Wikipedia

Damal (film)

Not to be confused with Dhamaal.

Damal is a 2022 Bangladeshi period drama film directed by Raihan Rafi and produced by Impress Telefilm. Set on the Bangladesh liberation war, the film features Sariful Razz, Bidya Sinha Saha Mim, Siam Ahmed and Shahnaz Sumi in lead role. The film presents a fictional storyline inspired from the Shadhin Bangla football team, the team toured throughout India playing a total of 16 friendly matches to raise international awareness and economic support for the liberation war.[1]

Damal
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRaihan Rafi
Written byFaridur Reza Sagar
Screenplay by
  • Nazim-ud-Daula
  • Raihan Rafi
Starring
CinematographySuman Sarker
Music byArafat Mohsin
Production
company
Distributed by
Release date
  • 28 October 2022 (2022-10-28) (Bangladesh)
Running time
130 mins
CountryBangladesh
LanguageBengali
Budget৳20 million (US$190,000)[1]
Box officeest. ৳20 million (US$190,000)[2]

Premise edit

The depressed members of Bangladesh women's football team bid farewell to their coach before he asked them to stop and sit down. The coach, who was the manager of the Shadhin Bangla football team in 1971, started narrating the heroics of the legendary football team to inspire them.

Cast edit

Production edit

"For so long we have seen liberation war films as cold mood low budget films. Liberation war films are donation films. Which are not made for the general audience, but for the intellectuals. Damal is a complete exception in this regard. It is a large scale film. With Damal, people all over the world will know how great our liberation war was."

—Raihan Rafi[3]

The pre-production of Damal started in 2018.[4] Rafi described the film as his "dream project".[3] The story of the film is written by Faridur Reza Sagar inspired by true events.[5] In 2018, Rafi was fascinated by reading the story. Despite doubts, he agreed to direct the film.[6] The story was turned into a screenplay by Nazim ud Daula and its director Raihan Rafi.[7] It took nine months to construct the screenplay of the film that connects the present generation with old by football.[8] The preparation of its production began in August 2020. It was produced on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh. At least 500 actors have been hired to act in this film. Its production became challenging in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Its filming started on 25 November 2020.[9] It is the debut film of Samia Othoi where she plays the role of a female footballer.[10] Most of the scenes of the film were shot in Parbatipur and Syedpur of North Bengal.[11] The first lot was filmed for about a month.[12] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and production complications, the filming was halted and later the filming had to be resumed by increasing the budget.[13] In June–July 2020, Siam Ahmed, Sariful Razz and Sumit Sengupta started training for football.[6] Razz and Siam had to take football training for a total of six months for acting.[4] Completing the production of the film was challenging for Raihan Rafi. Siam, Razz and the director fell ill several times during its filming. Even Rafi was pessimistic about the film's future. He didn't realize that directing a sports film could be so difficult. But its story motivated him to complete the film.[14] The filming ended on 3 June 2021.[15]

Music edit

Damal
 
Soundtrack album by
Momtaz Begum, Pritom Hasan, Imran Mahmudul, Dilshad Nahar Kona, Shakib Chowdhury, Oyshee, Rezwana Choudhury Bannya
Released2022
StudioStudio 58 Production
GenreFilm music
LanguageBengali
LabelImpress Telefilm
ProducerArafat Mohsin
Arafat Mohsin chronology
Ice Cream
(2016) 		Damal
(2022) 		Surongo
(2023)

The film has a total of 4 songs excluding a Tagore song. Its music is directed by Arafat Mohsin Nidhi. The songs are sung by Momtaz Begum, Pritom Hasan, Imran Mahmudul, Dilshad Nahar Kona, Shakib Chowdhury, Oyshee, Rezwana Choudhury Bannya respectively. The lyricist of its songs is Rasel Mahmud.[16] The title track titled "Damal" was produced for the campaign which was scheduled to release on 22 October 2022 but was released on 25 October 2022.[17] This promotional song was not included in the film. The music video of the song was filmed for three consecutive days from 16 October 2022.[18] The song "Ami Durjoy" got positive reaction from viewers.[19]

