‘Dostojee’ child actors now look for a bright academic future

The child actors from Prasun Chatterjee’s critically acclaimed film ‘Dostojee’ will now dream of bright academic future after a private school came forward to bear the responsibility of their education from now on.
Arif Shaikh and Asik Shaikh, the two actors, used to study in Class IV in a school in a remaote Murshidabad village Bhagiratpur when Prasun Chatterjee spotted the two back in 2018 for his recently released film which has received appreciation from all corners.There’s another child actor in the film, Hasnehana Mondal, who used to be in Class II student back then in Fatehpur village.

Since last year ‘Dostojee’ has traveled 26 countries across the world, winning top honours such as UNICEF’s CIFEJ Prize, the Malaysia Golden Global Award and the best film award in London’s Arts Council of England. Incidentally, despite the film receiving accolades worldwide there wasn’t any major change in the lives of these child actors until now.
On Wednesday, director Prasun Chatterjee and his team were with the kids when they got admitted at the Murshidabad school. While Hasnahena is now a Class IV student, Arif and Asik are in Class VI.
Arif’s father Saidul is a small cultivator whose annual income is merely Rs 50,000. Whereas Asik’s father is a carpenter who earns near about 400 a day. Hasnahena’s father is a traditional medicine man whose monthly income is Rs 5,000.

‘Dostojee’, also starring Jayati Chakraborty and Swatilekha Kundu, is set in the aftermath of Babri Mosque demolition and the Bombay blasts in 1992-'93. It found its violent echoes even in a remote village of West Bengal adjacent to the India-Bangladesh border where the story begins to unfold. It is a story of friendship between two little boys belonging to two warring religious communities.