Bangla cinema ‘ভালোবাসা জিন্দাবাদ’

I went to সৈনিক ক্লাব to watch a Bangla cinema today. They were showing Debashish Biswas directed ‘ভালোবাসা জিন্দাবাদ’. I expected a typical storyline, Jhakao Makao dancing, Bangla style মাইর-পিট, fun dialogues and some serious over acting. I exactly got that plus some more!  The hero and heroine – Arifeen Shubho & Airin Sultana were fashionably awesome, picturization of songs were top class, humor laid out by the গুন্ডা বাহিনী brought পেট-ফাটানো হাসি and dresses worn by all actor / actresses were  well designed. 

What I did not expect is the way Arifeen Shubho acted. He was just too good. To complement that, the director pulled good acting from the heroine Airin Sultana. Together they looked a fine pair. The storyline is as common as it can gets - college goers fall in love, arrogant father of heroine reacts, sends গুন্ডা several times, hero-heroine do love songs, father confines heroine, hero comes and rescues her and at the end father accepts the hero as his মেয়ের জামাই। Dialogues were wittier than usual Bangla cenemas though, so were attitudes of the গুন্ডা বাহিনী। Debashish Biswas is a humorous person, as seen on TV, did his best to give that extra touch of entertainment through fine humor and some irregular but well thought scenes. I do not know why but I enjoyed the slang – হালার পো that was being narrated quite often by the গুন্ডা প্রধান। It has been a while since I used it. I think I will use it the next time I need to!

I am sure the production had a dress designer and a professional stylist in the team. The dancing, dress selection, glamor were excellent and well-tuned. Fine job on these fronts. So was the music. I did not catch the title so do not know who the composer was. The last song was sung by Pervez I am sure but other songs seem sung by Indian signers; pronunciations were different!  কানে ঠেকছিল। Also on the downside, the hero and heroine had no friends. It is odd in real life as much as it is odd in a Bangla cinema. Probably the script writer did not want to spend too much time writing additional scenes.

The director opted to do most of his road shots in Hatir Zhil area including a song. Hatir Zhil is a fantastic place and it complemented the movie in a big way. I enjoyed the মাইর-পিট like a kid. It was fun to watch; not too much of a violence, not much of a blood – neat and clean মারামারি।  

The movie was a little long. It would have been a slight more compact I think.  Just before the interval, the hero খুব ভাব নিয়ে climax নিয়ে কথা বললো। I was expecting a মার-মার কাট–কাট climax.  But it came more usual that the ‘usual’ usual. So usual that some of the audience started leaving the hall two to three minutes before the movie ended.

I need to mention this - Sadeq Baccu, who used to play negative characters in Bangla natoks during the BTV days, I remember, played the role of heroine’s father. His acting, dialogue throwing, expressions were perfect. I would give him an award if I am in a jury. I like to watch his acting more and more.  

I enjoyed the cinema. I had a good time, so did my wife and seven year old kid; he was clapping during the মাইর-পিট scenes, laughing his lungs out during the funny scenes. We had a good time watching a family movie and I will definitely watch it again with my friends or cousins if I have to.