At the invitation of the Centre for Research and Information, I had the chance to see the premiere of the docudrama 'Hasina: A Daughter's Tale' at Bashundhara Cineplex. It was good to see many people at the Cineplex, from Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith to many members of the cabinet, and many friends from the media, writers and journalists. From the very elegant and artistic invitation card to the decoration of part of Bashundhara Cineplex, everything had been transformed around this documentary film. Those who went to see it went hoping for something good, and in a packed cinema hall, in pin-drop silence, much of that hope was truly fulfilled. In a word, I would say it is a good production.

The camera work is quite good. The play of light and shade on the mostly close-up treatment is striking. It is clear that the work was done with the aim of capturing a natural and unaffected setting. Cinematographer Sadik Ahmed deserves thanks. Altogether, thanks go to Radwan Mujib Siddiq Bobby, one of the initiators at the Centre for Research and Information (CRI), and to State Minister for Power and Energy Nasrul Hamid Chowdhury, for presenting the hard truths of history to the nation through a very elegant, restrained and acceptable docudrama.

One special feature of 'Hasina: A Daughter's Tale' must be mentioned. In the fluent accounts of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her sister Sheikh Rehana, some subtle truths emerge that many people did not know. Although the film begins with the dark chapter of 15 August 1975 as its main backdrop, the sequence of events before and after it comes through very precisely. In particular, the unbearable time the two daughters spent in Delhi for six straight years after Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was killed with his family has been revealed in a few words. It becomes clear who received the heirs of the Father of the Nation, where and how, in the dark days that fell upon the nation.

The success of the production lies in the fact that the audience could walk with the events with close attention. The Prime Minister's homely and simple outlook on life, her sense of duty to her motherland, and her easy, unaffected way of living even while in government have added to the depth of the film. It is all a sequence of events. Through the film one can also discover a similarity between the life philosophy of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and that of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Many know about her compassion, but it was the first time we learned how deeply the two sisters nurture their roots in Tungipara.

Those of us who are over sixty carry in our memories the whole backdrop from the 1969 uprising and the non-cooperation movement to the independence struggle, but much of this history is unknown to the generation that followed. In particular, the contribution of the Father of the Nation and his family along the long road from the demand for self-rule to the independence struggle seems to have come alive anew in this docudrama. Not only from a party point of view, but also from a human standpoint, it is essential for the new generation.

Although the content of the docudrama is itself a source of history, and the production is not the main consideration, had the makers tried to do something with extra colour and exaggerated statements, it might not have remained so fluent and acceptable. Because it takes only the testimony of the two daughters as its source, from a completely independent position, the work has remained entirely free of influence.

It is in no way a documentary built around a person; it is essentially a sequence of events. With fitting music, some play of sound and background score, the audience connected as deeply with the scenes that are not in the film as with what is on screen. Everyone seemed to be moving through the period being discussed. In bringing out the reality of events, this production can be called highly skilful.

Source: Shykh Seraj. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.