Busan Winner Iqbal H. Chowdhury Returns With ‘Dhakar Nagin’

Bangladeshi-Canadian filmmaker Iqbal H. Chowdhury, joint winner of the New Currents competition at the 2023 Busan International Film Festival for “The Wrestler,” has his next film at the festival’s Asian Project Market (APM).

Set in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka in the early 2000s, the film will follow a film journalist searching for a controversial B-movie star in the chaos of a push to ban vulgar movies.

“The idea for ‘Dhakar Nagin’ came from one of my essay presentations at York University in Toronto. My MA thesis focused on popular Bangladeshi cinema, and I wrote an essay analyzing the various dance moves of Bangladeshi film stars as a part of my course curriculum. Watching Bangla films in the cinema has always been a guilty pleasure of mine. Nagin [snake] musicals, fight scenes, dance numbers, and melodrama created an exciting experience for audiences in Bangladeshi cinema halls. Growing up with that kind of cinema, I miss those extraordinary elements and the sense of guilty pleasure they provided. That nostalgia is probably what inspired me to write this film,” Chowdhury told Variety.

A nagin musical refers to a genre of south Asian films that feature a storyline about a shape-shifting serpent woman, commonly called a nagin or naagin. The nagin is a mythical creature from folklore, one often seeking revenge or love. These films typically blend elements of fantasy, folklore, drama and romance.

“Rather than conveying a specific message, I want to invite my audience into my extraordinary ‘world.’ My challenge is to make that world unique and astonishing,” Chowdhury said.

Chowdhury is producing alongside Tuhin Tamijul for Mayer Doa Films. Tamijul is one of Bangladesh’s most acclaimed cinematographers whose credits include “The Wrestler” and Abdullah Mohammed Saad’s Cannes title “Rehana” and Rotterdam selection “Live From Dhaka.”

The budget is between $250,000 and $300,000 and the plan is to begin filming in mid-2025 depending on funding and other factors. The team is looking for co-productions, financing, production support and pre-sales at APM.

“I am very excited about the film’s subject matter. We developed a strong understanding while working on “The Wrestler.” I am confident in Iqbal’s ability to bring the film to life with both skill and integrity,” Tamijul said.