‘Araal’: The duality of man in its full, unhinged glory

The pious and religious Siddique is a Muezzin on a small island in Monpura. His life revolves around the small mosque, where he would serenade the village with the sound of Azaan. One day, when he comes to his house, he discovers the body of a prostitute. He doesn't have a single clue as to how the body arrived, and buries it deep under his residence. The dead body haunts him in his sleep, and finally, when he confesses to the police, they find out that the body is no longer there. How did the body disappear?

"Araal", starring Pritom Hasan and Nawshaba Ahmed dwells on the psychological aspects of humanity on a setting of a remote Island. Directed by Nazmul Nobin, the movie revolves around protagonists Siddique and Shefali, whose lives intertwine due to a sudden twist of fate. The thriller will be available for streaming on Thursday, on Chorki.

"Monpura is an extremely beautiful island, which is surrounded by the majestic Meghna river," says the director. "Its scenic beauty and its remote surroundings drew me towards it. However, everything comes with a price. The electricity there only stays from 6 pm till 12 am, and thus, most of the times we had to work with a generator. Sometimes, the masjid wouldn't let us shoot there, and so we had to convince the senior imam to let us shoot there," said the filmmaker.

Most psychological thrillers are usually set in an urbanised setting. However, 'Araal' reflects on the stories of a remote island, that hasn't been engulfed by the complexities of city life.

"I wanted to showcase how psychological problems like Post-Traumatic stress disorder and Amnesia can also affect the inhabitants of a remote island. I wanted to highlight the dilemma of a common man who fails hard to speak up against the injustice prevalent in the society," added Nabin.

Nawshaba plays the role of Shefali, a mother and a former sex worker, whose only goal in life is to establish a better future for her daughter.

"Shefali is a character who has multiple layers within her. She doesn't speak much, but her presence acts as a catalyst in the movie," says Nawshaba.

The actress also stresses the struggles of Shefali and her constant fight to be acknowledged as a human being.

"Shefali wants to give her daughter a decent future and thus, she leaves behind her time in prostitution to lead a more normal life. Her dream is to arrange a 'milad' for her mother on her death anniversary but not a single muezzin wants to help her as she is a 'soiled and tainted woman'. It speaks to how due to social stigma, these sex workers are not treated like human beings, let alone respected," added the actress.

Pritom Hasan undergoes a drastic change in look for "Araal". Here, he plays the role of an orphan, who was brought up by the senior priest at the masjid.

"The challenging aspect of the movie for me was to enact Siddique's walk. His body language and movement styles were a reflection of how he was brought up. We also had to work hard in terms of the look, and thus, I had to cut my mustache to look the part," says Pritom.

The singer also highlighted the difficulties of portraying characters with psychological nuances.

"Handling a two-faced character is challenging for sure. Siddique tries to portray himself differently in front of others, but his real personality comes on full display when he thinks no one is watching. Drawing a fine line here is the hardest aspect of my character," added the actor.