Guerrilla (2011) User Reviews

Good in a Different way!!!

[rudlefuz · 8/10 · 28 April 2011]

There have been a lot of movies lately based on the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh. One common feature all of them lacked, including the critically acclaimed Joy Jatra, is an interesting plot with a detailed narrative. In all of these movies the war and the sorrow of the victims were the main focus and it overshadowed the storyline. As if the makers thought "well, this is a war movie. So it really doesn't need a good story. All it needs is some screaming, heartless murder and cool explosion." While this strategy may satisfy the audience for the moment it is sure to fail to leave a deep impression in the minds of thoughtful viewers.

This is where Guerrilla was different. It knew its limitations. It knew it does not have the budget or technology to create a intensified battle sequence. So it invested on the storyline, it invested on the acting and creating some nerve wrecking moments. It didn't try to be overly educative or informative. It tried to be entertaining. And guess what, it succeed beyond expectation.

The plot was fairly new, has enough pace and a few twist here and there to keep you engaged. Its nothing you can't predict before hand but it will still entertain you. It took time to develop the main characters which is a very important aspect that was missing from the recent war movies.

As for the acting, Joya Ahsan did a very good job portraying the wife of the missing engineer. You can see how much committed she was to the character and it payed well.Nothing exceptional from the other actors but they all delivered what was needed.

I felt the makers could do a little more with the Cinematography and editing. Some background music were rather odd and the explosions and gun shots should have been a little more realistic. As any other Bangla movie the dialog is too cheesy but the actors made it work. As a contemporary war movie i expected more of tactical urban guerrilla warfare but... well, guess i just have to wait (why don't the makers consult with a guerrilla fight specialist before writing the screenplay??)

Overall Guerrilla is a nice addition to the summer movies of this year. it is also a step made forward for war movies of Bangladesh.Go watch this movie, you wont be disappointed.

A True Portray of the Terror of War

[andalib-nizam · 9/10 · 26 April 2011]

Guerrilla is a movie about the Independence war of Bangladesh in the year 1971. At that time, Bangladesh was a eastern state of Pakistan (called East Pakistan), and the central government was formed in the now Pakistan state (West Pakistan). This war was spanned over 9 months, from March 26th to December 16th. The movie is based on the lives of civil people of Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh, who stood against the Pakistan Army and fought in the guerrilla format.

As far as the script goes, it is based on a novel "Nishiddho Loban" (The Forbidden Scarf) by Syed Shamsul Haque, and also based upon real-life events from several freedom fighters. The director himself was an active member of the guerrilla group.

The most striking thing about this movie to me was the interpretation of the struggle and sufferings to a personal level. War is bad and we all know the statistics of the genocide. But these are not merely numbers, but actual people who fought and bled as the nation rises from the ashes of their sacrifice. The severity of the genocide, the rapes, the tortures were very graphic in the movie, and probably not suitable for a young audience.

On the brighter side, it was a movie well-written, the portrayals of the character Bilkis Banu, Altaf Mahmud, Capt. Sarfaraz Khan were very close to the actual truth. The cinematography was beautiful, considering the fact that it was a very low-budget movie.

It might not be outstanding in the standard of the international cinema, but as far as the cinema industry of Bangladesh goes, it was a remarkable work of art. No other movie based on the Independence war was so vivid in the portrayal of its terror and destruction.

Arguably the best movie on Liberation War of Bangladesh

[palashmondal · 8/10 · 27 April 2011]

The first thing is, making a movie on war is always a challenging work, and Nasir Uddin Usuf successfully done it. There are several movies on Liberation War of Bangladesh at 1971. But merely there are one or two of them to pass in terms of both critically and box office need. Aguner Poros Moni of Humayun Ahmed is one to remember, but it was much artistic representation on short platform, where the violence of war was absent. But Guerrilla made it to represent the agony and courage of Bengali to fight against the Pakistani. As Nasir Uddin Usuf was a freedom fighter and also a Guerrilla ,he had a clear conception on this.Also to remember he has worked in Theatre.Nisiddho Loban of Soiyad Samsul Haque is a novel holding the real truth of Liberation War.And the acting of Sotabdi Oadud and Joya Ahsan was exceptional.Though the first half was little quick, on a whole the urban and rural situation at that time was perfectly drawn. For the present and future generation Guerrilla will hold the flag of Liberation War and certainly going to be a landmark. The movie also carry the message how the bustards called Rajakar worked against the Liberation War.

