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Mainkar Chipay

An intriguing prospect with three leads
Sharmin Joya
ZEE5 Global recently announced their first four web originals from Bangladesh. One of them is the Abrar Athar directorial “Mainkar Chipay”.
ZEE5 is the largest OTT platform for South Asian content with access in 190 countries. They unveiled the trailer of “Mainkar Chipay” during a recent virtual press conference.
“Our originals are always subscription driven across global markets. However, as a very special initiative, we’ve made “Mainkar Chipay” free to watch in Bangladesh, so that anyone can watch it and feel proud,” expresses Archana Anand, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 Global. “In fact, all other locally produced originals that we have announced will be available for free in Bangladesh.”
Archana also talked about the growing market of ZEE5 Global in Bangladesh, in terms of content. “As the leading OTT platform in the market, we are bringing audiences in Bangladesh high quality and differentiated local content, featuring the best of Bangladeshi talent, and also global stories and rich narratives from different countries,” she adds. “Further embodying our philosophy of growing ‘Stronger Together’ with Bangladesh, we also want to be the clear partner of choice for local producers and talent looking for a global platform and global recognition, and thereby be a catalyst for Bangladeshi talent to find a global stage.”
Starring Afran Nisho, Shamol Mawla and Sariful Razz, the trailer of the web film, has already stirred excitement among the audience.
The cast and the director of the web project shared their experiences of working together on this action-thriller dark comedy.
“I believe there are so many stories around us that we need to explore,” says Abrar.
Considered as one of the youngest independent filmmakers of the fraternity, Abrar’s debut short film “Life in Other Words” won international awards and competed at NYIFF, Bahamas, and Oscar-qualifying festivals like Short Shorts Asia.
The highly acclaimed “Koli 2.0” was Abrar’s first web project, featuring Nusrat Imrose Tisha, Pijush Badhyopaddhyay and Irfan Sajjad.
“Mainkar Chipay” is uniquely a Bangladeshi phrase, that suggests an odd or critical situation.
“We will be successful if the phrase is used by people around the world too!” laughs the director.
The trailer builds curiosity about the film’s plot. In short, it is the story of an adventurous night between a cop, a drug dealer and a drug addict with a car, who are faced with an odd situation.
“It is nothing educational. It is just an entertaining and intense story,” shared Nisho at the press conference held recently.
“The story of this less than an hour crime thriller comedy web film is relatable to everyone,” shares Abrar.
Nisho, Shamol and Razz are working together for the first time in this project. There are no prime female characters in “Mainkar Chipay.”
“I have never worked with any of them before,” says Abrar. “When I approached Nisho, I told him, ‘I don’t know anything man, but you are doing this film’.”
Luckily, Nisho was so amused by Abrar’s approach that he could not say no, the director further adds.
When asked if the cast got into any ‘mainkar chipay’ while shooting the film, Shamol shared an interesting anecdote.
“The whole experience was great. However, we had to shoot an action scene in a brickfield, which really felt like being in a ‘mainkar chipay’, says the actor. “Thankfully, nobody was injured.”
The shooting of the project was done in a record time of just four nights.
“Abrar is a very good friend of mine, and this is the first time that we have worked together,” says Razz, who has a cameo in the film. “Mainkar Chipay” will be available on ZEE5 from November 9, free for the audience.