Aaina: Women's issues take centre stage

Sabah and Ferdaus in a romantic scene in the movie Aaina

Kushum (Sabah), like many poor girls in rural Bangladesh, is a victim of dowry, lechery and other social ills. A village terrorist (Joy Raj) kills her father to marry her. To escape from the clutches of the evildoer, Kushum comes to Dhaka and gets a job as a domestic help. However, here also she attracts the attention of a lascivious landlord. The latter's wife, rather than vent her spleen on her husband, orders Kushum to leave the house. The film Aaina clearly delineates the miserable condition of housewives in the metros, who time after time have to compromise with their husband's misdeeds.

The craftsmanship of Kabori Sarwar's screenplay deserves plaudits. The film features the lifestyle of slum-dwellers and garment workers. It gives an authentic portrayal of the oppression on women workers, who are the backbone of the industry. At the end of the movie Kushum becomes the victim of acid violence.

However, Kabori's screenplay is a trifle abrupt at the beginning of the movie while featuring the plight of rural women. As debutant director, Kabori deserves plaudits. The story is minus vulgarity, rather it is artistically handled. And a momentum has been maintained throughout the movie. Framing and cinematography are also better than the average films.

Sabah performed spontaneously in the sequences of love, laughter and others. However, the promising actress failed to do justice to scenes displaying her wrath, anger, and emotion. Ferdaus, in the role of her fiancé performed well as per the mood and tempo of the movie. Joy Raj and Kahinur made their promising debuts as anti- heroes. The spontaneous performance of the seasoned actor ATM Shamsu-zzaman is also an attraction for movie goers.

The premiere show of Aaina was screened on May 7 at Bashundhara Cineplex. It is one of the three movies, produced by Impress Tele-film.

Earlier, clippings of the other two movies Jiboner Galpo and Rakkhushi, were screened.

Information Minister M Shamsul Islam and Information Secretary Barrister M Haider Ali were the chief and special guest respectively in the programme. Faridur Reza Sagar, the managing director of Impress Tele-film welcomed the guests and film directors with crests.