Home ›› 09 Oct 2022 ›› Show Biz
Popular Bangladeshi filmmaker Vicky Zahed’s much-anticipated tele-fiction ‘Punorjonmo 3’ has secured the top spot in the country’s trending list right after its release on October 2. The drama is a part of the director’s own cinematic universe which features the notorious chef Rafsan Haque (played by Afran Nisho) who has an unquenchable thirst for human flesh. The Business Post’s Siam Raihan takes a deep dive into the different aspects of ‘Punorjonmo 3’ and what turned it into a fan favourite.
Plot - 9/10
The film’s plot revolves around Rafsan (Nisho) who is a celebrity chef and works as the head chef of a five-star hotel in Dhaka by day and is a cold-hearted serial killer cum cannibal during the night. To understand the full width of this film’s storyline, The Business Post’s Showbiz team advises the audience to watch the first two parts (‘Punorjonmo 1’ and ‘Punorjonmo 2’) of this intriguing psychopathic cinematic universe created by its creator Vicky Zahed. Viewers are also advised to watch ‘Shuklopokkho’ on Chorki where the director introduces Rafsan Haque’s admirer, new apprentice, and fellow cannibal, Kamal (Abdullah Al Sentu) into his cinematic universe. In ‘Punorjonmo 3’ Rafsan’s ongoing storyline and the local law enforcement’s manhunt to find the notorious serial killer continues. The plot to hunt down the killer is compelling and will keep the audience biting their nails.
Attraction - 10/10
The ‘Punorjonmo’ universe might be the first cinematic universe in the contemporary Bangladeshi content industry. The project’s director gradually created hype around each part of this fiction series. The promotional material of ‘Punorjonmo 3’ was no different. Though the ‘Punorjonmo’ series is produced by Channel i, he managed to pull off a parallel storyline of the same universe into his Chorki original web film ‘Shuklopokkho.’ This was also a first in our media industry. So, the expectation was very high for this one. The thrilling tele-fiction did not fail to deliver.
Theme - 7/10
If the viewers are not updated on the current timeline then they are warned that there are a few spoilers ahead. After disappearing for three years, one-day Rafsan’s wife Neela (played by Mehazabien Chowdhury) suddenly shows up at a local police station. Everyone around Rafsan including the police became sceptical of this miraculous event and started doubting Neela’s identity. Neela is seen on the run from the cops at the beginning of the tele-fiction and the twisted plans of Rafsan slowly unravel from the police investigators’ point of view. On the surface, the themes of ‘Punorjonmo 3’ is greed, lust, pride, and also envy. In my opinion, focusing on a lot of themes was a bad idea and felt a little scattered at times.
Acting - 8/10
Most contemporary popular filmmakers lack control over their actors. They rarely push their cast to get the performance they want. Vicky Zahed is a rare example in that regard. If you have been following his work for the past few years, you might have noticed that his actors perform way better in his projects than in the projects of other directors. ‘Punorjonmo 3’ is no exception. No noticeable overacting or underperformance by any of the cast members. Their dialogue delivery and conversations are fluent and natural. No overdramatic nonsense like other contemporary content. Every cast member did brilliantly in their roles except the person playing OC Harun, as his performance felt scattered in some scenes.
Afran Nisho playing Rafsan was brilliant as he will take the audience into the deep dark corners of his cannibal mind. His monologues serve as a gateway to his innermost thoughts and also how his psychopathic mind justifies his actions. Mehazabien Chowdhury’s performance was superb as well. Rafsan Haque’s new apprentice and fellow cannibal Kamal (Abdullah Al Sentu) was another amazing performer throughout the fiction.
Dialogue & Screenplay - 5/10
The film’s screenplay had some great moments but overall it was just okay. Nothing that will blow you away. Some scenes were just poor research. Throughout the fiction, Rafsan is seen using fermented Barley cereal to slow-poison one of his victims. We see Rafsan explaining how the rotten barley cereal creates lysergic acid, one of the components of the psychedelic drug LSD. Rafsan uses this homemade LSD to push one of his victims to a brain-dead situation. Rotten barley does indeed create lysergic acid but there is no scientific proof that it creates an LSD-type drug that can slowly poison a person to turn him mentally unstable. Moreover, if he does microdose someone with LSD regularly the person would have had a brain stroke, and not turn into a dumb and mute person.
I liked how he kept the news playing in the background which was accurate to the non-linear timeline the screenplay played with. That is a rare accuracy that we do not see in our content these days.
But the worst part of it all was the terrible dialogues. The dialogues of most of the scenes were unclear and unnatural but brilliant performances from the cast members toned it down. If the monologues of Rafsan’s dark thoughts and desires were performed by someone else than Afran Nisho then it would have made the audience laugh rather than take them to a dark and eerie place.
Cinematography/ Visual - 7/10
The cinematography was better than most TV content. Location, production design, costumes, and makeup all were done very well knowing that TV productions usually do not get one-tenth of the budget of recent OTT productions. Keeping that in mind ‘Punorjonmo 3’ was great.
Editing & Effects - 7/10
I personally enjoyed the non-linear approach of the content’s editorial. It might feel a bit jarring to some viewers but they will still enjoy it nonetheless.
Sound & Music - 7/10
The soundscape and music stuck to basics. Nothing too extravagant but not terrible either. They did their job in most sequences and kept the flow of the story fluid.
Direction - 8/10
Vicky Zahed is undoubtedly one of the most talented fiction directors of our time. With each production, he is mastering the art of how to entertain and simultaneously keep the viewers’ attention. This tele-fiction was no different. He knows his limitations and strengths and plays accordingly. He does not force himself to make something his team and budget will not allow. So, he keeps it as simple as possible which is not a weakness, but rather his strength. Hence, the massive success of ‘Punorjonmo 3.’
Overall - 7.5/10
Zahed’s beloved ‘Punorjonmo’ cinematic universe is proof that we have a strong audience base for this kind of experimentation. If Bangladeshi viewers are given decent content then they will get behind it. He also proved that the Bangladeshi audience is now mature enough to be entertained by this serial killer cum cannibal content. At the time of writing this review, ‘Punorjonmo 3’ garnered more than 5.2 million views and proudly holds the top spot in Youtube’s trending list for Bangladesh. This opens a new horizon for our content creators and OTT heads to focus more on true crime content or maybe even experiment more in the gore or slasher genres. If you are open enough to forgive a few minor loopholes in the screenplay then you definitely should enjoy the brilliant yet terrifying onscreen presence of celebrity chef Rafsan (Nisho).