the strongest movie on the liberation war of Bangladesh

[raka1414 · 10/10 · 27 April 2011]

The movie is definitely going to be a land mark of Bangladeshi film industry. But more importantly,this movie shows our liberation war in a manner that re-ignites the patriotism in us-makes us remember what it was all about. The barbarous atrocity of the rajakars (the collaborators of Pakistani military in 1971)-their manslaughter, makes us impatient for the trial of war criminals. Joya Ahsan-the lead actress has done an outstanding job in portraiting the character of Bilkis-a loving wife and a caring daughter-in-law who loses her husband in the night of 25th March.Heart-broken, still she manages to help the freedom fighters and fuel the liberation war. Throughout the movie she has been able to keep the audience glued to the screen. Shatabdi Wadud did his role as an Pakistani officer utterly well.Even though it was a small part,Ahmed Rubel as Altaf Mahmud made a deep impact on the mind of the viewers. This movie is definitely a must watch as a Bangladeshi and as an outsider.This is some movie which you wont forget easily.

Big hit !!

[uzma_dhanmondi · 9/10 · 28 April 2011]

I do not comprise the technical knowledge to comment on whether the direction of the movie is up to the mark or lacks something, the special effect is high quality or not. however i want to emphasize on the fact that, from my point of view the movie is successful because it serves one of its goals perfectly and that is,it brings out the real cruel bloody picture of liberation war.the movie does not only focus on the patriotism or any heroic story of a muktijoddha but the real face of the traitors (rajakar). its the first time their actions are bring into the spot light. Hats off to the whole Guerrilla unit. Job well done !!

Close to the mark.

[godforsaken601 · 9/10 · 18 November 2011]

While some (a very few) may find this movie bigoted enough to the Muslim community. They simply do not understand the social demography of 1971. They tend to forget that the Liberation War of Bangladesh was above race or creed. It was all about the independence of a deserving nation. It was fought by Muslims, Hindus, Christian, Buddhists, Natives you name it. Those who wanted the state of Pakistan to prevail merely used religion to seize their advantage. It's a shame that during the war a number of Imam (priest) and Moulanas (religious leaders) used Islam as a platform to commit atrocities which was colorfully depicted in this movie. But it is also a fact that many of them had fought along or collaborated with the freedom fighters which was not depicted. I can see why it is a little confusing for a few people. I am sure bigotry was not Mr. Yousuff's goal to achieve.

As far as the movie is concerned, it has it's faults. Such as the poor quality of CG or whatever they used to create explosions. The few combat scenes were uninspired and amateurish. With a more healthy budget, all of this could've been averted. The authenticity of sets, props, wardrobe and locations were merely satisfactory.

The major aspect mesmerizing the audience is acting. Joya Ahsan as the lead actress touched her full potential as well as the antagonist Mr. Wadud. A.T.M. Shamsuzzaman's dauntless characterization and gem of an acting was quite inspiring. The only disappointing thing was the abrupt ending. Without a concrete epilogue the movie pulled itself a little down of expectation.

Nonetheless, Guerrilla was refreshing, sometimes breathtaking and always moving. My only hope is that this movie will set an example so that the diminishing condition of Bangladeshi cinema could pick up itself from the abyss.

Excellent in one word

[tonmoy1001 · 10/10 · 28 April 2011]

This movie informs us how Pakistani army tortured the whole Bangladesh.They killed and raped the people of Bangladesh. Nasir Uddin Yousuff just made a miracle by making this movie. This movie is the best movie I have ever seen on our liberation war of 1971. Pakistani army did the same as Germans. They did not have any humanity.We can know all things clearly from this movie.This movie is a perfect reflection of 1971. And the main character of this movie Joya Ahsan acted her best in the movie.So it is more than excellent.There are some movies on 1971 incident. But none of them was able to catch our heart. But this movie could catch our heart. This is the great success for Guerrilla. I think Guerrilla should get good recommendation.

heart lifting... up warming... thrilling... real experience...

