There couldn’t have been a better time for Sharthopor to arrive on screens. This family drama starring Koel Mallick and Koushik Sen is rooted in emotions and peels back the layers of sibling love — it is the perfect family drama to watch this Bhai Phonta.
Annapurna Basu’s debut feature film as director also explores resentment among siblings while holding a mirror to society that often takes their daughters for granted.
The story revolves around Aparna Ghosal (Koel Mallick) and Saurav Basu (Koushik Sen), siblings who share a strong bond of camaraderie since childhood. Even after marriage, Aparna remains connected to her paternal side of the family.
However their bond is tested when Saurav decides to lease a part of their ancestral home to a builder to set up a homestay. Aparna contends that she is also an equal stakeholder in the house. As they find themselves on opposite sides of a legal battle, the conflict exposes long-buried insecurities and misunderstandings.
Basu approaches the premise with nuance but keeps melodrama to a minimum. The film moves with the rhythm of real life — sometimes slow, sometimes sharp, yet always full of emotions and relatable.
Koel Mallick, as Aparna, gives one of her most mature performances in recent years. She plays the part with restraint — a woman trying to search for her own identity as the men around her (her husband and her brother) take her for granted. There’s a quiet anguish in her eyes that says more than her dialogues ever could. She is neither the victim nor the villain. She is a woman who still loves her brother even as she fights him in court.
Opposite her, Koushik Sen is superb as Saurav. He brings his trademark intensity to a man who is both self-righteous and broken inside. Sen has this rare ability to make even a stubborn character sympathetic. When he lashes out, you see the pain behind the anger. The chemistry between Mallick and Sen is the film’s heartbeat.
Ranjit Mallick, as Aparna’s lawyer, brings gravitas in an extended cameo. On the other side stands Anirban Chakrabarti as Saurav’s lawyer — he is sharp, ambitious, and slightly smug.
Sharthopor isn’t a film about property law or court verdicts — it’s about reconciliation. If the film’s “happy ending” feels a bit convenient and less legally sound, it’s forgivable, because the film is ultimately a relationship story.
