kaberi is also shattered to know about his relationship with Mita.

Prasenjit as Kaushik is just awesome.He has always been my favorite and the way he played Kaushik in the film just shows the great talent in him.Dosar,also called the companion, in English, is a superb black and white Bengali film that has been brilliantly made by Rituparno Ghosh.

I would suggest everyone to watch at least once

[harkeshyadav57 · 9/10 · 26 November 2012]

Its among the very few Bengali films that I have seen. I am a huge movie buff and so can watch a good movie anywhere ,anytime; be it in any language. Dosar, a Rituparno Ghosh directed fill is too good a film to be missed. A black and white movie with a simple but superb storyline has been superbly directed . The movie is about the relationship between a married couple and how the wife is cheated upon by her husband.Prasenjit Chatterjee,one of the leading Bengali heroes is fabulous in the picture.No one could have portrayed the character of Kaushik the way he has.Konkona Sharma is also too good as Kaberi.Its a superbly made movie and Prasenjit's acting in the second half is something that makes the film more brilliant. Anyone who's into watching brilliant and meaningful movies must give it a shot. It among the very few movies that I would suggest everyone to watch at least once.

Truths of life

[anita-yadav777 · 9/10 · 17 December 2012]

A movie,directed by Rituparno Ghosh and produced by Arindam Chaudhuri's planman production,the names are so big,we can easily imagine how excellent a movie would be and believe me,this movie Dosar;the companion is awesome.The movie shows the truths of life which most of the women in our country are going through.I must say,its an awesome combination of Rituparno Ghosh and planman productions.

The movie deals with the relationship between husband and wife and how a serious accident changes their life completely.As the critically injured husband trying to make amends with his wife after having an extra-marital affair.

Physical and mental trauma

[devin-narang85 · 9/10 · 3 January 2013]

Dosar is the movie about a husband,Kaushik and his wife Kaberi;played by Prosenjit and Konkona Sen respectively.Kaushik and Kaberi are a happy couple until one day Kaberi comes to know about Kaushik's extramarital after a serious accident. Kaushik was with his colleague Mita in the accident,also the other girl in his life.While Mita dies in the accident,Kaushik is left with serious injuries.When Kaberi comes to know of all this,she is left shattered.Many times,Kaberi often threatens divorce but ultimately is overpowered by the wife in her and cannot desist fulfilling her duties towards her husband at the time of crisis.On the other hand, Kaushik too is caught in his own predicament.Prosenjit as Kaushik is superb in his role where he is left with physical and mental trauma and was left with the daunting task of winning his wife's trust back.

Dosar :the companion

[manisha-yadav777 · 8/10 · 9 December 2012]

dosar is an an excellent Bengali film directed by Rituparno Ghosh and produced by the planman motion pictures.Its the story of a husband and wife and betrayal.The story is a very simple one but has been beautifully executed by the director. Konkona Sen and Prasenjit Chatterjee are in the lead role and are brilliant as always.This film teaches you a lot in its journey.We see a lot and there are moments in the film that leaves you with a deep thought in your mind.The betrayal of a wife by her husband is nothing new.And this concept has been brilliantly shown on screen.I would say this is one of the finest movies that I have seen.Acting wise,konkona and prasenjit are superb in the film.Hats off to the team of dosar,especially rituparno ghosh and his two stars.

Best of Rituparno Ghosh

[kirti-bhatia555 · 8/10 · 2 December 2012]

Dosar is a movie given by planman motion pictures in Bengali.I appreciate the thinking of the director of not using colors in the movie.This is the major risk taken by both the director and producer and they are succeeded in their risk.The movie looks really nice in Black n White and all the emotions shows in the movie which we can only feel in B & W.

No doubt,Rituparno Ghosh is an excellent director and one of the best director that we have in Indian Cinema and his prove this through this movie Dosar.The lead actors Prasenjit Chatterjee and Konkona Sen Sharma were at their best and this is the best performance i have seen of them.

Konkona Sen-Grace she had on camera is just awesome

[satpals_777 · 8/10 · 21 November 2012]

One more movie from planman production,outstanding movie for all the viewers.Dosar is directed by Rituparno Ghosh and for the first time he came with a movie in Black and White.It is a very bold step taken by director and producer of the movie and for me,this is the right decision taken by them as the story of the movie does not demand colors.Very few director,producer take these kinds of risks and i really appreciate both of them and fully support them.The name of the movie is so touching and force us to watch the movie.Not only this,the lead actress Konkona Sen was superb in the movie,the grace she had on camera is just awesome.All must watch the movie,its really nice.