Guerrilla (2011 film)
Encyclopedia
- For other uses see Guerrilla (disambiguation)Guerrilla (disambiguation)Guerrilla warfare is irregular warfare and combat.Guerrilla may also refer to:-Films:*Guerrilla filmmaking, a form of independent filmmaking characterized by low budgets...
Guerrilla is a Bangladeshi
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
film based on the events of the Bangladesh Liberation War
Bangladesh Liberation War
The Bangladesh Liberation War was an armed conflict pitting East Pakistan and India against West Pakistan. The war resulted in the secession of East Pakistan, which became the independent nation of Bangladesh....
. An adaptation of the novel Nishiddho Loban by Syed Shamsul Huq
Syed Shamsul Huq
Syed Shamsul Huq is an award-winning Bangladeshi author and poet. he contributed to almost all forms of literature in Bengali language.- References :...
, it was released on April 14, 2011.
'Nishiddho Loban', the novel, is written by the prolific Bengali writer Syed Shamsul Huq
Syed Shamsul Huq
Syed Shamsul Huq is an award-winning Bangladeshi author and poet. he contributed to almost all forms of literature in Bengali language.- References :...
. It has been envisioned by the director of the film Nasiruddin Yousuf Bachchu. He has crafted the film GUERRILLA with his own experience as a leading fierce freedom fighter of 1971, sketching real incidents of those days. Guerrilla is a delicate, artistic rendition in moving images of the heroic deeds of the liberation war's valiant freedom fighters on an epic canvas. They were a distinguished generation, dedicated to a noble proposition that FREEDOM is Man's first and foremost right. It is not a gift.
Plot
On the ominous night of March 25, 1971, a heinous military operation, the Operation SearchlightOperation Searchlight
Operation Searchlight was a planned military operation carried out by the Pakistan Army to curb the Bengali nationalist movement in the erstwhile East Pakistan in March 1971. Ordered by the central government in West Pakistan, this was seen as the sequel to "Operation Blitz" which had been...
an operation designed to kill indiscriminately the innocent democracy loving millions, was initiated by the Pakistan Army
Pakistan Army
The Pakistan Army is the branch of the Pakistani Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The Pakistan Army came into existence after the Partition of India and the resulting independence of Pakistan in 1947. It is currently headed by General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. The Pakistan...
. The hated operation was just the beginning of the worst genocide to follow, a brutal crime against humanity after the Second World War. On that very night, Hasan Ahmed, a veteran journalist of the country, husband of Bilkis (Joya Ahsan
Joya Ahsan
-Early life:In her early age Joya was attracted to music and dancing. Although her father wanted her to be a service-holder, Joya was interested in building her career in music and drawing. Besides her studies, she took a diploma course in Rabindra Sangeet and also undertook training in classical...
), simply vanished while on his way to his newspaper office to perform his journalistic duty. He is untraceable till date. Bilkis was in banking profession. She started a desperate search for her husband and at the same time got herself engaged as a collaborator to the guerrilla operations which were gradually gaining momentum. She was not affected by her personal loss and pain, rather, undaunted; she chose the hazardous path to carry on the fight for our liberation. With the guerrilla fighters like Shahadat, Alam, Maya , Kazi Kamal, Fateh Ali and others operating in Dhaka
Dhaka
Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh and the principal city of Dhaka Division. Dhaka is a megacity and one of the major cities of South Asia. Located on the banks of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, along with its metropolitan area, had a population of over 15 million in 2010, making it the largest city...
, she started participating directly in many dangerous and successful operations. She was in constant touch with Altaf Mahmud
Altaf Mahmud
Altaf Mahmud was a musician, cultural activist and martyred freedom fighter of the Bangladesh Liberation War...
, the legendary personality of Bengali Nation's musical arena and scorer of many revolutionary songs. She thus became the central character in the movie, also a target to the enemy. Bilkis, Shahin and many others got involved in the publication of a secret English News bulletin The GUERRILLA, obviously from the underground. Incidentally, at a particular point of time, Taslim Ali Sardar, a traditional Chieftain of the old Dhaka's subsector (Moholla), who courageously sheltered ill-fated Bilkis, got brutally killed by the Pakistani Army and their lackeys--- the hated rajakars
Razakars (Pakistan)
The Razakar was the paramilitary force organized by the Pakistan Army during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.The Urdu word razakar literally means "volunteer". The Razakar force was composed of mostly pro-Pakistani Bengalis and Urdu-speaking migrants living in erstwhile East Pakistan...
