In our relentless and far-flung quest for the best examples of world cinema, we often forget to look closer home — our neighbours, to be precise. Our youngest neighbour Bangladesh, she of 1971 vintage, has produced some terrific cinema in her 44-year-old history. Given the turbulent events of 1971, it is only to be expected that the liberation struggle and its aftermath inform much of what is considered classic Bangladeshi cinema today.
A prime example is Tareque Masud, whose sensitive films, Muktir Gaan ( Freedom Song , 1995), Muktir Kotha ( Words of Freedom , 1999) and Matir Moina ( The Clay Bird , 2002), are sometimes allegorical looks at the tumultuous period in the young nation’s history. Matir Moina is undoubtedly Masud’s masterpiece. Set in a Madrasa (Arabic for educational institution), the film follows its young protagonists as they go about their daily lives while independence tensions escalate in the background. For the more-is-more school of filmmakers, Matir Moina should be required viewing to learn the importance of economy in storytelling.
Masud tragically passed away in a road accident in 2011 while completing Runway . The young Mostofa Sarwar Farooki carries his legacy forward. In a few short years, Farooki has become an award-winning fixture at film festivals the world over, including Busan, Dubai and Rotterdam, and his films are often chosen as Bangladesh’s entry in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the Academy Awards. Farooki’s themes are largely contemporary. Third Person Singular Number (2009), based on Syed Manzoorul Islam's novel Tin Parber Jibon O Kichhu Bastab Case Study , for example, looks at a woman who defies Muslim culture by living with her boyfriend before marriage. When he is suddenly convicted, she must come to terms with how Bangladesh society treats single women as outcasts.
His Pipra Bidya ( Ant Story , 2013) is a delightful tale set in modern Dhaka where a down-on-his-luck graduate barely ekes out a living selling shares in a Ponzi scheme. His luck turns when he comes into possession of an MMS clip featuring Bangladesh’s most popular actress in flagrante delicto. Much hijinks, including the inevitable blackmail, ensue.
However, my personal favourite is Television (2012). A mullah rules over a small community who live on a remote river island. Haram objects like television and mobile phones are banned. Even the mullah can’t do anything when the new schoolteacher, a Hindu, moves in, complete with a television set. There is also a parallel story about a Haj pilgrimage and the confluence of the two tales is one of those rare occasions in cinema where the viewer is left in tears while at the same time grinning from ear to ear.
In our country, Farooki is a genial presence at film festivals and markets. His projects routinely win funding at events such as NFDC’s Film Bazaar. He is so popular that when his project’s name is announced as the winner, his competing contemporaries are the first to rush up and offer their congratulations. Farooki’s next film No Land’s Man is due in 2016. I, for one, can’t wait.
