Mohanagar: A crime thriller that mirrors our society

Afnan Chowdhury, son of a rich and influential industrialist, was driving drunk after leaving a party and hit a bicycle at midnight. 

Although it remains a mystery whether it was an accident or a homicide, the story evolves, keeping this incident at the centre.

Watch the trailer of "Mohanagar"  here 

Afnan's father Alamgir Chowdhury tries to use his money and power to secure bail for his son. He even bribes OC Harun. 

Eventually, OC Harun involves an innocent man named Abir Hasan,  who is brought to the police station and framed for murder. 

SI Moloy Kumar understands what is going on and tries to resist OC Harun, but we clearly find out how difficult it is to be honest within a corrupt system.

At this point, Shahana Huda appears in the story as the Assistant Commissioner (AC) and plays a vital role in ruining Harun's plot. Thus, an internal conflict, as well as the mystery in the case, grows.

'Mohanagar', a crime thriller web series written and directed by Ashfaque Nipun has been released on India-based OTT platform Hoichoi. 

It has been drawing a lot of praise and appreciation from audiences, both in Bangladesh and India.

The series consists of eight episodes. It begins by introducing two police officers – Harun, a corrupt officer-in-charge (OC) and Moloy Kumar, an honest sub-inspector (SI) of a Kotwali thana. 

The series captures the environment of a police station – the different kinds of people coming in and out, the incidents that take place regularly and its relationship to broader society.

A noteworthy thing about the show is that every episode leaves a question in the viewer's mind and inspires them to watch the next one, just like a true thriller. 

The director leaves behind no clue that allows the viewer to predict the twist coming in the end. And the powerful and realistic acting does the rest.

The series was shot for five days in Dhaka and at a location outside Dhaka for 15 days at a stretch. 

Since the story takes place mainly at night, there may have been certain challenges in conducting a shoot.

'Mohanagar' features Mosharraf Karim as OC Harun – the first web series for this popular actor – along with Zakia Bari Mamo as Shahana Huda, Shamol Mawla as Afnan Chowdhury, Mostafizur Noor Imran as Moloy Kumar, and Khairul Basar as Abir Hasan, among others. 

Each of them has given praiseworthy performances and portrayed the roles perfectly.

This web series is a commendable work by Ashfaque Nipun, as it raises a voice against our system. 

Mohanagar shows how bold and dedicated a police officer needs to be. It speaks against the existing practice of falsifying criminal charges and protecting the perpetrator and not the innocent. 
 
Finally, it proves how web series can be a powerful tool to deliver a strong message and it also proves Bangladesh's worth in creating quality content for the industry. 

We have talented actors and directors, good screenwriters; all we need is courage and dedication from them, and a big round of applause, support, and appreciation from the audiences' end.

Mohanagar is undoubtedly a great piece of work from the perspective of our  showbiz industry and more works like this are expected. 

At the end of the final episode, the words 'to be continued' are shown, thus hinting at a second season. Until then, the question of what may happen to OC Harun remains unanswered.