Damal Soundtrack – Track listing
No.TitleLyricsSingersLength
1."Ghurghur Poka"Rasel MahmudMomtaz Begum3:56
2."Ami Durjoy"Rasel MahmudPritom Hasan3:06
3."Mon Posh Mane Na"Rasel MahmudImran Mahmudul and Dilshad Nahar Kona3:17
4."A Tagore Song"Rabindranath TagoreRezwana Choudhury Bannya 
5."Damal"Rasel MahmudOyshee and Shakib Chowdhury2:50

Marketing edit

To promote Damal, the production team took unique methods.[18] On 13 September 2022, Channel i had a talk show with an unpredictable appearance of its cast.[20] In 28 September, the cast of the film Damal met the Bangladesh women's national football team, winner of the 2022 SAFF Women's Championship, for the campaign.[21] On 11 October 2022, T Sports and Bashundhara Kings became sponsors of the film.[22] The cast also entered a shopping mall and started playing football which attracted the attention of shoppers.[18] In 18 October, the Damal team arrived at the venue of the Oikko-Channel i Music Awards 2022.[23] A song titled "Damal" was recorded as part of the film's promotion, with a music video costing ৳2.5 million.[18] As a novelty promotion, In 22 October, a team of actors from the film Damal played a football match against Bashundhara Kings, a professional football team in Bangladesh, at the Bashundhara Kings Arena in Dhaka.[24] On the day of the film's release, the cast of the film attended the third anniversary function of the "Classroom", a facebook group consists of 2001 SSC batch ex-students, organized at Bashundhara International Convention City.[25] On 4 November 2022, Damal film cast was present at Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium to witness the hockey match of Metro Express Barishal vs Monarch Mart Padma as the goodwill ambassador.[26]

Controversies edit

After the film's trailer was released on YouTube on 16 August 2022, three mistakes were caught. In one scene, the goalkeeper's jersey can be seen with numbers written in English while the rest of the team's jerseys are written in Bengali. The goalkeeper's jersey changes in the next scene. Besides, the weakness in the trailer's VFX can be seen.[5] In response to the criticism of the trailer, director Raihan Rafi said that the jersey was shown differently in two scenes due to the need of the story. However, he admitted the allegation of weakness in VFX and said that it was due to low budget.[27]

Also, after the release of its trailer, a section of viewers objected to the use of Takbir by Razakars as battle cry, according to whom they did not use it during the liberation war. Although its use has been seen in various posters published by them. Pinaki Bhattacharya, a Bangladeshi blogger, claimed on Facebook that director Rafi decided to drop Takbir from the film's dialogues. Reacting to Bhattacharya's claim, another section of the audience got angry and said they would boycott the film if something like this was done. On 19 August 2022, Rafi dismissed the possibility and stated that he had made no such promise to Bhattacharya but told him that he would not satirize Islam in the film. But he said that the use of Takbir as a battle cry by the Razakars during the war of liberation is part of history and he has not distorted history here.[11]

"Damal" title track was praised after its release on 25 October 2022, but after learning that its budget was ৳2.5 million, some doubted whether its budget was actually ৳2.5 million. Regarding this suspicion, director Rafi said that the cost of filming the music video, the remuneration of the people who participated in the music video and the cost of advertisement were all incurred. He claimed that the stars who were not cast in the film were jealous and raised the question. It was also rumored that Impress Telefilm had sold the film's rights of theatrical release to Raihan Rafi, Bidya Sinha Saha Mim and Siam Ahmed. Rafi told Dhaka Mail that he did not know anything about this. But he did not clarify about it.[28]

Also, after the release of the film, there was rumor that audiences of the movie theater was hired while showing the film. Rafi dismissed the rumour.[29]

Release edit

Theatrical edit

The film got no-objection certificate from the Bangladesh Film Censor Board on 8 August 2022.[30] Damal was fixed to be release on 28 October 2022.[31] The day before the film's release, it was revealed that Damal was going to be released in 22 cinemas.[32] The film released in Bangladesh on the scheduled date.[29] The film started showing in three more cinemas from 3 November 2022.[33] It is scheduled to release in Australia and the United States on 18 November 2022.[34]

Home media edit

Damal was digitally premiered on iScreen from 16 March 2023.[35]

