Komola Rocket: Amidst decay, a morsel of morality!

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Towheed Feroze
Published : 17:51, Jun 20, 2018 | Updated : 17:55, Jun 20, 2018

A rocket steamer leaves the capital; as it slowly moves out of Sadarghat jetty, little do the passengers know that, at the end of the journey, there will be a revelation – a rather grim disclosure of the inexorable decay that has corroded our conscience.
Poster of Komola RocketFret not, there’s also hope that seems to say: despite the decadence, all is not lost!
The extraordinary tale has several characters, each, unique in its own way; each, deeply flawed and anguished.
In first class there is an urbane city businessman who is claiming insurance after his textile factory has been burnt with more than a dozen killed, a ‘noveau-riche’ family where the husband, once from a humble background, has turned into a pathological braggart with his new found riches, the wife, who tolerates the husband’s illicit affair and is involved in a competition with other mothers through the academic performance of her son, her young sister, a university graduate, living in frivolities, enjoying liberal values while desperate for a BCS government job that will assure ‘security and power’.
On the lower berth of the launch, there’s a grieving working class man, returning home with a coffin, holding the charred remains of his wife, killed in a textile fire and, an assortment of young men, spurned by destiny.
Of course, there’s Mosharraf Karim – with access to all levels of the vessel. He is the smooth talking middle man of sorts – the jack of all trades, a man who wanted to be a writer but ended up being a sort of a fixer.
On board the launch, he arranges entertainment: vaudeville show, music and, very discreet female companionship.
Unctuous and fawning, with rural aphorisms at his tongue, he is perceptive enough to spot a possible client in the taciturn, pensive Tauquir.
Trying to cosy up to the agitated urbanite, he delivers a gem of rural virtue: if you spit while defecating, then your teeth will fall off prematurely! (Paikhanae boshe thuthu felle daaat taratari pore jae).
Within first few moments, it’s apparent that Karim’s role is that of smooth operator, bordering on the dubious.
Yet, as the movie plot develops with the languorous movement of the launch, the layers of civility in first class start to fall off slowly.
The young girl secretly invites her boyfriend, who is also on the same launch, but on a different floor, to come and spend the night with her.
As the silent winter night air is torn apart by her orgasmic shrieks, the city businessman is overtaken by lust and calls the middleman for a woman.
The married couple’s tensions erupt when the husband’s girl friend calls on the mobile and the wife, engaged in a competition of her own, beats her son for getting lower grades than the son of another woman.
Amidst all this, the distraught working class man with the coffin of his wife looks at the distant, recounting the last phone conversation they had before she died in the fire.
As the plot unravels, we get a sense that the factory accident was a deliberate case of arson by the owner (Tauquir Ahmed) to claim insurance and the burnt woman was a casualty in the same incident.
While the masks of gentility come off, the educated ones begin to show pettiness, while the character of Karim, which appeared to be smarmy and cunning at the beginning, displays profound moral qualities layered in rustic charm.
All the inner demons plus the gnawing feelings come to a head when the boat is stuck on a sand-bed with the food running out fast.
Social dynamics change, restrictions crumble and inhibitions are stifled when everyone on the boat stand in line for food with the overpowering stench of a decomposing corpse.
Wont’ tell you anymore, but this is a compelling cinematic treat which gathers a variety of current day urban demons, exposing them within the confined space of a river boat.
Noor Imran Mithu has given us a captivating celluloid treat!
“This is a compelling microcosm of cosmopolitan flaws that society deftly conceals while putting up the masquerade of normality,” said Zahirul Islam Mamoon, a journalist with the daily New Age.
The overarching theme seems to be the discovery of immorality among those who appear to be the epitome of righteousness and, the morsel of humanity in people, who, at first glance seem to be disreputable and dodgy, he added.
For the writer, this movie is a reminder that values can often be found in the most unusual of places; within people, who are mostly dismissed by all as ‘seedy’.
Shakespeare’s famous line aptly captures the essence of the film: the art of our necessities is strange; that can make vile things precious!
Piercing acting from both Tauquir and Mosharraf Karim! Fariha Shams Sheuti gives a convincing performance as the anguished wife of a philanderer.
Komola Rocket, or The Orange Ship, will touch hearts, trigger deeper thoughts, make us aware of our pretences, and yes, will certainly win awards.

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