Despite having a potential story of doing wonders, Shapludu fails to deliver. Couldn't do justice to it's gripping story. The film could have been an absolute winner, but it is far from that !!
To be very honest the plot of Shapludu was as good as anyone could've asked. It had the twists to make it a perfect thriller. But inappropriate presentation & a very ordinary 2nd half makes the film look poor.
The film starts to make you guess from the very beginning. Gives you enough feel of a thriller. But yet the way the characters were introduced & presented, could've been much better. The film picks up it's pace after the first half an hour or so. That's the best part of the film. As the film progresses towards interval, it presents one after another thrilling twists which makes it look like an edge-of-the-seat thriller. Expectations were high after a very good first half.
But sadly it could never create the same environment again in the 2nd half of the film. The 2nd half of the film is slow, boring & very badly organised. The story needed much stronger portrayal than what we see in the film. Its not the actors who fails to perform, rather it's the screenplay which makes the film look incomplete at every point. All of it looked rusty. As an audience you'll always find yourself searching for something in the film which is actually missing & thus makes it unpleasant. Again the climax of the film could've saved it from completely drowning but it's much more disappointing. Overall you come out of the theatre being disappointed seeing a very well crafted movie plot being wasted like this.
Acting :- Arifin Shuvo, the lead cast of the film looks good, but only in bits & pieces of the film. His comic timing always looked forced. And in the 2nd half the character needed much more seriousness to it, which Shuvo fails to give. On the other hand, Bidya Sinha Mim plays her role pretty well. But its really the other Three members of the lead cast, who really stood out. Zahid Hasan, Tarik Anam Khan & Salauddin Luvlu.
Though Zahid Hasan's character wasn't given much screen time in the first half, but whenever he had to deliver, he did it perfectly. And eventually he justifies his potential as an actor in the very last scene. Salauddin Luvlu's comic timing was very good. Plays his character to perfection. Tarik Anam Khan too does a great job. The film has quite a few cameos by some of the very good actors, which were good in terms of acting but again looked meaningless.
Other Aspects :-
Director Golam Sohrab Dodul gives you reasons to feel that he has the potential to deliver, but he certainly missed the opportunity to completely justify that in Shapludu. A messed up 2nd half suggests, he wasn't in control of what he was trying to say through his film.
If you have to pick one best thing about the film, it would be the cinematography. It was beautiful. But like many other movies of ours, the colour of the film makes it look unpleasant to eyes. Music of the film was good. Both background score & songs were praise worthy.
Overall I'd say as an audience I went to the theatre with some good expectations, which turned into high hopes after the first half. But the second half turned out to be as bad as I was hoping it not to be.
Nafiu Kabir
