IFFLA 2024: A House Named Shahana (by Leesa Gazi) | Review
Leesa Gazi’s coordinated and outspoken film takes women on a stand to battle against social patriarchy and gender inequality, encouraging them to be advocates for themselves while also providing a progressive voice to guide them.
When was the last time you checked upon yourself, asking the primary question, ‘Who am I?’ It’s tricky and full of concealed details, but most significantly, it utters the truth. Whether it covers itself with a mask on the outside or closes with a warning sign on the inside, its originality endures forever. Shahrin stands on the same pavement as the question, holding a marker in her hands. Ultimately, she’s ready to change her own narrative.
Leesa Gazi’s latest feminist film, A House Named Shahana (original title: Barir Naam Shahana), is a vivacious film that has started to take its course of excellence for quite a while. Leesa Gazi was awarded the gender sensitivity award at the 2023 Mumbai Film Festival, as well as the Prasad Lab DI award and the Moviebuff Appreciation Award at Film Bazaar 2021 where a rough cut of the film was presented.
The film portrays the life of Shahrin, a recent divorcee who returns home to her rural town in Bangladesh. She strives to live her life according to her own values, while balancing her past traumas caused by male toxic masculinity and the ongoing gender insensitivity she experiences from her surroundings.
Leesa contextualizes her “forced marriage” theories through a series of social patriarchal patterns against rural women in the 1990s, transforming them into a guidebook that continues to educate us even in this era. The common practice of seeing marriage as a compulsory ‘maturing’ move, mostly dominated by orthodox family members which becomes a social obligation for women, is placed on the shoulders of Shahrin. Anxiety runs through the veins of Shahrin, and that never resides. To make things worse, the desperation of parents sending daughters off for marriage without proper consent and understanding makes a massive turn towards the fate of women entirely. Reputation holds the value of a million-carat diamond, while self-love fades into oblivion. Leesa exposes how divorce is viewed as a curse, a sign of a failure to accomplish obligations. However, the mental tranquility that women require to fulfill their aspirations is often viewed as a “justification,” thereby making them primary targets of “shame.” Leesa clings to gender inequality intensely.
Actress Aanon Siddiqua’s portrayal of Shahrin is a remarkable discovery of talent, showing us her composed feelings. Aanon Siddiqua brings a lively mix of all the emotions known to men in hand while being directly expressive and eager enough to deliver them with passion. Even when agony and pain are intertwined with the joys of her smiles, Aanon Siddiqua’s expressiveness remains unwavering. It’s as if she’s a humanoid with wires attached to an honest heart-speaker who is able to express herself in full detail without exaggeration.
Leesa Gazi and Shahrin join hands to display what’s in store for women under the influence of male chauvinism or aristocratic family members. The film provides a comprehensive view of the transformation of a respectable and educated woman into a silent, “male-abiding” individual, all in the name of preserving the traditions of marriage. We experience the agonizing moments that persist for days, particularly when Shahrin sheds tears in her heart and turns her gaze away from her ex-husband. She expresses her emotions through melodious, “Tagore-inspired” poetry. Leesa ultimately employs a powerful tool to advocate for women, utilizing various methods to break down barriers and instill hope in them. It’s a wake-up call for women to start taking their baby steps and start pursuing their own goals.
Shahrin begins to find herself through self-discovery, aided by inspiration and determination. It’s not just her will to live by her choices, but to conquer her beliefs and trust from the tight closets of man-made rules. Shahrin lives and preaches in A House Named Shahana, where she sees, feels, and absorbs every form of laughter, sorrow, and the embodiment of evolution and progression. Shahrin has begun a new journey, which will eventually change the structure of the other households as well.
Can Shahrin or Leesa stand in the race to become a country’s president? I guess they have my vote right here.
