Dallywood

My Bangladeshi colleagues have recounted to me two popular themes for movies in Bangladesh:

1. Young man has all of the right qualities of perfect husband: handsome, educated, refined, brave, etc. But he has no money. Daughter of rich man falls in love with perfect poor man. Father of rich man will have nothing to do with him. Daughter falls into the clutches of evil man (kidnaps her, leads her astray, etc). Father is helpless. Perfect poor man saves the girl and the day and convinces helpless father that he is worth daughter. Mother-in-law, who supported her daughter all the time, is vindicated. The whole drama is performed to singing and dancing. Apparently, all movies are variations on the same theme.

2. The recounting of the story of the Bangladesh revolution in 1971. People never get tired of hearing patriotic stories about the “freedom fighters,” those who fought and lost their lives (est. 3 million) in the independence from Pakistan.

Maybe there is a connection between the two genres. Bangladeshis do not accept fate. They continue to fight to improve their situation. Everywhere you look you see industrious people (mostly men; women are not encouraged in visible workplaces), driving rickshaws, making bricks, pounding iron, selling wares. It is rare to see someone idle. I guess that is why Bangladesh has made such advances in the last 30 years despite being located in a hurricane zone, and starting out as a nation with very poor circumstances.

NB: In the interest of fairness, my host, a film producer himself, has pointed out that a handful of Bangladeshi filmmakers have won international critique for their work at the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Film (nomination) and the Cannes, Montreal, Marrakesh film festivals. Most notable is Tarik Masud The Clay Bird, which I plan to watch while here.