K Tanzeel Zaman shares his take on Pritom Hasan’s hauntingly beautiful ‘Bhenge Porona Ebhabe’
It was one after midnight, I was following my daily routine of lying on my couch and going through my newsfeed. After sharing a few memes and stories, I came across a link with a thumbnail of Pritom Hassan in Winnie Pooh’s costume which read Bhenge Porona Ebhabe. Being an avid listener to his music, I followed the link without giving it a second thought which then took me to Gaanchill Music’s YouTube channel.
As the video began, the words, “based on a true story” came up on the screen thus rendering me invested in the video further. Pritom’s Bhenge Porona Ebhabe is based on the story of Ananya Khan Shifa. A child with the face of an angel who lost her fight against B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia. Her brother, Sourov Khan, portrayed by Pritom Hasan himself gave a noteworthy performance along with a phenomenal song. He channelled the true artist in him through playing a brother who is willing to let his own world go for the sake of the apple of his eye.
It struck the emotional chords I didn’t know existed. The essence of the story resonated with one of my favourite movie produced by Studio Ghibli, Grave of the Fireflies. Pritom’s music video invoked the same emotions I felt when I first saw the critically acclaimed animated film. The premise of both of the stories is of a brother who wants the world for his younger sister, and despite his best effort, he has to mourn her demise. The line, Bhenge Porona Ebhabe, Shobai Thakena Chirodin Shathe (Don’t fall apart, no one will stay with you forever) made me realise that you always have something to lose.
Intrigued by the concept of the music video, I did some digging around and found out that Mehek, the brave young girl who played Ananya even shaved her hair off for the authenticity for her role. Digging further into the rabbit hole, I came to know that Pritom’s team came up with the concept along with a storyboard. Despite its simplicity, this gem of a video was directed by A K Parag and Vasker Joni and produced by the Fatman Films Production with a lot of challenges. However, the duo directors dedicatedly executed piece of art frame by frame.
Pritom Hasan’s Bhenge Porona Ebhabe, is a new benchmark in his crafts which has touched many souls throughout the country and I hope to see more beautiful creation like Bhenge Porona Ebhabe in the foreseeable future.
Follow the link for Pritom’s Bhenge Porona Ebhabe:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgQ32kP8SEs&ab_channel=GaanchillMusic