Aynabaji

Aynabaji আয়নাবাজি
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Amitabh Reza Chowdhury
Produced by	Gousul Alam Mahjabin Reza Esha Yousuf Asaduzzaman Sokal Mohammad Younus Bin Faruq
Screenplay by	Anam Biswas Gousul Alam
Story by	Gousul Alam
Starring	Chanchal Chowdhury Masuma Nabila Partha Barua
Music by	Album: Ornob Habib Wahid Fuad Chirkutt Score: Indradip Dasgupta
Cinematography	Rashed Zaman
Edited by	Iqbal Ahsanul Kabir
Production company	Content Matters Half Stop Down
Distributed by	Half Stop Down
Release dates	30 September 2016 (2016-09-30)
Running time	144 min
Country	Bangladesh
Language	Bengali

Aynabaji (Bengali: আয়নাবাজি pronounced [äɪ̯naːbäd͡ʒi]) is a 2016 Bangladeshi crime thriller film directed by Amitabh Reza Chowdhury and produced by Gousul Alam under the banner of Content Matters Production. The film stars Chanchal Chowdhury, Masuma Rahman Nabila and Partha Barua in lead roles. It is the director Amitabh Reza's first feature film.^[1]

Plot

The story is about Ayna, a struggling actor who gets to live his profession in real life after failing in his career. Gifted with the natural talent of acting, he is a man with a versatile character and can morph into anybody he wants. It is also a story about the dark side of metro city Dhaka.^[2]

Cast

• Chanchal Chowdhury as Sharafat Karim Ayna/Nizam Sayeed Chowdhury.^[3]
• Masuma Rahman Nabila as Hridi^[3]
• Partha Barua as Saber, a news reporter
• Lutfur Rahman George as a dishonest businessman
• Jamil Ahmed as Saber's manservant
• Sohel Rana
• Heera Chowdhury
• Shawkat Osman
• Khairul Basar
• Iffat Trisha

Brindabon Das plays a prison officer while Arifin Shuvo,^[4] and Bijori Barkatullah makes guest appearances as AC Sajjad and Saber's separated wife respectively. Producer Gousul Alam and director Amitabh Reza have special appearances.^[5]

Production

Gousul Alam Shaon had written the story for the film, while Anam Biswas adapted into a screenplay. Esha Yousuf was the Executive Producer of the film while Amitabh Reza is the director of the movie.^[3] The entire film was shot in Dhaka. Shooting of the film officially began on February 2015 and ended in August 2015. The film was released on 30 September 2016.^[6]

Soundtrack

The music for Aynabaji is composed by Arnob, Fuad, Habib & Chirkut Band.

Release

The film was released on 30 September 2016 in Dhaka and later in Chittagong and other cities. It was screened at Marché du Film at 69th annual Cannes Film Festival, where it scored well.^[7] Aynabaji has won the award of the best film at United States's 11th Seattle South Asian Film Festival.^[8] The movie was pirated after it was release on Robi online TV.^[9] The film had a limited release in theaters in the United States, France, Canada and Australia.^[10][11]

Reception

Aynabaji has received largely positive reviews.^[12] The movie has received a good response from audience.^[13] It has got a rating of 9.7 out of 10 at IMDb which is highest for any Bengali films. Zahid Akbar from The Daily Star gave the film a 4 out 5 star rating, saying "The film provides the viewers with an emphatic view to its characters, which is coupled with brilliant storytelling making the audience wanting more." , praised the film for its cast, story, cinematography saying,"(...)impeccable" but criticized its duration. The performance of Chanchal Chowdhury is also praised.^[14]

Box office

Aynabaji has opened with an instant blockbuster hit. It did a record of 91 shows in 10 days that is highest number for any Bangladeshi film. The box office collected over ৳21.4 million with occupancy record of 98.89%.^[15]

See also

• Cinema of Bangladesh
• Dhallywood
• List of Bangladeshi films of 2016
• Amitabh Reza Chowdhury
• Chanchal Chowdhury

References