Mujib: The making of a Nation Movie Review - Joy Bangla; also, such joy, Benegal!

Mujib The making of a NationUA Biography dramaDir Shyam BenegalCast Arifin Shuvoo Nusrat Imrose TishaRating 35Soon after Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Mujib the protagonist has delivered a talk on secularism in the film his first child is born He holds the baby suggesting shersquos gone after her motherrsquos looks Suitably naming her Hasina nicknamed HasuThatrsquos Sheikh Hasina by the way currently the Prime Minister of Bangladesh also the longestserving She is in effect the might behind the making of this movieItrsquos something the filmrsquos director Shyam Benegal told me years ago aboutmdashgetting invited by Madame PM over to her residence to discuss a biopic on the centenary year of her father Mujib aka lsquoBangabandhursquo the founder of BangladeshA film like Yoursquod of course skip a beatmdashRichard Attenboroughrsquos Gandhi 1982 Such is how Benegal got to deliver a movie on Bengal Arguably his most ambitious project yet At age 88I say collectively Bengal Because both the Eastmdashie East Pakistan after Partition 1947 now Bangladesh after liberation 1971mdashand West Bengal in India which should just be called Bengal have a shared history More so in the context of Mujib from Tungipara who started off with student politics in CalcuttaHe ended up leading a new republic with Tagorersquos verse for its national anthem as with India Mujib you can tell is a huge Bertrand Russell fan He named his youngest child RusselThere is Gandhi in the film too Mujib reveres him Although they wouldrsquove had differences of opinion Mujib belonged to the Muslim League during the freedom movement Gandhi was dead against dividing India basis religionEither case their stories couldnrsquot be more divergent Besides that they were both fatally fearless Bravely staring at power to the frickinrsquo face Willing to pay every priceThat part sufficiently comes through the entire movie that opens with the return of the peoplersquos hero Mujib into his homeland after nine months in a Pakistani jail Having been sentenced to death Once literally hearing his own grave getting dug outside the prison cellOf course tables swiftly turned He survived But the struggles continued Even in realpolitik thereafter among his own people and the power structures within a brandnew BangladeshAfter all colonialism holds no monopoly over discrimination injustices intolerance even incitement of riots Or going after intellectuals journalists activists artisteshellip Merely the villains in history keep changingAs you watch here in the case of East Pakistan Given the allout suppression that began under Zulfikar Ali Bhuttorsquos regime The issue Language not religion this time With Urdu being imposed on Bengalis Mujib in his fullfrontal attack also has a sixpoint agenda that covers far moreHence in what may be the first such event in history we had the majority community about 10 crore Bengali speaking people demanding independence from a minority that is six crore in West Pakistanmdashseparated by India for a landmass in between Frankly every element of this episodic story is a film of its ownDown to as you witness the largest airdropping of soldiers since WWII What became the 1971 Bangladesh war Making this an incredibly complex piece to film from start to endmdashthe history of an entire nation told through one man MujibI can see why PM Hasina wouldrsquove picked Benegal for her fatherrsquos biopic Benegal is the fatherfigure of Indiarsquos parallel cinema movement himself A safe hand to deal with a complicated subject At least never once overplaying his hand Neither does his lead actor Arifin Shuvoo Everything is suitably understated Which can be both a good thing and not soFor as an audience it does feel more and more like a breathless lesson while I take my notes all through catching eventsmoments and men who mattered and that I know nothing aboutmdashMaulana Bhashani lsquoShereBanglarsquo Fazlul Huq Shamsul Huq Mujibrsquos mentor Huseyn Suhrawardy Direct Action Day Agartala ConspiracyhellipEach bears an unexplored backstory Yoursquore awed by the sheer number of scenes spanning a lifelong struggle The climax sequence of Mujibrsquos death is a long episode of its ownThis should have been a patiently structured series instead In a way that Benegal took on the equally precious task of narrating the making of Indiarsquos Constitution Samvidhaan I mean he made Bharat Ek Khoj for Godrsquos sakeThis will still survive as an important reckoner from an Indian filmmaker for a nation nextdoor that India under Indira Gandhi helped birth Joy Bangla to thatSo yup grab a shot of coffee I did What if you could get slightly sleepy on occasion But thatrsquoll happen only when you arenrsquot as much into contemporary history as the movies Give it a shot

Mujib: The making of a Nation Movie Review - Joy Bangla; also, such joy, Benegal!

Mujib: The making of a Nation
U/A: Biography, drama
Dir: Shyam Benegal
Cast: Arifin Shuvoo, Nusrat Imrose Tisha
Rating: 3/5

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Home / Entertainment / Bollywood News / Article / Mujib: The making of a Nation Movie Review - Joy Bangla; also, such joy, Benegal!

Mujib: The making of a Nation Movie Review - Joy Bangla; also, such joy, Benegal!

Mujib: The making of a NationU/A: Biography, dramaDir: Shyam BenegalCast: Arifin Shuvoo, Nusrat Imrose TishaRating: 3/5

Trending Stories

Latest Photos

Latest Videos

Latest Web Stories

Mid-Day Fast

Mujib: The making of a Nation
U/A: Biography, drama
Dir: Shyam Benegal
Cast: Arifin Shuvoo, Nusrat Imrose Tisha
Rating: 3/5