Hasina – A Daughter’s Tale: ‘A must see film for all’

The 70-minute film that depicts the very first family of Bangladesh and a riveting story of a daughter out of a tragic backdrop has been released in four theatres in Dhaka and Chottogram.

Nurul Islam Hasibbdnews24.com
Published : 16 Nov 2018, 05:23 PM
Updated : 16 Nov 2018, 08:44 PM

Director as well as viewers appealed to all irrespective of political affiliation to watch the documentary drama to know the person, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and her loving father Bangababandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman after the last premiere at Star Cineplex on Friday before its release.

“We managed to keep it in such a way that it has a lot of conversations. So when you will go home with the film in your heads, it will grow,” Rejaur Rahman Khan Piplu, director of ‘Hasina – a Daughter’s Tale’, said.

“Please watch the film,” he said.

The prime minister and her younger sister, Sheikh Rehana, survived the fateful night of Aug 15, 1975 when the Father of the Nation was killed along with other family members because they were abroad at that time.

How Hasina, a ‘lazy person by nature’ in childhood, has turned a torrent of grief of losing her parents and most other family members into strength. It has been revealed on celluloid through untold stories like her first journey to Dhaka from Tungipara by boat or the first cooking lesson.

It is replete with stories like how painful it was for her when her dolls were torched by the then Pakistani military dictator Ayub Khan’s henchmen during searches of their home on the road no. 32 in Dhaka’s Dhanmondi when she was only 11 years old.

Bangabandhu appeared in the film as the prime minister’s father as Hasina has been depicted as a person who actually connects the most with the history and inception of Bangladesh.

“Those who are politically aligned, they may see it for political reasons. But this is a must-see film for all citizens… to see the human aspect of our father of nation through the eyes of the two daughters and the family,” Khairul Islam, country director of Wateraid Bangladesh, who watched the premiere, told bdnews24.com.

A farewell kiss

One of the scenes was Bangabandhu’s interview with British journalist David Frost in 1972.

When he was dragged out of the house from Dhanmondi 32 on March 25, 1971 by the Pakistani troops, Bangabandhu was with his family.

“All destroyed. I was with my family and a bullet entered my bedroom. My six-year old child was sleeping on the bed. My wife was here with two children. They started shooting through the window. Then I told my wife to sit here (inside the house) with my two children. I went out leaving my wife.”

When Frost asked what she had said, Bangabandhu replied, “Not a word. I only kissed her…a farewell kiss.”

“The officer caught me but still they were pushing and dragging me down. ‘Don't drag me,’ I said. ‘Wait, allow me to bring my pipe and tobacco or get it from my wife; I require my pipe’.”

“This is a very powerful statement if one sees that from a political angle,” Khairul said.

“It’s more than a documentary. The way it has been I would say edited, directed…it’s excellent. The title ‘Hasina - a Daughter’s Tale’ describes the history of two daughters , more of a family, and of a caring husband (Bangabandhu), lover who incidentally is the father of the nation,” he said.

“People will discover the human aspect of the person, especially a caring husband, a loving husband, a caring daughter as well as the leader of the nation. That dimension has been captured in this film quite nicely, eloquently.

“And the use of music, especially song – Amar saadh na mitilo, ashaa na purilo –really evoked a kind of unfulfilled patriotic feeling that he used to listen to again and again when he came back to independent Bangladesh.

“And the music director instilled that feeling in the viewer, that unfulfilled feeling of patriotism for the country. The use of song and music in the whole film is phenomenal,” Khairul continued.

“Altogether, I would say someone can interpret it in a political way… I myself is not politically aligned because of my job...we don’t express our political views.

“But irrespective of political affiliation one should see it for its cinematic quality and of course, for the nice family perspective – two daughters, and husband. We found our father of the nation as a loving husband in the film.

“This film is much more than its name. It’s more than the 70-minute duration because people need to keep on thinking about the human aspects of our father of nation. That journey has been captured in this film,” he said.

Neurologist Muzharul Mannan has also watched the film and said he could not hold back his tears.

“I was speechless and stunned after watching it,” he told bdnews24.com. “I think all Bangladeshis regardless of their belief, religion, or political preference must watch it.”

Editor Navnita Sen believes they have been able to achieve their ‘ambitious’ goal by completing the film.

“As an editor we always think about the structure. She has so many past, childhood, assassination memories, different countries…and intermingling those with her present as prime minister, as a mother, as a grandmother, as a girl who loves Tungipara was a big challenge,” she said.

Time to 'preserve history'

This was an attempt to portray a humane and personal side of a daughter, through her own narrative about her tragedies, her triumphs, her betrayals, and her perseverance, according to the director.

But he said he felt “sad” while working on this film for the last five years because of the “poor preservation” of Bangladesh’s history.

 “I felt sad because whatever we have - the country, our leaders, Joy Bangla, Bangladesh’s first family…the way we preserved it is so bad…I wonder why!”

“We have to preserve history for many reasons.”

“When we go to Lincoln Memorial (in US), we take selfies. I have visited Dhanmondi 32 so many times and also Tungipara, but I did not find many people visiting those places. We, the so-called educated people, we don’t go there.

“It’s time to reflect about us and for that we don’t need to follow politics, we need not be a fan of Sheikh Hasina. It can be anybody. I opted for Sheikh Hasina as I found the amazing journey to invade the inside and the interior of the very first family of Bangladesh and I found their inside so beautiful.”

Music Director Debojyoti Mishra, whose parents left Bangladesh during the 1947 partition, considers his work in the film a “homage” to his ancestral place.

Apart from the Star Cineplex in the capital’s Bashundhara City mall, the film has been released at Blockbuster Movie of the Jamuna Future Park, Modhumita Cinema Hall at Motijheel in Dhaka, and Silver Screen in Chattogram.

The Centre for Research and Information (CRI) has produced the film.