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‘Grasp All, Lose All’ can be said to be a widely practised context, mostly as a subplot, when making cinema in this subcontinent. But, a few who use this proverb as their central spirit have stunned their audiences with their content.
Tumbadd from Bollywood was a perfect example, but luckily we now have a perfect example from our own industry, Surongo.
Surongo is the story of Masud. And in this story, there is a significant catalyst, Moyna, Masud’s love interest or, more precisely, his wife.
Moyna has many luxurious demands, which drives Masud to travel abroad and earn more money. While he was doing so, Moyna fell in love with Masud’s best friend Jahir, or, necessarily, with Jahir’s capability of providing expensive offerings. So, she runs away with him.
This is the point where Masud realises what money means to the world. He finds a shortcut to be a billionaire, like a wormhole in the space-time continuum, or in this case, like a Surongo, a tunnel towards money.
Summarising the rest may contain a strong chance of spoilers, so readers are requested to go to theatres and watch the later part of the story.
However, despite having the name Surongo, unlike a real Surongo, the movie has kept no option for holes in the plot or the philosophy.
The main storyline always circled around this ‘Grasp All, Lose All’ proverb, showing the consequences of greed in each of the central characters’ lives. Masud, Moyna, Johir, or the other characters; whoever it is, destiny pays off its debts to them. At the end of the day, the tunnel of consequences swallows down every character in its womb.
The story of Surongo can be said to be pretty unpredictable. Though, in the first half, the pace is a bit slow for the character developments, and the audiences can somehow predict what is coming next, the second half compensates with its high-pace, high-voltage series of happenings.
The last 30 minutes of the movie perform as the most engaging part with a bunch of twists and turns, leading to a justified yet unexpected ending.
Surongo’s success lies in the fact that it significantly sheds light on the Shadripu, the six enemies of human life - lust, anger, greed, delusion, pride and jealousy.
The director and writer deserve appreciation for their nearly accurate portrayal. Besides, as they say, the movie is based on a phenomenal-true story, there was a perfect balance of comedy, tragedy, thrill and suspense, just like in real life.
Afran Nisho, Masud, acted like a beast to make his big screen debut memorable, no doubt about that. A scene deserves special mention, the dream sequence of Masud, where he roughly slaughters Moyna and Johir. The expression he delivered there will surely leave the audience having goosebumps.
Tama Mirza, as Moyna, probably had her best performance thrown at the audience. With her every single dialogue, Tama Mirza pictured Moyna’s hypocrisy, and the audiences’ cheering, laughter and cursing certified her acting as the show stealer.
Mostafa Monwar, or, Jahir, has given another hats-off kind of performance, though his character did not get that much highlighted in the end. Shahiduzzaman Selim, with his apparent Chittagong accent, acted as one of the main comic reliefs of the film.
Raifan Rafi and true events, what can make a better couple than this? As the director, he handled his job well, as much as needed to be passed with a letter grade.
Though, among the last three of his theatrical releases, two (Poran and Surongo) have presented the heroine as the downgoing factor of the hero or other male characters. Thus, whether or not it fuels gender-based violence in society, the public reaction this leads to will be a matter of question.
The writer of this article thinks that there is a thin, almost transparent line between what should be taken as a lesson from a cinema and what not. Let it be hoped that Raihan Rafi is aware of this line and the message the public will most likely take.
Cinematography will fetch a large portion of appreciation from the whole.
It is a treat to the eyes of the viewers to see the scenic beauty of Sunamganj and Chittagong. How perfectly the cinematographer, Sumon Sarker, has crafted this part of the film! Especially there are several one-take shots, as unique as they could be. Creating such a masterpiece despite the continuous obstacles of shooting inside a 40 feet long, closed tunnel deserves a standing ovation. Besides, Surongo has built a milestone by using the Alexa Mini LF for the first time in Bangladesh.
The set and art design is also strong competitor for appreciation. These are so natural that nobody can even guess the sets were made only a couple of months before the beginning of the shoot. The colour grading was pitch-perfect.