Hawa: A refreshing wind of change

Apparently, it seems that a group of fishermen sails their boat Nayantara towards the deep sea and soon their fishing net finds a mysterious girl who later takes them to encounter a series of inexplicable incidents.

But, the journey doesn’t remain limited to these characters. Beyond them, the audience get on board and float on the sea in the consequent two hours and ten minutes to experience a truly refreshing wind that blows them away with fascinating scenes, meaningful symbols and powerful performances.

A super-hit song and inventive publicity created such a hype regarding ‘Hawa’ that meeting expectations of audience was a huge challenge for debutant director Mejbaur Rahman Sumon.

While directing the movie, the young filmmaker relied on his own view of film making and this has inspired him to be bold to present a content which is unique in many senses.

Based on local folklore, ‘Hawa’ is a real as well as surreal tale that deals with realism, politics and mythology.

Fishing boat Nayantara reflects our society or in broader context our state where simplicity, love, friendship, inequality, greed, envy, vengeance and sexuality walk hand in hand.

Chan Majhi (Chanchal Chowdhury), head of the boat, represents the bourgeois. Being a greedy, exploiter, murderer and ridiculously coward man like many ruling elite, he wants to control everything and suppress everyone.

He, along with a few other fishermen, sells fishes they caught during the day time at night deceiving the mohajon (boat owner).

Engine driver Ibrahim (Sariful Razz) works at the lowest deck. The engine room is the driving force of the boat but Chan Majhi neglects its strength.

Iba stands for the lower working class. He vehemently protests the theft and claims equal share of all fishermen.

Eja (Sumon Anowar) assists the ruling class. His main aim is to secure his own interests shaking hands with the man in power.

Rest of the fishermen and cooks represent the middle class. They know about all the irregularities but get confused regarding what to do when it comes to protesting those amid a feeling of insecurity.

In such a situation, sudden arrival of Gulti (Nazifa Tushi) challenges the authorities of Chan Majhi. Her friendship and love affairs with Ibrahim or Iba intends to bring a balance on the boat. She symbolises socialism or a great ideals.

Gulti’s style of wearing saree and her earrings’ fish motif confuses audience regarding her identity. Director Sumon doesn’t make it clear that whether she is a mermaid, representative of any deity or an avatar but successfully uses this obscurity to keep the mystery intact.

Powerful performance of the actors is one of the biggest strengths of ‘Hawa’. Each of the character gets enough space and they have used it perfectly.

Chanchal Chowdhury is phenomenal in portraying the dark shades of Chan Majhi’s character. With his every movement and pause, he is reliable as a professional fisherman.

Sariful Razz has done excellent as Ibrahim or Iba. He has proved that why he is considered as a potential actor of the industry.

While playing Gulti, Nazifa Tushi doesn’t get much dialogue but she has tried to cover it by her expression.

Nasir Uddin Khan mesmerises all as Nagu. His humour relieves audience’s tension to a great extent.

Besides, Shohel Mondol as Urkes, Rizvi Rizu as Parkes, Bablu Bose as Foni and Mahmud Alam as Mora have done justice to their characters.

Cinematography of ‘Hawa’ will be remembered for long. The way Kamrul Hasan Khosru has operated his camera is exceptional. Most of the frames of the movie are a treat to the eyes.

The movie’s production design, colour grading, background music and costume design are also appreciable.

Second half of the story runs fast. The director could take more time before climax scenes to keep audience in suspense. However, the outstanding use of surrealism and an epic concluding scene has recovered that.

Film making is always an industrious task. Making ‘Hawa’ undoubtedly needed more efforts as it was filmed on the sea. And that efforts and passion for cinema have been paid off. Mejabur Rahman Sumon and ‘Hawa’ team, take a bow!