One of the reasons for the interest in the film Hawa is the movie poster and the Sada Sada Kala Kala Sound Track. Besides, everyone’s character looks also got a hint of aesthetics. The entire country is in a frenzy before its release.
Mezbaur Rahman Sumon’s first film captivates the mind just as the eye is caught by the beautiful poster. According to people, the film is a mystery fiction. The plot is arranged by sheltering the local folklore. The director wrote the screenplay with Behula Lakhinder, Chand Saudagar and Mansa Devi. The positive aspect of Hawa is that even if one does not know this folk tale, after finishing the movie, one will not feel that there is an incompleteness left anywhere. But if you know, you will want to give a shout out to the director again. Because such efforts are rare in Bengali films!
Hawa movie promotional poster Image Source: Hawa film facebook page
the wind’s story is quite simple and linear. Thus, comprehension does not have to be particularly fast. Moreover, the level of horror sequences is also quite tolerable due to the mystery genre. Although the scenes of Katachera are quite frightening. Some of the scenes of Boti and Kopano going through Fonny’s forehead are momentarily unsettling. Because, makeup has great credibility. But, to me, Majhid’s skin tone seems a bit too tanned. Among them, dark tones were prevalent in the movie’s color grading. The sound design and mixing are quite interesting in some sequences. Sound effects are heard from the drunken Nagu’s POV, as Chana Majhi calls out to the drunken Nagu. But while the experiment is nice, it doesn’t clearly answer why the audience will hear the dialogue from Nagur’s POV. In contrast, the filmmakers have used two visually brilliant POVs in the illusion.
For the first time, Nagu Ghor sees Gulati as a silver fish. However, by seeing as a fish, the director has also done the work of creating a link between the story and the second part. And, a second time seeing a Coast Guard ship in the mirage of the desperate Perkes. However, the strongest aspect of the movie is the acting and cinematography. It is hard to remember the last time such eye-catching cinematography was seen in a Bengali film.
Kamrul Hasan Khosru played brilliantly in the composition, it would be unfair not to mention a couple of them. In the first anchoring scene, the camera follows the anchor and descends into the water at great speed. Then a wonderful composition of Chan Majhi and a caged bird surprises, where only the top of Chan Majhi’s head is visible. Such a head-scratching composition does not seem to have been deliberately shown in any Bengali film. Similarly, when Urkes follows Perkes, the camera waves in sync with the waves of the ocean. And the feeling of the character slowly sinking into the water is realized from the position of the frame. Hats off to such a wonderful unique cinematic treatment. Sajal Allak’s editing is unique along with the excellent cinematography.
Bagha Bagha of OTT platform and theater is a meeting of all the crews of this film. As a result, I am not going to praise them separately. The way Chan Majhi caught fire in the strong wind or Nagu got up from the bottom of the water and blew the burning beedi out of his mouth is unbelievable! Nazifa Tushi’s performance exceeded expectations as she was the only actress in the movie who did justice to the character. On the other hand, in the middle of the river, the story of revenge and terrible consequences has lost the air of the story . On the one hand, the dialogue is standardised, the regional mix gives the audio experience. On the other hand, Nayantara starts off with charm in the beginning, but it goes completely haywire in the second half! The immaturity of the screenplay is evident in the inconsistent dialogues.
The responsibility for failing to develop Gulati’s character properly lies squarely on the shoulders of the director. Whether it is a man, a silver fish, a snake, a goddess, or polymorphism, the vagueness is completely out of place. Similarly, no logical reason can be found behind his dumb acting. I don’t see how the story would have been particularly damaged if the fishermen had known that the slingshot could talk. Moreover, Gulati’s past narrative is also unsatisfying. Most importantly, the powerful slingshot that caught the fish in the net, the fuel drum in the engine room leaked; The one who miraculously killed two people, why did he come to take revenge and take Ibrahim as a friend to reveal his secret ambitions! Here is his motive!
Moreover, the way he gave Chanmazhi a shot in the guise of Nagini at the end, the same shot could have saved his friend in a helpless situation earlier! Isn’t that so? What is the argument for the struggle of this superpower? Or, as Gulati vanished into thin air from being bound by a rope, so at first he wished he could have vanished into thin air to escape the desire of the sailor! As a result, after the interlude of the film, i.e. the second half, the screenplay is so fragile that the sails are torn down by a gust of wind like a scene in the film.
Some aspects of the wind have given a stormy place of thought. The latent attitude of a group of men pouncing on a helpless woman is well captured on camera. On the other hand, there is room for speculation about the relationship between Urkes and Perkes, unless they were just friends rather than brothers by name. This movie has shown a clear position about the physical instincts of many people. The director’s conscious eye in the characterization of Parkes is impressive. In comparison, Urkes was not given enough time off.
The CGI technology of the film is very positive in the development and future prospects of Bengali films. Caged birds or different species of fish at the bottom of the sea! Who can see with the naked eye that they are not real? However, the snake on the body did not accumulate as much. Artificiality is detected. Similarly, the film’s sound effects and music are passable but not of top quality.
Overall an enjoyable movie but the lack of memorable quality dialogues left a feeling of dissatisfaction. However, the effort shown by team Hawa to diversify the story and create a novel mystery genre is very promising for Bengali films, due to which the current makers will continue to explore novel plots inspired by the success of Hawa – that can be expected from now on!
Topic: The article is a review of a Bangladeshi mystery fiction film released in 2022.
Featured Image: ‘Hawa’ Movie Facebook page.