Cinema
The Insects
Poka Makorer Ghar Bosoti
Akhtaruzzaman · 1996
Synopsis
A fishing village on the Chittagong coast, on the Bay of Bengal. Safia lives with her old mother, who works for Torab Ali, owner of trawlers; to help her, she gathers oysters in the salt waters of the sandbank and draws pearls from them. Khalek, a shark fisherman on the high seas, becomes her partner on equal shares, and they fall in love; but Shukkur, a gambler and the village bully, wants her too, while Torab Ali and the moneylender Gani weigh on everyone.
Context
Selina Hossain had published the novel in 1986 and wrote the dialogue herself; Akhtaruzzaman drew the screenplay from it. Produced by the actress Bobita, who plays Safia, with Khaled Khan as Khalek and Alamgir as Shukkur, the film was released on 1 November 1996. The cinematography is by Mahfuzur Rahman Khan, the music by Sheikh Sadi Khan. The critic Nazimuddin Shyamal judged it honest but too faithful to the novel, and regretted a Chittagong dialect poorly rendered.
Who it is for
A colour film whose dialogue imitates the speech of Chittagong; the shark-fishing scenes take place on the open sea.
Prizes and reception
Four national awards for 1996: best film, direction, story and cinematography.