Critic's Rating: 4/5
The flim is Inspired by the life of Grandmaster Surya Sekhar Ganguly, a chess prodigy. Dabaru take us back in 1980, shows us the journey of young Souro, aged 5 who lives with his parents and maternal grand father. He belongs to a poor family living in North Kolkata. His father (Shankar Chakravarty) who is a astrologer by profession doesn't believe in telling lies to people about their future which would satisfy therefore fails to run his family, become alcoholic due to lack of work. His maternal grandfather(Dipankar Dey) once a zamindar and gold business man after being cheated by his brothers lives with his daughter(Rituparna Sengupta) sells antic pices to different shops. His grandfather after realises that he plays chess well, so decides to teach it to him professionally with his mother, despite his father's objections and their constant financial strains. In time, he meets his coach (Chiranjeet), who helps him with his game and makes him compete against other so he can become Grandmaster one day.
Director Pathikrit Basu ensures that the film doesn’t lose its pace from the very beginning, while cinematographer Madhura Palit’s lens painstakingly captures the meandering mazes of the North Kolkata lanes and fiddles with the play of light and shadow that is buffeted by excellent and believable set design.
Star Performance: Dipankar Dey, Rituparna, Shankar Chakraborty, and Kaushik Sen deliver strong performances, with Samadarshi Sarkar stealing hearts as the young prodigy Souro. Argha Basu Roy shows promise but falters occasionally, while Chiranjit Chakraborty’s character suffers from weak dialogues and poor delivery.
Bad: Excessive melodrama concerning mother and son's relationship.
Critics's personal message:
Dabaru had the potential to pioneer the sports biopic genre in Bengali cinema.
This kind of bengali cinema is rare. A great piece of art. I watched a special screening of the movie at Nandan Cinema Hall. I really loved the movie. On various occasions during the movie I could sense tears rolling down my cheeks. The movie is a complete package of entertainment. All the actors, especially Dipankar Dey did a great job. The child actor who played the role of young Souro was brilliant. Specially Souro's grandfather steals the show. The love story in between is so refreshing. The movie has humour, action, romance and a very lovely and inspiring message. In simple words, this movie is a must-watch for cinegoers of all ages. Trust me, you will never regret watching this masterpiece.
