The 'Aynabaji' Experience

Photos: courtesy

On September 30, Dhaka witnessed the release of Amitabh Reza's directorial debut-- Aynabaji. Since its release, the traffic beside cinema halls increased drastically as hundreds of people lined up in front of ticket counters. Cinema halls, after a very long time, have made use of the term 'sold out' while people anxiously waited in line. I myself had to wait for three days before I got my hands on a ticket. Many critics have raved about this film on both social media and newspapers— many of them describing it as a masterpiece. All of this aside, Aynabaji is still dominating the cinema halls for about more than five weeks. So the question remains— what are the ingredients that made Aynabaji the talk of the town? 

To talk about Aynabaji, we first should start with the story line. As cliché as it is for an article related to cinema, this is something which should to be addressed, especially for Aynabaji. The movie is basically the story of a human chameleon serving as body doubles for convicted criminals, who goes by the name Sharafat Karim Ayna. Ayna's activity in the dark underbelly of Dhaka's criminal and judiciary system soon comes to the notice of a nosy, stubborn crime reporter named Saber. The two engage in a cats and dogs chase while Hridy, the girl next door, develops a romantic connection with Ayna. The story builds up the moment of crisis when Ayna gets in too deep and finds himself not having the control over the measures he used to. 

The story has its fair share of twists and turns which glues the audiences to their seats. It has all the necessary elements to make the movie it's moneys worth to vast audiences. From the elite to the commoners, the movie produced elements for everybody to enjoy.  The cinematography is outstanding-- a job excellently executed by Rashed Zaman. Every frame echoes the romanticism of Old Dhaka and almost puts on a new coat of meaning to the movie. Chanchal Chowdhury, yet again, proved his worth in the industry. His performance is mind blowing to say the least-- an unforgettable piece which he effortlessly delivers through multiple characters. The supporting characters portrayed by Partha Barua, Gousul Alam Shaon, Lutfur Rahman George and others showed no weakness in driving the movie forward. 

From start to finish, Aynabaji was spot on in terms of grabing audience attention. After ages, I witnessed a movie theater where the viewers did not utter a single word while the movie was on. Applauses were continues during Chanchal Chowdhury's acting, especially while he played the politician. The intro of the movie surprisingly got the most applause where our beloved Dhaka was showcased through Aurnob's melodies. 

So after all that we said here and we can come to the question which was raised at first-- how did Aynabaji become such a massive success? Aynabaji becoming an iconic movie in Bangladesh's history of cinema is up to the audience but what Aynabaji did prove is the power of proper distribution and marketing. Before and after the release of the movie, Aynabaji spread like wild fire on social media and newspapers. The hype was phenomenal as it should be for a movie and it reached almost every major corner of Bangladesh. It should be said that along with actors, director and cinematographer, the producers also did a phenomenal job— taking Aynabaji to its peak. 

Overall, Aynabaji is a good commercial movie—a movie which will entertain audiences of all walks of life. The whole idea of the film was to entertain and that it did very well. Like many other great movies, this may not have left the audience reading between the lines, or keep them thinking, it was a smack-dab in your face movie, and will surely be worth your money and time. There is no doubt it is a good move in boosting our movie industry. So, all in all, to Aynabaji— an experience to worth the hype!