R E V I E W – M O V I E
Warning: SpoilersThere’s a scene in WTFry where Iresh Zaker’s character gulps down a bit of Bangla Mod and passes out, which is probably the exact condition the people who came up with the storyline were in; ’cause it’s nothing but a 49-minute-long, low-effort patchwork of bland dialogues, and a hollow plot that goes almost nowhere.Just to summarise the plot as this disappointment of a film(?) is not really worth dissecting by portions.It begins with famous actress Shama (played by Bidya Sinha Mim) shooting her “last” live wearing a cap she found(?) before jumping off a bridge to die of suicide. However, there comes Bashar (played by Pritom Hasan), swooping in to save her because…he needs the cap that belongs to his friend Johny (played by Sakib Bin Rashid). A number of pointless details later, Shama is now living in Bashar’s place. They go for a boat ride in the Buriganga where she decides to take a break from living a “fake” life as a social media icon to really start living her life. More stupid details later, Bashar and Shama now like each other and they fly kites together. Oh, and all these take place within a span of 3 days.Except for the visually pleasing ambience of the film; a handful of eye-pleasing shots of the little boarding house Bashar lives in; the Buriganga river; Old Dhaka, and the nightscape surrounding Hatirjheel — the whole movie is an empty vessel of mediocrity. None of the main characters are in their element and they either overact their dialogues, or recite them in a monotone. Even Sakib Bin Rashid’s overemphasised deliveries of substandard attempts at humour didn’t help much in breaking down the visibly stiff atmosphere surrounding the whole duration of WTFry even by the slightest. The plot could have been called slow paced, but it was established in such a lacklustre manner that there isn’t really much to comment on. To sum it all up, in no way did WTFry live up to the expectations set by the presence of the few commercial figures in it that the common mass so looks up to. It probably wanted to send out a message about living life by really being in the moment, instead of experiencing it through a superficial online presence. It could be delivered as anything but the scattered mess the film is.In case you have an hour or so to spare and are looking for something that genuinely makes you afraid for the future of the independent film industry of Bangladesh, WTFry is the way to go.All of Hamama’s problems smell like দারুচিনি cause she’s দ্বীপ into them 24/7. She also happens to be a part of TDA Editorial Team.
Fatin Hamama