Director Proshoon Rahmaan’s latest feature Shekor (The Roots) opened in 11 cinemas across Bangladesh on Friday after an early release on Thursday at Star Cineplex in Dhaka. Before its local release, the film had its world premiere in Toronto, Canada.
Rooted in themes of home, family, identity, memory, faith, love and the enduring pull of one’s roots, Shekor follows Akash, a Canada-based expatriate who returns to Bangladesh after 12 years with his eight-year-old daughter, Simin. Through the eyes of a child born and raised abroad, the film explores her father’s homeland and Bangladeshi culture for the first time.
FS Nayeem plays Akash, a single father, while Muntaha Amelia stars as Simin. Director Proshoon Rahmaan said he wanted to see the country through the child’s sense of wonder as she experiences her father’s homeland and grandmother for the first time.
Rahmaan said migration, displacement and identity have remained recurring themes throughout his earlier films, including Sutopar Thikana, Janmabhumi and Dhaka Dream. While the previous films explored internal displacement and forced eviction, Shekor focuses on international migration and the identity struggles that accompany it. Through an immigrant’s perspective, it portrays Bangladesh’s contemporary political, economic, social and cultural realities.
Describing filmmaking as a cultural journey, Rahmaan said every film begins with its maker but reaches fulfilment through the audience. He also admitted promotion is not his strongest skill, saying his greatest confidence lies in viewers’ love for family-centred, life-inspired stories.
FS Nayeem said the film captures expatriates’ emotional ties to their homeland, mothers and even former lovers. “To Bangladeshis living abroad, this is your film. You will find a part of your own story in it,” he said.
The cast also includes Dilara Zaman, Somu Chowdhury, Sangeeta Chowdhury, Nafis Ahmed, Nairuz Sifat and Mahbubur Rahman. Sahil Rony handled cinematography, Tarek Bablu served as art director, Mahfuzul Haque Ashiq edited the film and Rokon Emon composed the music. Based on a novel by expatriate writer Sanaual Mostafa, the screenplay, direction and production were handled by Rahmaan under his banner, Imation Creator.
Following its Bangladesh release, Shekor will open in three Canadian cities on 2 August before expanding to the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand in September. A Spanish-dubbed version is also planned for several South American countries. Demand Film is handling international distribution, while a Mexico-based distributor will oversee its South American release.
