Guerrilla

guerrilla is a movie directed by the theater genius nasir uddin yousuff. its a story about an ordinary girl named sayda bilkis banu, who's husband is probably dead, living in a typical Bengali family with her mother in law, brother in law, sister in law and two servants.her father is dead, only younger brother living in the countryside. this is a story telling the wartime situation in the historic liberation war of Bangladesh during 1971. but this story is totally different from any other movies made on the same plot. its not for teaching you the story. rather director is more on showing the actual wartime condition of the country. helplessness, a real situation for humanity and above all patriotism, its not about winning in the battlefield, rather the victory of humanity.

the cinematography is believable, the actual scenario of 71

a milestone for Bengali movie history.

Guerrilla is a movie about the Independence war of Bangladesh in the year 1971. At that time, Bangladesh was a eastern state of Pakistan (called East Pakistan), and the central government was formed in the now Pakistan state (West Pakistan). This war was spanned over 9 months, from March 26th to December 16th. The movie is based on the lives of civil people of Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh, who stood against the Pakistan Army and fought in the guerrilla format.

As far as the script goes, it is based on a novel "Nishiddho Loban" (The Forbidden Scarf) by Syed Shamsul Haque, and also based upon real-life events from several freedom fighters. The director himself was an active member of the guerrilla group.

The most striking thing about this movie to me was the interpretation of the struggle and sufferings to a personal level. War is bad and we all know the statistics of the genocide. But these are not merely numbers, but actual people who fought and bled as the nation rises from the ashes of their sacrifice. The severity of the genocide, the rapes, the tortures were very graphic in the movie, and probably not suitable for a young audience.

On the brighter side, it was a movie well-written, the portrayals of the character Bilkis Banu, Altaf Mahmud, Capt. Sarfaraz Khan were very close to the actual truth. The cinematography was beautiful, considering the fact that it was a very low-budget movie.

It might not be outstanding in the standard of the international cinema, but as far as the cinema industry of Bangladesh goes, it was a remarkable work of art. No other movie based on the Independence war was so vivid in the portrayal of its terror and destruction.

There have been a lot of movies lately based on the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh. One common feature all of them lacked, including the critically acclaimed Joy Jatra, is an interesting plot with a detailed narrative. In all of these movies the war and the sorrow of the victims were the main focus and it overshadowed the storyline. As if the makers thought "well, this is a war movie. So it really doesn't need a good story. All it needs is some screaming, heartless murder and cool explosion." While this strategy may satisfy the audience for the moment it is sure to fail to leave a deep impression in the minds of thoughtful viewers.

This is where Guerrilla was different. It knew its limitations. It knew it does not have the budget or technology to create a intensified battle sequence. So it invested on the storyline, it invested on the acting and creating some nerve wrecking moments. It didn't try to be overly educative or informative. It tried to be entertaining. And guess what, it succeed beyond expectation.

The plot was fairly new, has enough pace and a few twist here and there to keep you engaged. Its nothing you can't predict before hand but it will still entertain you. It took time to develop the main characters which is a very important aspect that was missing from the recent war movies.

As for the acting, Joya Ahsan did a very good job portraying the wife of the missing engineer. You can see how much committed she was to the character and it payed well.Nothing exceptional from the other actors but they all delivered what was needed.

I felt the makers could do a little more with the Cinematography and editing. Some background music were rather odd and the explosions and gun shots should have been a little more realistic. As any other Bangla movie the dialog is too cheesy but the actors made it work. As a contemporary war movie i expected more of tactical urban guerrilla warfare but... well, guess i just have to wait (why don't the makers consult with a guerrilla fight specialist before writing the screenplay??)

Overall Guerrilla is a nice addition to the summer movies of this year. it is also a step made forward for war movies of Bangladesh.Go watch this movie, you wont be disappointed.

I do not comprise the technical knowledge to comment on whether the direction of the movie is up to the mark or lacks something, the special effect is high quality or not. however i want to emphasize on the fact that, from my point of view the movie is successful because it serves one of its goals perfectly and that is,it brings out the real cruel bloody picture of liberation war.the movie does not only focus on the patriotism or any heroic story of a muktijoddha but the real face of the traitors (rajakar). its the first time their actions are bring into the spot light. Hats off to the whole Guerrilla unit. Job well done !!

I don't know about others, who wrote it is the best movie ever. I think they have not seen many many great movie was made in Bangladesh, Matir Moina, Aguner Poros Moni etc. It is a excellent movie no doubt. But dialog was poor also same goes to editing. Many characters are really useless, I think the producer is only took them to show their face on big screen. First half is good but in the second half it was going very very slow and we and The Paki's interrogation was boring. Same word every time, "when did you go to India." Don't think I am a Razakar. I love movies and always appreciate good effort. Thanks to the team for making this good movie and off course it was a great effort. Keep up with the good work.