After the blockbuster run of his last film ‘Poran,’ Raihan Rafi returns with his passion project ‘Damal.’ Though the action-packed film created a huge buzz among Bangladeshi netizens after the launch of its epic trailer, it failed to pull the audience to the theatres like his previous film.
However, The Liberation War-based film, inspired by true events, is undoubtedly the most mature work Rafi has ever done (much better than 'Nishwas' or 'Poran') and just might be the best film released this year. The Business Post’s Siam Raihan takes a deep dive into the different aspects of ‘Damal.’
Plot - 8.5/10
The Bangladesh Liberation War-based film showcased some of the historical chain of events by the legendary Shadhin Bangla Football team which was formed to create public opinion in favour of the country’s independence and to raise funds for the freedom fighters.
The story arc is very simple. It comprises two parallel storylines where the story’s narrator (a character played by Intekhab Dinar) tells the story which cuts back to 1971’s Shadhin Bangla Football Team's storyline.
The audience keeps guessing as the screenwriters took the creative freedom to dramatise the true events in their film. A few unnecessary overdramatisations could have been avoided in a Liberation War-based film. Overall, a very interesting plot and a courageous move by the director to tell an interesting and untold story of Bangladesh’s Liberation War to the young generation.
Attraction - 9/10
The premise of the film is pretty straightforward. The formation and necessity of Shadhin Bangla Football Team and why it brought hope among the freedom fighters in the field of war and among civilians alike.
Though the trailer was beautifully cut, it lacked the main essence of the film. Yet, that is not a complaint as trailers do tend to try to bring in larger target groups to the theatre. So, a job well done by the editorial and marketing team behind the grand project.
The main storyline stayed focused on the horrors of war, and the politics and strategy behind the formation of this football team. So, the entertainment value and attraction behind the film is completely justified.
Theme - 9/10
Passion, independence, injustice and revenge are the main themes and a great effort was given to execute them on the big screen. Each of the themes was given enough time so the audience can relate and create a connection with each character, their inner psyche and their inner struggles.
Acting - 6/10
Most of the major characters did a splendid job. Yet, as always acting direction is not a strong suit of director Raihan Rafi. Mim, Raaz, Siam and Shahnaz Sumi did a great job. Intekhab Dinar is the strongest actor among the entire cast yet the director's lack of control over him gave us a mediocre performance from him. Yet, the same Dinar gave us the most breathtaking performance of the year in web-series ‘Karagar.’ It could be that not enough time was given for the shoot of Dinar's narration sequences. But the best performer of all was Rashed Mamunur Rahman Opu who played the character of Razakar Tuku Miah. Pakistani Major Kamran played by Sayed Babu deserves an honourable mention too but his amazing and stylistic acting paired with his poor Urdu skills ruined it on the big screen.
Dialogue and Screenplay - 6.5/10
The entire screenplay and its storytelling were beautifully crafted but had some major dialogue issues. Inspired by true events, the storyline of ‘Damal’ was conceptualized by the film’s producer Faridur Reza Sagar, managing director of Impress Telefilm Ltd and Channel i. The film’s director Raihan Rafi and famous Bangladeshi author Nazim Ud Daula have paired to develop its screenplay. This means three different people had control over the script and it felt onscreen that some sequences were simply breathtaking, whereas some dialogues will remind you of textbook BFDC-branded Bangla movies. This inconsistency and poor dialogue writing made the audience laugh at some very serious points of the film.
But the overall context was clear and precise. Some critics have pointed out that too many songs were used in a war-based film. But I personally did not feel that they were out of place. Whereas I think they helped the story move forward and complimented it nicely.
Cinematography/ Visual - 8.5/10
The visuals of the film were great and the project’s cinematographer Sumon Sarker did a marvellous job like always. This might be the only Liberation War film in the last decade that had the scale and visual language to portray the horrors of our terrible war. From lighting to cinematography everything felt like you were watching a Hollywood-grade production on screen.
All wardrobes, even the socks used by the football team were era-appropriate. Hats off to the costume team led by the brilliant Edila Farid Turin.
Art and production design was also one of the best we have seen in recent Bangladeshi films. Yet there were a few hiccups here and there. The same set had fresh paint in one corner and was completely worn out on the other sides. The guns used by the freedom fighters looked like worn-out props. Siam Ahmed’s makeup and hair did not fit the timeline. The terrible prosthetic work on Dinar at the very beginning of the film gets laughs from the viewers. Perhaps this was more of a budget issue than the director's fault. Hopefully, in the future, Rafi gets a better financier for large-scale projects like this.
Editing & Effects - 9.5/10
The best part of this entire film and its promotional content was its editorial. And you can not expect anything but the best from renowned editor Sameer Ahmed. Industry insiders like us and even the director thought the scale of this film was quite impossible to pull off with the budget it was allotted. Yet, each trailer, music video and the entire film looked like it was planned and shot to look and feel like it is. Well, that is the beauty of master-class editing. From the pace and tone, the cutbacks between the parallel timelines and locations, to the suspense-filled high-voltage football matches; every cut is bound to keep you at the edge of your seats.
The CGI and composting done on the stadium crowd were not very good and felt cartoonish. Yet, the gun muzzles' VFX looked realistic which was never appropriately done in any Bangladeshi Liberation War film I have ever watched.
Even the fonts of the scoreboards during the matches were era appropriate and that is a lot of attention to detail that must be applauded by the editorial, VFX and special effects team.
Sound & Music - 7/10
The sound, music and almost every song were great. The problem was the mixing. 'Hawa' set such an amazing standard for theatrical surround sound mix that only beautiful visuals are now not enough.
The mixing and some ADR (automated dialogue replacement also known as dubbing) were completely off-putting and ruined the pace and tone of a few scenes entirely.
Still, Rafi gets the benefit of the doubt as most of these were budget and timing issues rather than his carelessness.
Direction - 8/10
The vision was too big compared to the budget and technical capabilities of the Bangladeshi film industry. However, ‘Damal’ is undoubtedly the best and most mature work by Rafi. Realistically speaking, it takes hundreds of crores of taka to pull off what Rafi envisioned for this film. Yet, most of the cast and crew of the film were Bangladeshi and Rafi proved how far we can stretch the canvas if one is willing and courageous enough. Though he himself agreed in recent press meets that he could not execute ‘Damal’ the way he started out before production but his hard work and vision deserve respect. Rafi might be the best filmmaker of our time
Final Verdict - 8/10
‘Damal’ might not be the most perfect film released this year but it definitely was one of the finest and a necessary one.
Of course, as a young filmmaker, Rafi has his own drawbacks but choosing a story of this scale, and depth must deserve applause. Also, inspiring the younger generation to learn more about Bangladesh’s independence while keeping the film entertaining is a huge plus. Despite receiving massive backlash and threats from different fundamentalist groups in Bangladesh, Raihan Rafi did not change the scene where Razakars slaughtered a doctor for helping the freedom fighters and they kept chanting ‘Nara-e-Takbir Allahu Akbar’ (Shout God is Great) while doing it. We need more filmmakers like Raihan Rafi who are not just visionary, but also bold enough to portray Bangladesh and its history the way it really took place.
