Fatima: Where noble intention trumps flawed execution
As Fatima parks her yellow scooty at a petrol pump, visibly worn out, she changes, she is conflicted on how much she can pay for an oil change, opting to save Tk 100 on the endeavour – the opening scene attempts to highlight the financial ails that the struggling actor is facing, while trying to book an artiste's visa to Canada.
As she simultaneously works on her debut film, a "passion project" about a Birangana named Shuborna, it eerily parallels her life, the extent of which she is painfully unaware. Looming over her head is Prashad, her ex-lover, who left her high and dry when they tried to elope, or did he?
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Dhrubo Hasan's "Fatima" is an ambitious undertaking, with the director's passion clearly visible in the script – the aspects of our Liberation War and how we are all fighting our own inner wars, the torment that women still go through for being a woman, the extent to which a close one's betrayal could be delusionally overlooked.
The director has also written the story and partial screenplay, edited and executive produced the film – his eight-year fight finally coming to an end with this release.
The biggest strength the film has is Fatima herself, played by Tasnia Farin. No stranger to a leading role, Farin acts her heart out, so much so that the audience is exasperated, frustrated, and often timers, unsettled with her. She is easy to root for – carrying an aura of mystery and intrigue around her. Yash Rohan is fantastically unsettling as Prashad, fighting to get his beau's attention while she fights for a living in the capital.
The supporting cast, primarily consisting of Ayesha Monica, Pantho Kanai, Manosh Bandyopadhyay, Rizvi Rizu, AK Azad Shetu, Gousul Alam Shaon, Ahsanul Haque do their due diligence, with great cameos by Tariq Anam Khan and Shahed Ali Sujon. Pavel Areen's music does justice to his name as a music director, especially "Shudhu Je Tomar" voiced by Konal.
"Fatima" is, for the most part, let down mostly by its drawn-out length and baffling stylistic decisions. The story could have easily shaved off half-an-hour of scenes without much impact on the primary story. A loose end is seen in an 'agency' subplot that the film spends much time developing without any resolution, which the audience will not appreciate.
In some scenes, there are 'airplane noises', which I assume was left to create tension within the plot, which borders on annoying rather than anxiety-inducing. The production values in the 'independent film' subplot vary wildly, some being powerfully moving to others harping on cheesy and unconvincing.
The director, at a press conference, admitted that he set out to make a Liberation War-based action film, but fell short of the budget. After fighting for eight years, he notes that he could finally complete the film.
Some of the budget constraints are cheekily referenced in the film as well.
"Fatima" may not be perfect but deserves praise for its message alone — one of the reasons why it has proven to move critics around the globe, winning accolades at the Fajr Film Festival, Rainbow Film Festival, and Orlando Film Festival.
The film releases in halls today, being available in all the major multiplexes and limited venues in Narayanganj, Chattogram, Sylhet, and Sirajganj.
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