. At one point, Altaf Mahmud, Rumi
Shafi Imam Rumi
Shafi Imam Rumi was a guerrilla fighter of the Bangladesh Liberation War. He was the eldest son of Jahanara Imam. In her famous memoir regarding the war, Rumi was seen as one of the premier character in Jahanara Imam's memoire Ekattorer Dingulee and it is because of his death she is called Shaheed...
, Bodi along with some other freedom fighters were captured. Altaf and few others like him did never return, could never be traced, a tragic fact well known to us today. Bilkis, a lonely character now, could evade the worse, and tactfully leave the labyrinth- like barriers and traps set by the occupational army around Dhaka. She could get into a train to her home, Joleswari, a remote village at Rangpur
Rangpur District
The district of Rangpur have 4924 mosques, 480 temples, 43 churches and six tombs.In an anthropologic view most people of Rangpur are having Rajbagshi blood in their veins...
. The metallic train transforms into a character, a symbolic one, a moving replica designed to depict a catastrophic journey. The parents of Bilkis were killed in the communal riots of the Bengalis and the Biharis in January '71 earlier.. She just was desperately longing to meet her own brother: Khokon at Joleawari. Khokon was then a commander of the local freedom fighters. Pakistan Army units were on the verge of collapse due to consistent fierce attacks initiated by those fighters. Khokon dynamited a vital railway bridge near Joleswari, interrupting all train movements. . She had to reach her brother. Nothing could deter her. She opted to walk. On her way, she got a young vibrant male companion, Siraj, a member of Khokon's fighting group. At one point Khokon was captured by the Pak Army. The brutal Army and Rajakar predators slaughtered him along with other captured freedom fighters. Bilkis wanted to have a glimpse of his dead brother, wanted to touch his apparently cold, inert body to feel the warmth of a loving brother, the heat of the fire inside him which no killer could extinguish. Khokon was a living, pulsating symbol of our ongoing freedom fight. She, risking her life, could enter the 'killing fields' of the occupants but was captured immediately by them. Bilkis was captured but she did never surrender to the heinous forces. For her country, for the entire freedom loving humanity, she did set up an example, a glorious one. She does not allow her body, the body of the fledgling Bangladesh, to be molested by the vultures of Pakistan. She blew herself up with explosives, destroying the surrounding mocking dogs in the process.
Cast
- Joya AhsanJoya Ahsan-Early life:In her early age Joya was attracted to music and dancing. Although her father wanted her to be a service-holder, Joya was interested in building her career in music and drawing. Besides her studies, she took a diploma course in Rabindra Sangeet and also undertook training in classical...
as Bilkish Banu - Ferdous AhmedFerdous AhmedFerdous Ahmed is a Bangla movie actor. He became famous first as a television actor, then as a film hero in the mid 1990s. He has released more than 40 films, both in Bangladesh and West Bengal, India...
as Hasan Ahmed - Pijush Bandyopaddhay as Anwar Hossain
- Ahmed RubelAhmed RubelAhmed Reza Rubel is a Bangladeshi theatre, movie and television actor. He started his career in Selim Al Deen's theatre group "Dhaka Theatre". Later he concentrated into mainstream commercial movies and starred in 6 movies...
as Altaf MahmudAltaf MahmudAltaf Mahmud was a musician, cultural activist and martyred freedom fighter of the Bangladesh Liberation War... - Shatabdi Wadud as Captain Shamsad / Major Sarfaraj
- Shampa Reza as Mrs. Khan
- A.T.M Shamsuzzaman as Taslim Sardar
- Azad Abul Kalam as Tyeb
- Sajjad Ahmed Rajib as Siraj
- Kachi Khandakar, S.M. Mohsin, Mostofa Monwar, Erfan Mridha, Golam Mowla Shaymol, Mirana Zaman, Noyon Hasan, Jayasree, Omer Alaz, Masum Aziz, Kamal Bayezid and Others
Production
DevelopmentNasiruddin Yousuff and Ebadur Rahman were the script writers of the film. Shimul Yousuf
Shimul Yousuf
-Early life:Shimul Yousuf was born in Dhaka on 24 March 1957 and is the youngest of seven siblings. Her father Mehter Billah from Bikrampur was a singer and instigated his children in cultural activities. Her mother also had a nag of singing...
