Film Review: Doob

The extent of how hotly-anticipated Mostofa Sarwar Farooki's “Doob” is became clear on Thursday afternoon when I had to resort to pulling some strings to secure a first day first show ticket for it. For all his international acclaim, Farooki's films typically have not caused a ticket crisis, and that this film was at the centre of such whirlwind anticipation owes largely to what transpired with it before release. There was considerable buzz when it was announced in March last year that Irrfan Khan, one of the most high-profile actors of the sub-continent was not only starring in the Bangladesh-India joint production, but also co-producing it. But an explosive report in a newspaper in Kolkata in November that the film was based on the life of the late Humayun Ahmed, the most iconic novelist of contemporary Bangladeshi literature, did things heat up. Despite Farooki clearly stating that it is not a biopic, the film's no-objection certificate by a government committee was revoked a day after issuing it in February, and by the time it got censor clearance back at home the film had already gained some momentum in the international film festival circuit. Quite a few festivals, an award and some rave reviews later the film finally opened yesterday in theatres in the country, as well as in India and Australia.

One of the biggest challenges for a filmmaker (or any storyteller) is to make a fictional story convincing to the audience, and Farooki rather willingly takes the double-edged sword of crafting a story out of incidents that hit close to the late wordsmith's controversial later life, that is not only believable, but all-too-familiar. As I sat in the theatre I heard mumbles from around me drawing direct parallels of the on-screen happenings to real-life events. So, to answer the question: is “Doob” Humayun Ahmed's story? No. But is it closely inspired by it? Quite safe to say that it is.