Reception edit

Critical response edit

Ahsan Kabir of Bdnews24.com referred to the film Damal as "the ultimate emotional movie with a blend of sports and patriotism". According to him, the film has a story of tension, passion and motivation of the Shadhin Bengali football team. Kabir compliments Shariful Raj's playful tenacity here with his crazy performance. He praised Mim's performance as Hasna. He also appreciated the comedy scenes of Munna and Hasna, and Durjoy and his lover here. Along with these, he praised the film's songs and art direction.[36] Calling it "the most mature work Rafi has ever done", Siam Raihan of The Business Post thinks that although the trailer of the film of Raihan Rafi was able to create a hype in the country, it couldn't become successful like his previous film Poran. With an interesting plot, justified entertainment value, relatable themes, great cinematography and best editorial, he rated it 8 out of 10. Also he criticised its sound mixing, dubbing, cartoonish CGI, some poor dialogues and mediocre performance of Intekhab Dinar. But yet he thinks that people must not miss Damal.[37] Pradosh Mitra of The Daily Observer wrote "If you are just any other cinema goer, Damal, the film inspired by the Shadheen Bangla Football team of 1971, will seem almost flawless. But if you are a footballer or have played the game with some passion, the flaws in the movie will be hard to ignore". Mitra, who finds connection of the ending of the film with Escape to Victory, thinks that the film tried to forcefully feed the message of women empowerment. But opined that Damal has great cinematic appeal.[38] Shadique Mahbub Islam of The Financial Express thinks it as the most unfortunate film of 2022 because although it has the potential to be commercially successful, it failed to do that. Calling "too convenient", he criticises its climax.[39] On the review of Bangla Movie database, They Called Damal a brilliant work. Saying all of the songs were charming and the acting of everyone in the movie is great. Also Praising the Cinematography saying It must be the best cinematography on a Bangladeshi Movie so far.[40]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b Islam, Monirul (12 October 2022). 'দামাল' একটি মুক্তিযুদ্ধের ছবি, বায়োপিক নয়ঃ রাফী. Amader Shomoy (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 21 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  2. ^ "A year for Bangladeshi films". businesspostbd.com. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  3. ^ a b ‘সব রেকর্ড’ ভাঙবে দামাল, আশায় নির্মাতা রাফী. Bdnews24.com (in Bengali). 12 August 2022. Archived from the original on 9 October 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  4. ^ a b "'Damal' to outperform 'Poran' in box office: Raihan Rafi". Daily Sun. 18 August 2022. Archived from the original on 10 October 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  5. ^ a b রাফির ২ মিনিটের 'দামাল' এ তিন ভুল!. Samakal (in Bengali). 17 August 2022. Archived from the original on 3 October 2022. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  6. ^ a b Hossain, Makful (28 October 2022). অস্ত্র যখন ফুটবল. Prothom Alo (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 28 October 2022. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  7. ^ ‘দামাল’ চলচ্চিত্রে মিম, সিয়াম, রাজ. Bdnews24.com (in Bengali). 22 November 2020. Archived from the original on 3 October 2022. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  8. ^ ফুটবল নিয়ে রায়হান রাফির ‘দামাল’. Sarabangla.net (in Bengali). 6 August 2020. Archived from the original on 24 October 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  9. ^ সিনেমায় স্বাধীন বাংলা ফুটবল দলের গল্প. Prothom Alo (in Bengali). 23 November 2020. Archived from the original on 3 October 2022. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
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  14. ^ দৃশ্যটি করার সময় চেহারায় হিংস্র ভাব আনতে হয়েছে.... Prothom Alo (in Bengali). 12 October 2022. Archived from the original on 16 October 2022. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  15. ^ শেষ হলো ‘দামাল’র শুটিং. Manab Zamin (in Bengali). 3 June 2021. Archived from the original on 24 October 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
