"Chhuti" and "Brishti": Two TV plays by Morshedul Islam
Cultural Correspondent
Chhuti and Brishti, two TV plays both directed by acclaimed filmmaker Morshedul Islam, had their premiere on June 6 at the Goethe Institut, Bangladesh. Chhuti, based on Rabindranath Tagore's short story with the same title, illustrates the reckless but tragic story of a boy while Bristi, based on a story by Mohammad Zafar Iqbal, features a mother with psychological disorder and her love for her dead child. In Chhuti, the central character Fatik (played by Fahad) is a 13/14-year old boy, content with his life in a village. One day, he has to leave home with his uncle (Abul Hayat), as he is admitted in a school in the city. Though initially he was eager to leave the village home, suffocated atmosphere of the city and rudeness, cruelty of the aunt (Wahida Mollik Joli) make his life unbearable. Fatik desperately wants to return home where he can play all day long. But the most expected Chhuti (vacation) seems far as he becomes ill after a failed attempt to escape from the uncle's house. In the last scene, Fatik's mother (Dolly Zahur) rushes to the city to but by then Fatik had already left for his chhuti in another world. The making of the play is quite uncomplicated as the story suggests. Morshedul Islam has used black and white frames to delineate sad moments and colour frames to capture the bliss in the adolescent's life. Bristi, the other play revolves around two characters, Rukhsana (Aupi Karim) and Iqbal (Asaduzzaman Noor). Iqbal selects Rukhsana after an interview, from a pool of applicants. She turns out to be an efficient employee. Everyday Rukhsana leaves her 3-year-old daughter Tisha, home. She never misses work. Her employer Iqbal becomes quite dependent on her. One day Iqbal wants to drop her home but she does not invite him over. The fact that Rukhsana does not leave her phone number at work, strikes Iqbal as odd too. Iqbal discovers that Rukhsana misses office on rainy days. After Rukhsana has missed office for three consecutive days, Iqbal goes over to Rukhsana's to find out if she is okay. He takes a box of chocolates for her daughter. At Rukhsana's place, Iqbal discovers the reality -- three years ago Rukhsana's daughter died of cancer, it was a rainy day. Rainy days remind Rukhsana of the death and she can never share with anyone that her daughter is dead. Credible performances by both Assaduzzaman Noor and Aupi Karim make the play interesting. Emon Shaha's music creates an apt ambience for the film. Despite certain limitations like small budget and time constraint, Morshedul Islam had done a commendable job with both plays.
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