Refugee Web Series Review
When one goes to the Geneva camp for the first time, one has to be a little uncomfortable and surprised about many things. For example, the people here are talking to you in Bengali quite fluently, but they are speaking to themselves in Urdu. The inhabitants live in huts, far below the standard of living. Many more such scenes will first raise the question in your mind- why are they like that? Maybe a little search will find a new truth. They are people of different nationalities. They are Biharis. Their abode is in Bihar. Incidentally, they are trapped in Bangladesh. Imtiaz Hossain has directed the web series 'Refugee' based on a story of those Biharis in Geneva camp. This web series 'Hoichoi Original' is produced by Ali Afzal Ujjwal.
Refugee Web Series Review : Plot
This web series in 6 episodes is basically a 'violence series'. An intelligence officer is desperate to find a man who has suddenly arrived at the camp. The story progresses with the various detective activities created around the two Bihari youths. Intelligence officer Maria Bihari hired Iqbal from the camp as an informant to arrest the man. Iqbal's calm younger brother Iqbal, who was trapped in the 'gang war', was also helped by Iqbal in his greed to get him out of jail. But since the picture of that wanted accused named 'Karbonn' was featured in the screenplay, two friends Wasim and Iqbal started to face each other again and again in the difficulty of some surrealities. You have to watch this series to know where he will take the two of them face to face.
Refugee Web Series Review : Episodes
The 6 episodes of the whole series have been made with 6 interesting names. The creators of this series have gone their separate ways to establish the story. 'Continuous flashbacks' have been seen here and there all the time, sometimes the voice of another scene has come and taken place in the story without screen sharing. Has been able to create an 'interchange' within the story. For example, when Officer Maria was fired from his project, we did not see it, the incident can be understood by looking at the dialogue throw of his superior officer in the background while Maria was driving. This is not the first time such a thing has happened, but we have probably never seen such a thing before.
Refugee Web Series Review: Direction
The three directors have worked together in this web series. Adnan Habib, Imtiaz Hossain and Abdullah Mohammad Saad. The 'making sense' of these three will never disappoint you. Significantly, the work environment they create is very real. In this web series, all the scenes of Bihari camp have been captured in Mohammadpur Geneva camp. The biggest benefit is that Bihari diversity has emerged in their homes, languages, looks. 80% of the dialogues in this series are in Urdu. Dubbed for voiceover, that's obvious. But I had to be surprised to notice the movement of the lips How was it that almost everyone was throwing Urdu dialogue so perfectly? Everyone speaks Bengali. It was learned that one of the campers was hired as a 'speech specialist' during the shooting of the entire series. What a discomfort it would be to see so many different language collages all the time. Directors and producers deserve praise for their dedication.
Refugee Web Series Review: Lighting and Screening
Most of the scenes in Refugee's web series are indoors, or captured at night. It always needed a special lighting effect. The lighting work that has been done, can really impress the audience. Especially in night scenes, where there is egg lighting somewhere, or eye-catching lighting somewhere. All in all you will feel an instability, like the Geneva camp; Where nothing carries the pattern of permanence. And in the camp there is always an impression of various decorations of light. This camp never sleeps. Is never silent. The people in charge of lighting have been able to highlight this aspect very well.
Refugee Web Series Review: Color Grading
A similar pattern of color grading can be observed throughout the web series. Pleasant, somewhat thrilling and mostly uncomfortable. Although there are flaws in the editing work in several places, it will not be particularly noticeable due to the subsequent scenes. The scene of Wasim's father having lunch has been left in a state of disarray. Maybe it would be nice to have some 'dark effect' in that place.
Refugee Web Series Review: Cinematography
Cinematography is to be commended. We have already seen Tuhin Tamizul prove his mettle in Rehana Maryam Noor's 'Handheld Shot'. This time too he did not deviate. The camera work was quite good when the assassins killed Iqbal. There is no such thing as a pan shot. The balance between close shot and wide shot can be seen all the time. And the frame was being taken from some very strange angles, which was quite nice. Green color grading by Chinmoy Roy, some vibrating style cinematography by Tuhin Tamizul; The combination of the two has made this web series stand out as a separate political metaphor. I'll come to that later.
Refugee Web Series Review: Cast and Characters
Maria is played by Zakia Bari Mom. There is nothing special about his performance. He has always carried the signature of his reputation. However, the make-up of her half-ripe hair did not look 'natural' because of the lighting. Apart from this, he has been acting comfortably all the time. Outside of his detective profession, he has managed to keep the audience focused on family tensions. There was an instinct in everything he did.
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Sohail Mandal as Iqbal is the most powerful actor in this web series. In an important scene when he was lamenting to his friend Wasim that there was no peace in his mother's life; Iqbal's picture seemed to be floating on the other side of that regret. The young man who has no special needs, no rush to return to Pakistan, a little satisfied that - whose only dream was to send his brother abroad, to run his own business, to be rich, to erase his Bihari identity with money. But in the end nothing happens to him. The audience will remember Iqbal of 'Refugee' for a long time.
In the role of Wasim, Sharif Siraj has also emerged as a very suitable character. Losing his father, the urge to return to Pakistan, the tension with a friend - all in all, he is a sad character.
Afzal Hossain had the opportunity to be a protagonist in this web series. He could not do full justice to the name as he. On the one hand, Afzal Hossain did not get the time he needed to create the 'confusion' of the 'carbon' character, on the other hand, most of the time he got to share the screen time, he was drunk on the house building game. Honestly, that game doesn't have much of an impact here.
Ikram is the underrated character of 'Refugee'. Tanvir Nahid has given his all in the role of Ikram. A character named Ikram brings to the fore some realities outside the realities of the Geneva camp. In reality, the viewer sees justice as a mirage. Also Jhuna Chowdhury, Aminur Rahman Mukul, Monir Khan Shimul have done well in their respective places.
Refugee Web Series Review: Detailing
The directors did a great job highlighting the 2006 refugee camp. The Nokia 1100 model of the time, the 14-inch TV set, the 1981 flashback - all combined to make a great mix. But some 'slang' has been used in Maria's dialogue, leaving questions about how popular it was in 2006. As well as not showing the load shedding at the Geneva camp at the time, not being able to catch the commissioner's attire at the time, the new model car of Maria the detective, the urban boy's 'bro' address while going to buy drugs, not synchronizing dance at cultural events after so many rehearsals. At work you have to keep in mind while watching the 'Refugee' web series, it is an attempt to capture the Bihari camp of 2006. This web series seems to break many of the long-standing taboos and give us a real Bihari camp. Where these people only want to live, be it in Pakistan or Bangladesh. They want their rights, they want their self-esteem back. You can call them bad, 'violent' and so on. That uncomfortable mix of color and cinematography gives you a 'Pakistani' feel. But with that in mind, the series will show you how violent you are against the state. Or this violence, what percentage of the people in the camp or the intention? The question that comes to your mind is, do we judge the people of Bihari camps wherever there is good or bad?
Refugee Web Series Review: Conclusion
In establishing so many characters in such a short time, the director could not fully explain the narrative of Biharis settling in this area. They won't even give you time to sympathize with each murder. But the biggest thing they've done is change the narrative. Being able to bring a different mask of Razakar with courage, to bring to the fore even a small part of what the people of Bihari camp want to say. This is what is less! This series will not give you time to cry seeing the tragic consequences of Ikram or Iqbal. But by then you have asked yourself the biggest question, "Is that what Bihari is all about?" This is the success of this web series.