H Rahman

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How was Farooki’s 'Ladies and Gentlemen'? If we finish the answer in a simple ‘good’ or ‘bad', it will be very unfair to the non-linear plot of this web series. The web series has deviated away from the path of simply being good and not good. As a contemporary story, you can find similarities with many incidents we recently heard or seen or watched in movies. Perhaps you will recall some core themes from Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury's Pink (2016). To introduce the protagonist Sabila, there is a sequence that has a slight resemblance with Malayalam's 'Great Indian Kitchen' (2021). Also, served some of the similar dialogues of very recently hyped Ashfaq Nipun’s 'Mohanagar (2021)! However, I would like to clarify that this is not a copy of any of them; instead, from my movie watching, I've noticed similarities in the moulding of the characters or symbolic representation of some of these topics dominantly discussed in our sub-continental cinema nowadays. These are minor details from the overall sequence of events. Farooki has told the whole story in his style. Typical ‘shout-out version’ of Farooki’s storytelling seems to be absent this time and rather told more powerfully and silently! We are generally familiar with his dramas, movies, and telefilms, as forms of visual fiction, where the desire to convey one's personality through their words is prevalent in a certain way. This is something we have experienced in Farooqi's work regularly and there is no exception here in this web series. The story is presented straightforwardly. Yet, the characters in the story do not follow the simple succession of life. The story begins with a young woman who dreams of becoming an entrepreneur and thrives on getting better treatment for her ailing father! Her partner is a decent man, but she can't rely on him to have enough emotional resonance. She dreams of making life easier, but every day, little by little, she continues to move backwards. With much directorial ease Farooki has gone to the deep roots of society to uncover the reasons why she is dragged behind. The story is also narrated in a literal way without any hide and seek, though what he was attempting to convey was profound. The people who took part in the media trial are present in the storyline of ‘Ladies and Gentleman’. Farooki did not go so far as to bring in the customary spice for the drama, but what he said had a very compelling argument in his interpretation. If you ask for any spoilers, I would give you only a clear one. Sabila, who is frightened about her sick father from the beginning of the series, produces psychological stress for the viewers. As a viewer, you'll be even more heartbroken when you witness Sabila's father is having the same kind of torment as Sabila, who is suffering from dementia. A large part of the story will revolve around Sabila's attic, ‘Sanskriti Bikash Kendra’, and some of the streets of Dhaka. Sabila continues to seek assistance from the office to resolve her difficulties. However, that is, what gave rise to Achilles' heel. The husband next to her is a partner in her struggle but fails to become an empathetic one many times. She has to continue fighting alone despite being in the middle of everyone! In such a regular life, the story takes a turn. One of the aims of the web series was to showcase how and when society judges that turn! However, after watching it, I paid more attention to the details of how Farooki did the characterizations.