[dream-drinkersdiary · 10/10 · 24 July 2011]

guerrilla is a movie directed by the theater genius nasir uddin yousuff. its a story about an ordinary girl named sayda bilkis banu, who's husband is probably dead, living in a typical Bengali family with her mother in law, brother in law, sister in law and two servants.her father is dead, only younger brother living in the countryside. this is a story telling the wartime situation in the historic liberation war of Bangladesh during 1971. but this story is totally different from any other movies made on the same plot. its not for teaching you the story. rather director is more on showing the actual wartime condition of the country. helplessness, a real situation for humanity and above all patriotism, its not about winning in the battlefield, rather the victory of humanity.

the cinematography is believable, the actual scenario of 71

a milestone for Bengali movie history.

guerrilla

[tincharlotte · 7 May 2011]

Guerrilla is the movie which is built up demonstrating the life of a woman & her surrounding started @ 25'th March,1971.Her husband died in the hand of Pakistani armed forces.In this movie,we again discovered the true nature of Pakistan Military who are born to torture,rape & be drunk.this military also exercises it's nature @ UN peace force so their participation is reduced.osama was living near their training centre in Pakistan.(these last words are not mentioned in the movie). Again,it is a great slap to the movie 'Meherzan' which has been taken out of from the cinema halls because of the wrong informations that were against the Great Liberation War of Bangladesh. This movie indicates in it's every dialogue & incident that what happened in 1971 & why. Pakistanis wanted our land for enrichment of their country.they wanted our men as servants & women as prostitutes. The Pakistanis are not Muslim at all.they were drunk & still drunk.A Pakistani minister also admitted it. Never the less, "The Jamayat,The Rajakar,The Albador,The Alshams" were not less reliable for the destruction & suffering of our land.without them the Pakistanis couldn't do anything.they took the girls & women to gift the pakis from their home,gave informations about the freedom fighters,killed them etc.

So,I beg request to all the people of the world to see the movie & feel & stand with the people of Bangladesh to raise your voice against war & for the punishment of the war criminals.

The best Bangladeshi movie

[parbatshounak · 8/10 · 3 July 2011]

There has been many movies about our 1971 Liberation War. But none of them are as wonderful as ''Guerrilla'' (2011). Certainly its a very powerful movie which can give us a clear idea about our Liberation War.

The Bangladeshi films which are being made these days contain nothing but silly songs and dances and silly dialogues. But ''Guerrilla'' is different. It's the best Bangladesh movie ever made. Certainly its the best Bangladeshi movie ever made. Director Nasiruddin Yousuff directed this movie so nicely, and the casting was excellent.

Joya Ahsan, the best Bangladeshi actress, plays the major character, Bilkis, whose husband, Hasan, has been killed by the Pakistanis. A.T.M. Shamsuzzaman and Ahmed Rubel also give excellent performances. A.T.M. Shamsuzzaman's performance as Taslim Sardar was really amazing. And what will I say about Shatabdi Wadud? His wonderful performance as Captain Shamsad and Major Sarfaraj really made us hate these two characters.

The music was excellent. The story was sad and touching. I would like to give the film: 8 out of 10.. excellent movie.

A movie done from the heart

[rajin-cse · 10/10 · 5 June 2011]

It has been 40 years. Why should you stick with that past? I wont get passed in my exam or get the order from the foreign company if those old war criminals get punished. When there was a hint of forgetting the history of Liberation war 1971 then came an outstanding movie named "Guerilla". I don't want to call it just a movie. Its just like a proof of the sacrifice made by the people of Bangldesh in 1971 liberation war. Lets go through the story. Bilkis Banu (Joya Ahsan) is a regular woman in 1971. But her life changed when her husband Hasan (Ferdous) lost from 25th march. Then she joined the war as a freedom fighter. Fund collection, weapon supply or sending music spools etc were mainly her responsibilities. Once she went to an aristocratic party as disguise and planted a bomb there. Everything was going according to the plan but once a freedom fighter was tortured so brutally that he had to confess all his helping hands names. Bilkis ran away from Dhaka to her father's place leaving her in laws. But Bangladesh is now a war country. Train stops due the breakdown of bridge front ahead. Bilkis started walking. She stumbles due to heap of dead bodies. Corpse are floating in the rivers. The war criminal RAZAKARs are burning all the villages. The RAZAKARs are taking all the women from the houses to keep the army people satisfied! A freedom fighter named Shiraj helped bilkis on the way. Her brother Khokon is also a freedom fighter. Khokon Commander was just making the life of Pakistan Army hell. But he was caught with the help of the Razakars and also brutally murdered by them. Then finally Bilkis was also caught while searching the dead body of her brother. But the pakistani captain Shamsad didn't know that the grenade on his table will cause the day his last day on earth.

