It was late afternoon on Wednesday, February 8. A large crowd of film professionals gathered at the Bashundhara City Star Cineplex for the premiere show of Nurul Alam Atique’s latest feature film “Peyarar Subash” starring Jaya Ahsan, Tariq Anam Khan and Ahmed Rubel.
Atique’s excitement was palpable. He had compared the film’s release to marrying off a daughter earlier that day. We, the press, crew and cast of the film, were present ahead of the scheduled 6:30pm screening, as requested by the director. He too had come an hour early, but disappeared.
People at the venue were blissfully unaware of where he and Ahmed Rubel had disappeared to. Jaya Ahsan, who plays the titular role in the film, was surrounded by cameras. Sitting on a sofa in the waiting area, she dazzled in an emerald green saree. Sushama Sarker, who played her stepdaughter in the film, turned heads too in a maroon net saree and velvet sleeveless blouse. Tariq Anam Khan, along with producers Shahriar Shakil (Alpha i) and Redoan Rony (Chorki), was chitchatting with the guests in suits.
It’s not until the show was delaying to start that the guests became aware of the whereabouts of the men of the hour. The atmosphere changed in a matter of seconds. Some rushed to the hospital right away, while some addressed the press. Revered actor Ahmed Rubel, 55, had passed. He was here just moments ago.
Thespian Nasiruddin Yousuff Bachchu addressed everyone present saying: “Rubel fell down at the venue. Atique rushed to take him to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. Today was supposed to be a happy day for the entire team of ‘Peyarar Subash’. We all gathered here to watch a well-made artistic film. Now we have to accept this incredibly tragic news.”
He recalled Rubel as a member of his theatre troupe, Dhaka Theatre, where they collaborated for the last 25 years.
Tariq Anam Khan, who plays Peyara’s brute of a husband, got emotional trying to collect his thoughts. He said: “Rubel was an actor of immense talent and potential. He had many more memorable characters to play. It’s an irreparable loss for us.”
After about an hour, we were shepherded into the theatre. But whether or not the film should be screened was still being debated.
A visibly grief-struck Jaya Ahsan stood in front of the big screen with her co-stars and producers. The poster of the film with Rubel’s smiling face, white pigeon in hand, illuminated the screen behind her, as she said: “He would want us to see his work. We all live through our work. I think his soul is here with us now. I’m sure he will watch the film with us tonight.”
Urging the audience to watch the film, she confirmed she will pay her last respects very soon.
“The show must go on. That’s the harsh reality of life,” she continued, adding a personal anecdote.
“The day my father died, I was shooting one of the last scenes of my first film in Kolkata. I was crying uncontrollably, but at the same time I was asking my director whether I should finish the shooting before I leave,” she recalled. “We live with such dilemma as artists. Maybe we are not human…”
The show did go on- a film about marital rape of an intellectually disabled village woman without any agency, told through vivid visuals you can almost smell through the screen. About halfway into the film, Ahmed Rubel’s character entered sitting on top of a moving train. He sets a white pigeon free telling it to never come back. Many audience members later shared shots from this scene, drawing parallels between his death and this symbolic act.
Despite the team’s traumatic loss, “Peyarar Subash” (The Scent of Sin) will be released on the scheduled day, Friday, February 9. The film has already booked 27 halls in Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Sylhet, Bogura, Narayanganj, Sirajganj, Savar, Rangpur, Khulna, Dinajpur and Kushtia. It is also set to have its international theatrical release on the same day.
A very private Ahmed Rubel’s dramatic life of slipping in and out of the public eye had the biggest twist in store for its final scene. The beloved actor with the unforgettable deep voice, who joined the film’s promotions even two days prior to his death, exited the stage one last time as a theatre full of unsuspecting well-wishers cheered his final work. His body of work, however incomplete, will cement the stature of his talent for future actors to aspire to for a long time to come.