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  17. ^ "'Damal' title track relives the spirit of the liberation war". The Daily Star. 25 October 2022. Archived from the original on 25 October 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  18. ^ a b c d যে গান সিনেমায় থাকবে না, সেটির জন্যই ২৫ লাখ টাকা খরচ. Prothom Alo (in Bengali). 20 October 2022. Archived from the original on 20 October 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  19. ^ সিয়ামের ‘দামাল’ সিনেমার দ্বিতীয় গান প্রকাশ. The Daily Star (in Bengali). 10 October 2022. Archived from the original on 24 October 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  20. ^ পলিটিক্যাল শো’তে ঢুকে গেল ‘দামাল’ টিম, তারপর যা ঘটলো. Channel i (in Bengali). 14 September 2022. Archived from the original on 21 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  21. ^ সাফ চ্যাম্পিয়নশিপ জয়ীদের সঙ্গে নায়ক শরিফুল রাজ. Bvnews24.com (in Bengali). Banglavision. 28 September 2022. Archived from the original on 21 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  22. ^ দামাল সিনেমার সঙ্গে যুক্ত হলো টি-স্পোর্টস ও বসুন্ধরা কিংস. Banglanews24.com (in Bengali). 11 October 2022. Archived from the original on 12 October 2022. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  23. ^ সংগীত পুরস্কারের মঞ্চে ফুটবল নিয়ে হাজির ‘দামাল’ টিম. Channel i (in Bengali). 19 October 2022. Archived from the original on 21 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  24. ^ বসুন্ধরা কিংস অ্যারেনায় ‘দামাল’ সিনেমার অভিনব প্রচারণা. Banglanews24.com (in Bengali). 22 October 2022. Archived from the original on 22 October 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  25. ^ ক্লাসরুমে বর্ষপূর্তিতে তাহসান ঐশী ও দামাল টিম. Daily Inqilab (in Bengali). 28 October 2022. Archived from the original on 29 October 2022. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  26. ^ হকির মাঠ মাতালো দামাল টিম, জিতলো বরিশাল. Bangla Tribune (in Bengali). 4 November 2022. Archived from the original on 5 November 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
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  28. ^ সত্যিই কি এই গানের বাজেট ২৫ লাখ টাকা. Dhakamail.com (in Bengali). 27 October 2022. Archived from the original on 28 October 2022. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  29. ^ a b Saiful, Rahat (30 October 2022). দামাল কতটা কামাল করছে?. Rising BD (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 31 October 2022. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  30. ^ ‘দামাল’ এর ট্রেলার সামনে আসতেই নেটদুনিয়ায় হইচই. Channel i (in Bengali). 16 August 2022. Archived from the original on 3 October 2022. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  31. ^ Sanju, Shah Alam (16 August 2022). দামাল একটি ইতিহাস হবে: মিম. The Daily Star (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 3 October 2022. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  32. ^ 'পরাণ'র পর আগামীকাল থেকে মিম-রাজের 'দামাল'. The Daily Star (in Bengali). 27 October 2022. Archived from the original on 27 October 2022. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  33. ^ 'পরাণ' ফিরলো 'দামাল'-এ, টিকিট সব 'হাওয়া'!. Bangla Tribune (in Bengali). 4 November 2022. Archived from the original on 5 November 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  34. ^ একই দিনে যুক্তরাষ্ট্র এবং অস্ট্রেলিয়ায় দামাল!. Channel 24 (in Bengali). 14 November 2022. Archived from the original on 14 November 2022. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
  35. ^ সাময়িক অসুবিধার জন্য ‘আইস্ক্রিন’ কর্তৃপক্ষের দুঃখ প্রকাশ. Channel i (in Bengali). 18 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  36. ^ Kabir, Ahsan (4 November 2022). দামাল: খেলা আর দেশপ্রেমের মিশেলে অনুপ্রেরণা জাগানিয়া এক সিনেমা. Bdnews24.com (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 5 November 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  37. ^ "'Damal' film review: The one you must not miss". Businesspostbd.com. 8 November 2022. Archived from the original on 8 November 2022. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  38. ^ Mitra, Pradosh (9 November 2022). "Damal: several flaws but still thrilling!". The Daily Observer. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  39. ^ Islam, Shadique Mahbub (13 November 2022). "'Damal' is a fine blend of sports and history". The Financial Express. Archived from the original on 13 November 2022. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  40. ^ উপভোগ্য ‘দামাল’ - বাংলা মুভি ডেটাবেজ. BMDB (in Bengali). 29 October 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2023.

External links edit

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