Let’s start by stating a fact- director Rubaiyat Hossain’s “Shimu: Made in Bangladesh” will go down in history as one of the most successful Bangladeshi films of this generation. The list of important festivals it traveled to, the number of foreign theatres it ran in and the prestigious awards it bagged is incredibly long. Whether or not we fall in line to cheer this film, it’s a conversation starter about an issue we should have dealt with eons ago.
What is the film about that intrigued so many all over the globe? Based on the real-life experiences of union leader Daliya Akter Dolly, the film’s main protagonist is Shimu (Reekita Nondini Shimu), a young garments worker, who slaves her days away to support herself and her unemployed husband, Sohel, (Mostafa Monwar). When a factory-fire kills one of her colleagues and their salary payments are delayed, she is determined to unionize the workers to ensure their rights. NGO official, Nasima (Shahana Goswami) shows her the ropes to form a union while floor manager, Reza (Shatabdi Wadud), who is secretly romancing fellow garments worker Daliya (Novera Rahman), throws curve balls on behalf of the factory owners every now and again obstructing their path.
Other than some expository dialogues, the film achieved state of the art finesse in terms of technicality. The pacing was tight, the sets were realistic and the acting was so spot on that one wonders how many hours these actors must’ve spent learning the mannerisms of the workers. It truly felt like a team effort where everyone owned the part they played. Even the French producer, Francois d’Artemare, made a cameo as a foreign buyer, taking one for the team.
Popular songs like “Rupban” provided much needed relief in a wedding scene, complemented by Mostofa Monwar’s hilarious dancing. Even an Ananta Jalil song was injected via Shimu's landlord's television, followed by a glimpse of a Lux advertisement, which was an interesting choice of divergence.
The story unfolds like a procedural show minus the mad rush of solving a murder, with a central theme of forming a union that is curiously drab. Knowing what we know now about the repercussions the real Daliya faced after creating her labour union, it leaves no doubt that her subsequent trials were more interesting and complex. Luckily, audiences may get a glimpse of those intricate struggles in Rubaiyat’s fourth feature film about migrant workers where Daliya is working as a consultant.
While experiencing “Shimu” at the cinema, the female perspective shines blindingly bright through the projector in every shot of every scene. The women in the film, both on screen and off, were forces of nature exuding emphatic dedication to their respective crafts. Toxic masculinity in the form of Sohel’s aggressions that borderlines domestic abuse is villainized, instead of being normalized as we see in most films here. Reza’s misconduct and deceit in slut shaming Daliya once the skeletons are out of the closet is not trifled as an innate male privilege. He could easily suffer the wrath of the unified women, unionized or not.
The union here, in essence, is a symbol of unity bound by a signed contract where the premise hinges on the utopian idea that a labour union will ensure their rights at work. But what is the reality of existing unions? The film leaves it out from the narrative.
When one character turns to prostitution, one can’t help but wonder if it is in fact common. Even though it is a work of fiction and the director is not bound to represent the most likely scenario, it sparks these questions in the audience who may never have pondered upon how "they" live before.
In Bangladesh, some have questioned if the film is projecting the right image of our country since the world of cinema is getting to know us through such films. Do we want poverty porn to be our brand? Can privileged filmmakers indeed tell the tale of utter destitution? While these are worthwhile questions that should be targeted towards the whole industry, and not one particular film or director, these debates don’t take away from the merit of this beautifully crafted cinematic triumph.
The 2019 film released in Bangladesh in March 2022 and is now running in theatres in Japan.