Dub Satar: Ambiguity without meaning

I started watching "Dub Satar" with a lot of hope on Bongobd, the video-on-demand service, since I didn't get to watch the film when it was released in 2010. 

Unfortunately, the movie wasn't worth my time.

Directed by Nurul Alam Atique, the story of the film revolves around Renu (Jaya Ahsan), a lower-middle class social worker who is very patient and has a positive outlook towards life. Renu's already complicated and struggling life gets more complicated when she falls for a drug addict. 

The title credit scenes give the viewer a glimpse of the young Renu with her mother. The film begins with a scene where we see Renu's mundane everyday life and its struggles. 

Nurul Alam Atique's unique style - ambiguity and hidden meanings - are hard to find in the movie.  

As Renu, Jaya Ahsan delivered an authentic performance, especially her costume and fashion choices in the film represented the socio-economic condition of the character well. 

Wahida Mallik Jolly played the character of Renu's mother. As an experienced actor of the small screen, she failed to deliver a powerful performance. Rather, she often overacted in many scenes.

Renu's fondness for her blind brother Rokon (Ashoke Bepari) and her sacrifices for him make Renu's character caring. But his acting was mediocre. 

The movie tried to depict the struggles of drug addicts but failed to establish any valid point. As a guest artist, Srabosti Dutta Tinni, who played the role of Punam, was simply annoying. Her dialogues were meaningless and she overacted as well. 

Other characters were also very weak and had no progression. The script of the film focused too much on Renu and hence it forgot to develop other characters accordingly. 

With surreal music and cinematography, the film tried very hard to be poetic. Rashed Zaman's significant camerawork weren't good enough to keep the audience engaged throughout the film.  

Dub Satar used a few flashback scenes and metaphors to portray the internal world of Renu. 

The film's audio didn't sync well in many scenes and the dialogues were very abrupt as well. The director himself wrote the script while Matia Banu Shuku wrote the dialogues. 

Anam Biswas, Pinto Ghosh and Victor composed the film's music. 

Produced by Faridur Reza Sagor and Ebne Hasan Khan, the film is available on Bongo for streaming and also on the official YouTube channel of Fahim Music.