As I have said before this movie is a complete movie depicting liberation war of 1971. The brutality of the war is totally unveiled in this movie. The first part of the movie tells the story of city based war and later half depicts the village based war. In every section the viewers had to ponder about the amount of help done by the traitor Razakars during the war. The viewers certainly would say: "Are these human??". There are same real characters like Altaf Mahmud ( Ahmed Rubel), Rumy, Bodi are in the film. Everyone did an outstanding job. As they had fire in their eyes the reveal the true history of 1971 war of Bangldesh. The brother in law of Bilkis, TASLIM Sardar's ( A.T.M. Shamsuzzaman) character was worth praise. All the characters of traitors are portrayed so well that everyone would want to spit on their face after watching.

Joya Ahsan did an absolutely splendid job. She proves again that she is the best actress of Bangladesh. Shatabdi Wadud was also marvelous. The making of the movie is just amazing. Its possible to make a movie about 1971 but not making the environment of 1971. The freedom fighter director Nasir Uddin Yousuff made that possible. From the Pakistan railways to green villages of Bangladesh. Everything was excellent. There are two antagonist role acted by Shatabdi Wadud. The characters could have been done by different person but this might be done intentionally to describe that the faces of all pak army of 1971 were same.

There are plenty scenes of violent brutality are shown in the film. Some scenes really make people to move on. Such scenes like when Altaf Mahmud said: "I am Altaf Mahmud".When the Milk boy Naren saying: "Where would I go leaving this country?" everyone had tears on their eyes.

I would say a little about the negative sides of this movie. The editing on the first half is not that good. Some scenes are very much confusing due to the fast pace. Backgound score should have been better.

No doubt its the movie of every people of Bangladesh. Everyone of Bangldesh should watch this film at least once to know more about the liberation war. We would hope more movies to come like this one to make our heart cry for the martyrs of 1971 and not to forget their sacrifice.

Good Movie but not the best of all time.

[bappym-1 · 30 July 2011]

I don't know about others, who wrote it is the best movie ever. I think they have not seen many many great movie was made in Bangladesh, Matir Moina, Aguner Poros Moni etc. It is a excellent movie no doubt. But dialog was poor also same goes to editing. Many characters are really useless, I think the producer is only took them to show their face on big screen. First half is good but in the second half it was going very very slow and we and The Paki's interrogation was boring. Same word every time, "when did you go to India." Don't think I am a Razakar. I love movies and always appreciate good effort. Thanks to the team for making this good movie and off course it was a great effort. Keep up with the good work.

What are we suppose to understand?

[mrxsyed · 20 January 2012]

I am not actually sure, what is the idea of this movie that I am suppose to understand? Before saying anything else let me say, I have not completed watching the movie yet. But as far as I seen, I have to admit that the team of this film has tried their best to do the animations of explosions and other things quite well. They have tried to make it the best possible. They might have done well. Thanks for trying.

Now, for me the first point should be, jamat-e-Islam has been focused very well in this movie(mostly in a negative manner), I am having trouble to understand..why? Some options came up...

1. For some members of the organization of that time

2. For the present circumstances of today's Bangladesh

3. To get good(biased) attention of the present government; may be a reward or something else

or may be something else. P.S. By user reviews it is understandable that, This film is making good money. People are promoting it. Even I have watched it.

Second point should be, a women wearing burkha(Matching hizab or Islamic Dress Code) is called as an agent of jamat-e-Islam and portrayed as though... i do not know what. Many of our mothers and sisters wear that hizab. In The Holy Quran I have read the criteria of hizab which match with the dress code of them. Most of our elders like Grandmothers, Aunts wear that dress code too. I do not know what to call them. May be "agents".

Joya Ahsan is(may be) a heart throb for many men who watched this film. And she was not wearing a burkha. Most of the lady characters were not. I do not know if She or If any of the whole team understands anything about Islam. They may call themselves intellectuals(as many other would join them among the viewers) saying they have read many books. I would agree, they have done that. But, I doubt they have ever read The Holy Quran or Hadith . I doubt if they have any interest in those at all. Truth is not what it seems or shown. Now-a-days most of the things are either tempered or kept with preservatives. We should at least try to understand the topic before saying something against it, in any way. Freedom of speech should not be so free.

By the way, I liked "Hangor Nodi Grened" more. I feel, it was not pointing out something in particular and it had all the intensity a film on liberation could have. Thanks to everyone.