It s no secret that Dhakaites these days prefer cable channels to our one and only deshi one The reasons are numerous and varied and have been written about many times. So. dear BTV in a desperate effort to win back viewers and to save face is showering us with package programmes almost every week.
And of course package' normally means
drama. While some are quite bearable, most of them are ab solutely hilarious to say the least! Among the more recent productions, "nayok shown on June 18. certainly tops the list of the bad ones.
Written by Shahi dul Haque Khan (A playwright better known for his ludicrous concoctions and dull imagina -bon) the natok can be summed up in one sentence as a totally unoriginal and poorly acted play. Lets start with the cast. The male lead role was played by none other than silver screen hero
(?) Iliyas Kanchan and phdtoshundory-tumed-actress Poppy performed the part of the female lead. Pretty young Poppy seemed rigid and expressionless but atleast she had first time jitters to her defence. What can be said about the so-called savvy actor Kanchan. who tried his level best to camouflage his age with the aid of make up and a funny hair spray stiff hairdo. Then again maybe, one shouldn't criticise the celluloid star. After all, he just acted like he always does in the movies. Seeing his goofy act in the several dream song sequences was almost like watching a typical Bengali flick. Now. more importantly, did the drama have a point to make? Yes. it sure did. The story teller wanted to condemn road accidents and make a strident appeal to the concerned authorities, to implement street laws. Noble intention, no doubt. But somewhere along the line, the message got lost amid cliche dialogues and a pretty run-of-the-mill plot.
The whole drama revolved around a young Ks obsession with a particular film star tchan naturally). The poor soul throughout-the 60 minute show was referred tt>-as simply 'nayok'. It was quite obvious that the dramatist didn't waste his time with names. Majority of the characters were no-names known by their
relationship to the nayok's fan. Therefore in the play the brother and sister in law of the actress Just Introduced themselves to everyone as bhaiya’ and bhabi'. what's in a name anyway. right folks?
The story progressed in a usual manner. The lady was so crazy about her heartthrob that her life oracticallv centred around him.
She spent half I he drama simply staring at his coml-ca I posters and day dream in about her I idol. . •
She even established a rapport wi-| th the nayok's clown ot a PA who kept on repeating the word super hit' like a broken record. An ai tempt at humour? Pretty silly.
—। The story took a diamatic turn in I the second half.. । The great nayok with his appalling
I dress sense suffered | serious injuries in a road accident and as J expected was flown to a foreign t land. Fully recovered he
returns home and naturally to his anxious nutnero uno fan had to rush to the airport to receive him with a friend. On their way they fell victims to a road accident (number deux). •
Our hupiane nayok stunned at the news dutifully hurried to her bedside.
And the dying girl in perfect filmi style gushed something corny like how she wouldn't mind meeting her death now that she had seen him. After her fearful adieu from the world (by the way nobody looked mournful enough) the nayok delivered a thankfully short but hackneyed speech on street safety and citizens' lives. On the actor's part his involvement in the drama was perhaps quite sincere, considering his personal "tragedy. His wife died in a road accident, and that was no drama.
Then, how did a natok with a well meaning theme go all wrong? What were the major flaws? Let's see: The weak storyline, terrible acting, the inane dialogues. Kanchan's flamboyant wardrobe, well, just about everything.
The message might not have come across as loud and clear. But the drama was quite entertaining in a way. It provided the handful of patient. bored or plain stupid individuals who actually sat through the whole One hour show, something to laugh about the following day.