Life imitates art: Rickshaw Girl’s struggle mirrors its story 

Despite all odds, the film, 'Rickshaw Girl', finally made it to the big screens in Bangladesh after four whole years. 

This project faced quite a few hurdles along the way, the main one being its delayed release in Bangladesh. While it was originally slated for release in 2021, it got pushed back due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

That was not the end of it.

Only a year after it was supposed to be released, it turned out that a drama titled 'Rickshaw Girl' featuring Tanjin Tisha had already been released on YouTube, and it was a spitting image of the original film. 

Before the film could ever see daylight, it faced obstacles, time and time again, testing the patience and passion of all the artistes involved. 

If you think about it, the story of Naima, the protagonist of 'Rickshaw Girl', is not too far off. 
Naima, the daughter of a rickshaw-puller, has a passion for painting, with her artistic style deeply rooted in traditional rickshaw art. However, when her father falls ill, Naima goes to Dhaka to earn money to support her family. Ultimately, she follows in her father's footsteps by becoming a rickshaw-puller herself—but all the while she is disguised as a man. 
Starting from her father's illness to having to hide her identity to become a rickshaw-puller, Naima's life is full of hurdles. However, her unwavering perseverance drives her to overcome these obstacles and rise above, no matter what. In an ironic twist, the film's journey to the big screen faced a similar fate. 

When art meets film

The film takes an artistic approach with its camerawork and colour grading. Every scene tells a story, further integrating the story's concept into the visuals. When the film starts out in Naima's village, her world is full of vibrant colours. After her father's illness, when the scene transitions from the outside to the inside of her home, the colours dim, reflecting the tension in her family. 

Furthermore, when Naima moves to Dhaka, the only way to describe the visuals is, 'overstimulating'. With drab, dark colours, these scenes focus on highlighting the constant sound of horns and stagnant cars in Dhaka's traffic. 

Naima, the daughter of a rickshaw-puller, has a passion for painting, with her artistic style deeply rooted in the traditional rickshaw art. However, when her father falls ill, Naima goes to Dhaka to earn money to support her family. Ultimately, she follows in her father's footsteps by becoming a rickshaw-puller herself—but all the while she is disguised as a man. 

The camerawork tells a lot about Naima's personality. As the colours transition from vibrant to drab, (or even hospital-white when she starts work in someone's home), it shows that she feels herself mostly when she is free and in charge of her destiny. 

Missed potential

While the film is visually stunning and carries a heavy message of a girl breaking barriers, it still falls short in its execution. 

With a plot with so much potential, the film only skims over the surface. The backdrop of the story shows the gritty reality of Dhaka–but the story seems naively optimistic, like an outsider looking in. 

Granted that the film was made to be a family movie, but its plot had set it to be a nuanced story that could have been a dissection of society. 

Furthermore, at times it felt like Novera Rahman's (Naima) performance fell flat. Naima's character was built to be a headstrong girl. However, the emotional moments that move Naima to tears feel unnatural.

Moreover, the movie felt much longer than it needed to be. Parts of the movie, such as when Naima begins work as a housekeeper felt drawn out and unnecessary to the story, though it did give a deeper glimpse at how much Naima craves being out in the open. 

Overall, while the execution of the film was fantastic, it seemed like the plot fell flat.