Rivers in Reel

Photos: Archive

In 1958, an attempt was made to present the lives of fishermen of Bangladesh through a 35 mm reel. Inspired by the famous novel Padma Nodir Majhi by Manik Bandopaddhay, Urdu poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz wrote a screenplay which tip-toed around the hardships of life on the river. This screenplay was the first venture between the two halves of what were then a geographically-divided Pakistani state and also the first story to be based on East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. After the pre-production, director A J Kardar decided to name this project Jaago Hua Savera (The Day Shall Dawn).What they didn't know is that this film will later on be counted as one of the greatest classics in the South Asian region.

Though this film is officially a Pakistani production, majority of the unit included Bangladeshis, namely actors and music directors. This was the debut film of legendary actor Khan Ataur Rahman, who mesmerised the audience across the globe by portraying his character Kasim. Kardar also hired Jahir Raihan to assist in direction – for who the film, also, was a successful entry into the world of cinema. Famous German cinematographer Walter Lassley also worked in the film as the director of photography. The 87 minute-long film was completed within a year and was released in 1959.

This film was the first step to break the so called commercial treatment of cinema and opt for a realistic approach. Much like Manik Bandopadhay's book, Jaago Hua Savera, was raw and filled with the harsh realities of a river-centric life. It served as the perfect example of why cinema is cross cultural.

After its release, the film did really well with the critics. Director Allauddin Kabir considered this as the stepping stone towards realistic cinema. The film was entered into the 1st Moscow International Film Festival where it won a Golden Medal. It was also selected as the Pakistani entry for best foreign language film at the 32nd Academy Award.

Though Jaago Hua Savera roamed around a quite few festivals, it was a box office flop in the country. Cinematographer Lassley, in an autobiography, wrote that there were a lot of difficulties communicating as the crew members were either Bangla, Urdu, or Panjabi speaking. Alamgir Kabir in his book 'Films in Bangladesh' wrote that the use of both Urdu and Bangla dialogues can be one of the reasons for its failure in the box office.

For not having a proper restoration policy, the reels of the film were lost for some time and the audience here could not get a hold of the film.

In 1990 this film was again recovered from a film lab in Australia by film researcher Jakir Hussain Raju. In a Prothom Alo article, he said that while doing research for his PhD, Raju brought the film in Melbourne University. The screening at the Melbourne University was filmed and was then brought back to Bangladesh. In 1997 a screening was held in Dhaka, organised by the Film Society.

Recently Cannes Film Festival screened Jaago Hua Savera in the Cannes Classic category. As there was no other celluloid copy, the film was digitally restored. The initiative was taken by Anjum Tasir, son of the film's producer Nouman Tasir.