Runaway

The Redemption Raid

UDHAO (aka RUNAWAY) is a (quite unexpected) superb masterpiece from Bangladesh by first-timer Amit Ashraf.

UDHAO's story came to Ashraf's mind, while talking to his grandmother's maid. Being left behind by her husband with her three children, she wished somebody could bring him back to their family.

Together with producer Sumon Arefin, the future director imagined bounty hunter Babu's fictional story, which thus draws its inspiration in many terrifying true facts of Bangladesh's everyday life. If UDHAO's intriguing introduction seems to lead the movie into the path of another action movie, it develops more into a humanistic, yet suspenseful thriller drama. Bounty hunter Babu kidnaps the evil politician Akbar to start an adventurous journey through Bangladesh's beautiful, yet so menacing countryside. Whenever action sets down for a calmer approach, danger is never very far – such as in person of actor's Animesh Aich "Raj", Akbar's explosive right hand. As such, one never quite knows where Amit Ashraf's journey will take you – until the very strong ending, way beyond all expectations.

The last sequence might remind some audience members of Japanese director Takeshi Kitano's most powerful films, such as HANA-BI or SONATINE; but truth is, Ashraf's perfect mise-en-scene and – most overall – courage to take all leads to a very logic finish makes it one of the most powerful ending sequences of ANY movie in years…which makes the audience want to see the movie over and over again to reveal all the subtle red herrings (and I'm not only talking about the trail of "koi" fish) left behind by the smart film director throughout the film.

I watched this movie last week and was completely blown away by it. The cinematography was really rich. It beautifully framed the bustling streets of Dhaka's and the green rural areas. The acting was also quite good, although I believe it could have been slightly better. Each of the actors played their characters really well in the movie. Overall, the movie was a very well crafted story that is sure to keep you guessing and prove you wrong at every twist. The movie overall also helps to bring to light one of the most common problems in our society in Bangladesh, and other developing countries. And it does this in a very subtle, yet moving, way. One of the main reasons why I love this movie is because it is a complete game changer for the local film industry. I believe movies like this will slowly help to bring back our once famed movie industry and also please the viewers with high quality movies. I absolutely loved it and am really looking forward to Amit Ashraf's next endeavors!

Udhao, is a nice movie. Thanks to Amit Ashraf to put such effort in Bangladeshi film culture. Yes, it's so much challenging to make such kind of movie in Bangladesh. Cause most of the people of our(yes, I'm a Bangladeshi) country are not prepare to watch and feel the art of these kind of films.

I must say, Amit Ashraf is a talent director. Lets consider a interesting point of the film: in a marginal view, it's ridiculous that the age difference between two main characters of the film is so close. But I would like to say that is a great work. Cause in this way audiences got no way to find out the relation between them! And also the plot of the movie is good. In our Bangladeshi art film we are always using same plot! It's '71. Yes, I agreed that '71 is a nice plot but we have a lot of art film on this. Now need to find out new, creative interesting plots like Udhao. We need to make good international standard "Commercial Films".

So, thanks again to Mr. Amit Ashraf to take such initiative step to improve our Film culture.

The film tells the story of how a rural vigilante who helps return runaway family members to their families finds a corrupt urban politician with a mysterious past and proceeds in forcing him to own up to his form life. Their journey and the construction of their relationship throughout is what keeps viewers glued to the screen while it addresses the complexity of the "runaway" conundrum faced by many rural families. As we delve more into the troubled pasts of the protagonist and antagonist, we get to see a level of character progression from both main characters which helps viewers better understand the motives behind their actions.

The movie is paced perfectly with quality acting, directing and screenplay. The direction and acting especially helps viewers empathize with both main characters and keeps you hooked till its unexpected end. The top-notch story with its refreshing albeit somewhat twisted idea is definitely worth the watch.

Nail-biting and edge-of-your seat plot, Tarantinoesque action and punchy dialogue makes this an enthralling watch. The characters and their lives and choices are simply fascinating and the cinematography showing the twists and turns of Dhaka streets and narrow-alleyways make for a perfect background. Babu, the protagonist is an anti-hero who makes some questionable choices and we are left wondering what his motives are. The villain Akbar Rahman has very interesting transformations in the story which are well thought out and explained - how he came to grow into the heinous character the actor Monir Ahmed portrays. A very entertaining take on an age old tale - the father who abandons his family, a common phenomena not just in rural Bangladesh, but everywhere in the world. The twists and turns of the movie along the journey of the characters makes this a highly entertaining film. Amit has done a brilliant job of story telling where he makes us empathize with his characters, no matter how foul they seem. Must-watch!