How was 'Mohanagar'?

The internet broke when Indian OTT platform Hoichoi released the official trailer of ‘Mohanagar’ in mid-June. It is the debut web series of acclaimed Bangladeshi actor Mosharraf Karim. The series is directed by renowned Bangladeshi director and screenwriter Ashfaque Nipun (‘Koshtoneer’). The Report’s Showbiz team dived into production and broke down its key elements.

The series deals with the sensitive issue of how corruption is a major issue in Bangladesh’s police force. 

On the surface, the plot of the eight-part-long series is very basic yet very contextual. The storyline revolves around the death of a cyclist, killed by the son (Afnan played by Shamol Mawla) of a rich and influential industrialist. Afnan lands in the hand of corrupt and witty Harun (played by Karim). Harun is the Officer in Charge (OC) of the crime zone. His corrupt character is in contrast with two major central characters of Sub Inspector Moloy (played by Mostafizur Noor Imran) and Assistant Commissioner Shahana Huda (played by Zakia Bari Mamo). Both Moloy and Shahana are dedicated and honest police officers in the force and wants to get to the bottom of the case. 

Though the storyline seems simple and in a Bangladeshi context, a very common incident the whole series is filled with twists and turns and was very well crafted. It can be said this is one of the best Bangladeshi web content I have seen in recent times.

Pros

The main strength of this series is its screenplay. The audience will instantly think they know how the story will end. A rich kid from an influential family drunk drives and kills an innocent cyclist, bribes the corrupt cops and leaves the country without a scratch on his body. Yet, you can not guess what will happen as the case unfolds. Another major element of the series is that it is the story of one whole night. A series of events that took place in seven hours, neatly divided into eight episodes. This kind of storytelling is very rare in Bangladeshi content.

Though portraying a negative character, the marvellous performance of Karim will glue you to the edge of your seats. Another noticeable thing is that the young yet talented Imran does not get shadowed by Karim’s brilliance. Rather his constant clash of ideals with Karim onscreen is a delight to watch. Mamo and Mawla’s acting was also spot-on as usual. 

Bangladeshi content is losing its charm for bad and unnatural dialogues. ‘Mohanagar’ is a refreshing relief from that crisis. The dialogues are very natural and well written.

The editing was very well done. The choice of non-linear storytelling was a treat to watch and kept the suspense alive throughout the whole series. 

The colour choice was interesting. The grungy look inside the police station reflected the corrupt criminal justice system of the country. 

I was surprised by the sound design and mix as it was done by the popular sound designer Ripon Nath. Most of his previous works I encountered was terrible. Finally, this production made me feel that he realized that there is something called loudness metering which gave the soundscape a bit of uniformity. The background score was also done very well. It was never overused in the entire series.

Character development was another good thing throughout ‘Mohanagar.’ Each of the characters (even small roles) got proper breathing space to grow. The audience can easily understand and relate to how a certain character thinks and works. This is another rare phenomenon in this industry. 

Cons

The major problem with the entire series seemed to me was its style of cinematography. The series was shot by Barkat Hossain Polash who is undoubtedly one of the most talented professionals in the Bangladeshi media industry. The whole series was shot beautifully but the constant handheld shots felt very jarring at times and also unnecessary. I think some shots would have been much more impactful if they were just static or done with a simple dolly. 

Another common fault that I have witnessed was the use of English in the dialogues. This was done for accuracy as members of the higher society of this city are more comfortable in English. But the casting should reflect that. And it is not even the accent. Bad accent is never a problem but bad delivery is. Most of the casts who had English dialogues had no confidence during the delivery. This instantly ruins the mood of the whole scene. Directors should cast actors in these specific roles who are more confident while throwing English dialogues or completely omit them from the screenplay. 

The final issue I witnessed was with the streaming platform itself. I have a 40mbps dedicated connection at my home yet Hoichoi buffered without any apparent reason. Both on my laptop and on my smart TV. Another major bug is that the next episode does not autoplay. I have to go to the episode list and manually play the next episode. There is a lot of other annoying bugs they should fix if they want to give the viewers a smooth experience.

Overall, ‘Mohanagar’ is one of the most well-produced and well-directed Bangla web series I have experienced in recent times. Nipun wrote and crafted this series and handled a very sensitive issue brilliantly. The audience in both Bengals is praising the series across all social media platforms. I would like to urge the audience to prevent piracy of Bangladeshi content so producers can invest in great stories like the future.