Nadim Iqbal’s Bidyabhuban is the story of a dreamer, and a group of passionate individuals who devoted their lives to overcoming the rigid cultural barriers and building a society of enlightened people.
The story is created and presented by none other than one of the very talented minds in the world of Bengali documentary Nadim Iqbal. Once he gets to know about the individual who was ready to sell his kidneys to fund his dream project, Iqbal could not resist himself from presenting the story to the world.
The 26 minutes film starts with the rhythmic music of a train. In the midst of the playful light, there was the protagonist on his journey of hope. A very dramatic voice of Ashique Wahed introduces him. S.K. Almamun - a foresightful passionate motivator who spent his life towards the change for betterment of the less fortunate people of “kachhiakanda”. Iqbal takes us to this village of remote Netrokona nearby the river “Kangsha”, where Mamun has built his very unique “Bidyabhuban”.
Incredibly engaging every second of the film revealed the very unique story behind their school. Mamun grew up in this area of Bangladesh witnessing the sufferings of the people with extreme poverty. He wanted to make some kind of positive impact into their lives, but thousands of years of rigid society prevents them from bringing the change in little time. Mamun figured, he cannot bring the change unless he starts from the grass roots with a bunch of fresh minds. He decided to educate and enlighten the beautiful minds of little kids. It is not an easy task to sow the seeds of dreams among the people who are suffering from the cruel scourge of poverty. In that society the cattle of a family means more than the children. In their mind a child is just another mouth to feed where the cattle provide instant food. His goal is to create a group of enlightened people who will carry out his and Bidyabhuban’s legacy to the entire world.
The foundation of Bidyabhuban begins with all the local materials. At the beginning finance was a huge issue. However, a lion-hearted Khalid Ahmed Khan and very generous architect Naim Ahmed Kibria came to his aid and together they built this school.
The basic concept of the school is to go beyond the biblical knowledge and achieve the true knowledge of turning into great human beings. Teachers encourage the students to be creative by using their own imagination. In this process they include the entire family of the student as the goal is to develop every sector of their lives. He wants to give the gift of honest, self-reliant and confident people in the world that will carry this beacon of his light all over the world.
Mamun and his team are moving forward with the goal of improving the overall life of a child. Here, producer Nadim Iqbal has aesthetically highlighted everything from yoga, spiritual practices, pledges, food intake, and creative drama in various scenes. Each frame tells a beautiful story.
The film ends in a train compartment that may refer to Mamun's journey. Soaking his hands in the clear water of the rain, he welcomed the fresh mind. The smiling schoolgirls in the last scene show the endless possibilities of the future. And Tagore's beautiful quote brings a sense of satisfaction to the audience.
SK Al Mamun introduced this passionate project to Bangladesh and we are grateful to the creator of the film, Nadim Iqbal, for presenting this impeccable story to the public in an artistic and perfect way.
Nadim Iqbal expressed unfathomable gratitude for the generous support of his team members, Nusrat jahan Chowdhury, Tanjeer Alam Rajeeb, Anneena Tahin Nevila, Ashique Wahed, Zia Ansari, Melanie Scott, Sarker Helal Uddin, Nasimul Khabir Duke, Alamin Fakir, Mizanur Rahman, Shahana Chowdhury, Raidah Fairooz Misty, Zarif Chowdhury and all the children of Bidyabhuban.
