Nondito Norokey

Arguably Humayun's finest literary work, the film "Nondito Norokey" in its entirety was a superbly crafted production. Based on the life of an easy going lower-middle class family riddled with the starker realities and pains of the world around, the story is very movingly told.

The challenge of filming a well-known book lies in meeting the overwhelming expectations of the readers. In that respect each and every performer of this film stood out. The role of "Rabeya", a mentally challenged young woman was played to perfection by a relatively unknown actress Shoma (I hope that is her name as I missed the title and casting scene and was told by a friend later). Hers and truly powerful performances from Litu Anam, Ferdous, Afroza Banu, Keramat Mowla carry the film throughout. Although, director Belal Ahmed took a few cinematic licenses in some scenes ( for example the boat ride), he remained faithful to the original story and that made the eventual viewing an even more memorable experience.

Expectedly, references were made to the popular BTV production of the same story in the 1980s featuring Mita Chowdhury as "Rabeya". In my opinion the current version loses nothing in comparison and in fact is an ideal screen adaptation of a well-known story.

It would be a great injustice to the entire crew of the film if it goes unnoticed by the larger audience in big screen.