was the music director of 'Guerrilla'. Art direction was given by Onimesh Aich. Samiron Datta was the cinematographer and Shimul Yousuff was the costume designer. The movie was shot in 127 different locations with wonderful cinematography. The sound effect was done in Mumbai.
'Guerrilla' is a joint production by Impress Telefilm Limited and Arial Creative Space while Ashirbad Chalachchitra is the distributor of the film. The government of the Bangladesh provided Tk 2.9 million out of its total budget of Tk 30 million.
The print of this movie had been processed by Reliance Media Works. Special credit goes to Samiron Datta for its nice cinematography and composition.
Music
The music of the film was worthy of praise, especially the adaptation of Kazi Nazrul's poem Bolo Bir, and its aesthetic composition when Altaf MahmudAltaf Mahmud
Altaf Mahmud was a musician, cultural activist and martyred freedom fighter of the Bangladesh Liberation War...
had been arrested by the military. There were six songs in the sound track of Guerrilla. Among them three songs - "Bolo Bir Bolo Unnoto Momo Shir", "Joi Shatyer Joi" and "Ami Manusher Bhai Spartacus" - were written by National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam, Dr Enamul Haque and Shaheed Shahidullah Kaisar respectively. Chandan Chowdhury had recorded the song "Bolo Bir Bolo Unnoto Momo Shir" while Anindita Brishti had sung "Joi Shatyer Joi". Linu Billah, Shimul Yousuff, Syed Hossain Tipu, Chandan Chowdhury and Shawon Mahmud had lent their voices to the song, "Ami Manusher Bhai Spartacus".
Shimul Yousuff had recorded two other songs - "Tepantor-er Mathey" (written and composed by Kazi Nazrul Islam
Kazi Nazrul Islam
Kazi Nazrul Islam , sobriquet Bidrohi Kobi, was a Bengali poet, musician and revolutionary who pioneered poetic works espousing intense spiritual rebellion against fascism and oppression. His poetry and nationalist activism earned him the popular title of Bidrohi Kobi...
) and "Neerosh Dogdho Shomoy" (written by Selim Al Deen
Selim Al Deen
Selim Al-Deen was a Bangladeshi playwright and theatre artist. He was the founder chairperson of the Department of Drama and Dramatics at the Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh. He died on January 14, 2008 in Dhaka after a cardiac failure...
). She also composed the latter.
Addition of Qawwali "Ali Ali Mawla Ali" gave the film a huge detail in music because the then Pakistani occupation army loved this song very much; even still now Qawwali is very popular among Pakistani and Kashmiri people. It was written by Talib Kabir and composed by Dr Mohammad Samir Qawwal. Dr Mohammad Samir Qawwal and his troupe had recorded it. The sound designing of this movie had been done by Vinod Subramaniam of India, who was nationally awarded for the movie 'Rock On'.
Reception
Star Cineplex and Bolaka(Bolaka-1 & Bolaka-2) is running this movie. Considering the fact that, these are the busiest theaters in the capital, one can imagine the nationwide success of this movie. Even after 100 Days, the movie is running around many theaters across the country.“Guerrilla” celebrated its 100th day on 22 July 2011. Since its release on April 14, the film has been uninterruptedly screened at two theatres in Dhaka -- Star Cineplex and Balaka Cine World.
The director of the film is delighted to achieve this landmark, as he thinks it is a positive sign for mainstream Bangladeshi cinema. “My film has gained a momentum at a time when mainstream cinema in the country is going through a rough patch. It gives me hope for Bangladeshi cinema,” said Yousuff.
Reviews
Basically Guerrilla received positive reviews from all the movie critics and people .Guerrilla received a rating of 8.5/10 on Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
.