Rating: 7.3/10
Director: Arindam Sil
Writers: Debleena Bandhopadhay (story), Padmanabha Dasgupta (screenplay)
Stars: Sohini Sarkar, Tanushree Chakraborty, Debjani Chatterjee
Runtime: 1h 41min
Genre: Drama, Family
Released: 28 April 2017

Description: After she’s caught stealing, Durga (Sohini) is given a second chance by jeweller Shomshankar Basak’s (Sumanta) younger daughter-in-law, Manashi (Tonushree). What follows is a trial by fire for both women.

A slice of life film is best enjoyed when that slice, however minuscule, is brimming with goodness. And it becomes all the more sweet in today’s world where the news is brimming with violence and death. So, in this fast darkening ecosystem that’s ripping at the seams with intolerance, hate and malice, Durga Sohay is a bright slice of humaneness. It’s about love — especially those facets of the emotion that are fast losing out to lust, selfishness and impatience. Most of all, it’s about the most underrated human quality in modern times — kindness.

All that was about the grain of a film made by an actor-turned-director who’s known for his thrillers, especially his brand of Byomkesh Bakshi films. Durga Sohay breaks that stereotype. Arindam Sil is now a good filmmaker. Period. And that’s all the more apparent from the way he has approached the film and it’s simple, heartwarming subject. The result is a director’s baby. No one over- or under-acts, there’s no continuity faux pas and the story progresses smoothly towards the hope-filled climax.
So, Durga Sohay is essentially a precisely-wound mechanism that unwinds at just the right pace, leaving very little room for the actors to do something extraordinary. But Sohini, Tonushree, Ritobroto and Anirban have still managed to squeeze in memorable performances. Sohini, devoid of the empowering sheen of makeup, manages to embody Durga — a woman whose past is shrouded in the shadows of crime and poverty.

Note: Audio is Bengali.