Mohanagar Tales

If you have watched Mohanagar, and if you live in Dhaka, you would surely agree that this Mosharraf Karim starrer Hoichoi web-series is a story of our city told right. It was almost as if filmmaker Ashfaque Nipun decided to pay an ode to the city, but then, he paid that tribute in the coldest and most unapologetic way possible by presenting many harsh realities albeit in the most entertaining way!

That is just an opinion, though, as a Dhaka buff. What does Nipun have to say? With the second instalment of this immensely popular series scheduled to release tomorrow, we quizzed the man behind Mohanagar himself. 

"Any 'mohanagar [metropolis]' is made up of people of all classes, of all walks of life. In Dhaka, there are luxurious high-rise buildings on one hand and slums on the other and a lot in between," Nipun began. "The entirety of the first season took place in one night, where we brought together people of all classes under one roof, the police station."

A Dhakaite could connect with Mohanagar 1 easily -- the roads, the parties, toughness, shrewdness, rich and powerful people feeling entitled as if the system should bow down to them, and how difficult this city can become if someone falls in the wrong side of things.

The audience feels that the storyteller must know Dhaka rather intimately.

Nipun was in fact born and brought up in Chattogram. "When I first moved to Dhaka, the pace of this city really struck me. It seemed like people were always in a rush," he said. "Everyone is running. Outside Dhaka, folks are a bit more laidback. Now that I have lived here for around 17 years, I've become a part of it as well. But whenever I visit Chattogram, I'm reminded of this pace Dhaka has."

As a filmmaker, Nipun is fascinated by a number of aspects of the capital, which he desires to portray in his future works, if the opportunity arises.

One of them, he said, is Dhaka on Fridays -- the sights, sounds and moods during this day-off and how it is different from the rest of the week.

He is also fascinated by stories and dynamics of the movement of the socio-economic focus and hub within the capital, shifting from Old Dhaka to Motijheel, Gulshan, and beyond. 

For now, audiences are keenly awaiting the return of the Mohanagar magic.

"The first season was a story of one night. Mohanagar 2 will go broad; the narrative is much broader and deeper," Nipun informed.

The wait is almost over. The shrewd police officer OC Harun -- central character played by Mosharraf Karim that has already made a lasting impression among the audience from season one -- is ready to guide us again through the tough and hardened system that is Dhaka.

As OC Harun says in a teaser: "Dhaka mohanagar. Where the streets, lanes and by-lanes have a million stories to tell. Stories about the oppressors, stories about the oppressed, stories about the rise to power, stories about losing against power, in this city, millions are crushed under the system every day..."

Every nook and cranny of Dhaka has stories waiting to be told. "My Dhaka" gives interested writers the platform to share experiences of city life. Only selected stories will make it to our print edition and digital platform. Send your Dhaka story (within 450 words) to raffat@thedailystar.net