#Title

Unpacking ‘840’

TISHA AND MARZUK
get dangerously candid
PHOTO: SHEIKH MEHEDI MORSHED
‘840’ stars Nasir Uddin Khan, Fazlur Rahman Babu, Bijori Barkatullah, Marzuk Russell, Shahriar Nazim Joy, Zayed Khan, Nader Chowdhury, and Zakia Bari Mamo, amongst others. While the performances are commendable, the film does harbour some technical constraints, understandable since it was supposed to release as a web series.
SADI MOHAMMAD SHAHNEWAZ
Mostofa Sarwar Farooki’s political satire 840 is, for the most part, an ambitious and risky project—one that would certainly never see the light of release if the previous Awami-backed government were in power. As the current adviser of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, the internationally renowned director battles pressure and criticism from many fronts, with a film with an eerily undeniable relevance to the July Uprising.
Dropping by The Daily Star’s 36 Days of July: Saluting the Bravehearts exhibition , Nusrat Imrose Tisha, the co-producer of 840 , and Marzuk Russell, the iconic poet-turned-actor who helmed an important role in the film, talked about their uphill battle to release the film. “Look, I don’t want to talk about the negativity that some have spewed regarding me, Farooki, or the film,” insisted Tisha. “We just tried to portray what was really going on in the country, and apart from one small scene, we finished shooting everything by 2023.”
Tisha, who posted on social media on behalf of the students when violence erupted in July, has no qualms about being unfairly judged on the network. “I was in Australia when the violence erupted. I got to know that there were law enforcement forces stationed outside my house. I never want to bring these up in interviews, because the sacrifices that our people made are much greater than anyone can even decipher,” she said.
840 stars Nasir Uddin Khan, Fazlur Rahman Babu, Bijori Barkatullah, Marzuk Russell, Shahriar Nazim Joy, Zayed Khan, Nader Chowdhury, and Zakia Bari Mamo, amongst others. While the performances are commendable, the film does harbour some technical constraints, understandable since it was supposed to release as a web series. The transition to a feature film needed a bit more time to cook. “We did rush the release a little bit, because we felt that it was the right time to release it. I personally think that we could have used a bit more time to market it, but the response from the audience tells me that we made the right decision.”
The film also tends to err dangerously on the side of caution, which is unforeseen from the director who made Made In Bangladesh. Pragmatic dialogues soon find their way to becoming coarse, but are convincing when put in the context of a ruthless empire built by a network of criminals.
“Of course, there’s nothing I could want more than to speak my mind, but we do have to remember that the film is for mass consumption,” said Marzuk Russell. “That being said, we did take many liberties while choosing to use some of the words in our film. For example, the word ‘motherboard’ was not made by us—it was made by the people on social media! We simply surrogated this and removed a much direr word from the conversation.” Tisha, who was in shambles laughing at this point, restrained herself and said, “We should not forget that we too have some limitations as well, and we tried our best to work within that.”
Given the long list of memorable characters that 840 has presented to the audience, does it need a sequel? “We marketed the film as a spiritual successor to 420 and not a sequel—I think many misunderstood that,” said Tisha. “However, given the response that our audience has shown, I can’t put a sequel out of the realm of possibility. I guess we all have to stay tuned!”
“Before we sign off, I would love to thank The Daily Star,” Marzuk surprised our interview team with his statement. “When boss (Farooki) released Bachelor, most wannabe critics and newspapers were out to get us, blaming us for ‘destroying the soulful language’ of Bangla films. It was only in The Daily Star that we found constructive criticism and fair coverage. For that, I thank you.”