Why Hawa continues to receive Criticism?

Bangladeshi film Hawa was released on July 29, 2022, and took the box office by storm.

Many also gave the film positive reviews.

However, it received criticism online and continues to do so because it is allegedly a copy of the 1984 film Abhijan and the South Korean film Sea Fog.

The claims appeared on a Facebook page.

Although it did not mention any details or analysis of the films, it said that Abdul Aziz, owner of distributor Jaaz Multimedia was a liar for claiming to make an original film.

Sea Fog centres on Captain Kang and his fishing crew.

Kang is about to lose his fishing boat due to a lack of finances so in an act of desperation he agrees to a job of smuggling Chinese and North Korean immigrants into the country.

His crew was unaware of the fact until they are deep into the sea.

But things don’t go according to plan when they heavy fog, rain and waves on its return journey, while also being chased by a ship from the South Korean Maritime Police.

On orders from the captain, several crew members hide the illegal immigrants inside the fishing tank, where they are in danger of suffocating to death. Amid the chaos, the youngest crew member Dong-sik tries to protect a young female migrant with whom he’d fallen in love.

Meanwhile, Hawa is about Chaan Majhi, the captain of his fishing trawler.

Their fishing net catches Gulti in deep sea. After her arrival on the boat, a series of mysterious and supernatural events begin and crew members begin to die one by one.

Abhijan also featured a similar scene where Rozina’s character was caught in the net of a fishing boat and pulled up by the fishermen.

While the films have some similar influences, the tone of each film is completely different.

Mezbaur Rahman Sumon, the director of Hawa, denied all the allegations and claimed it was an original idea.

He said:

“Many people may be thinking like this because the shooting of the two movies was done in the sea.”

“The film is not the same if the scene is shot in the sea.”

Despite the bad publicity, Hawa managed to do well at the box office and continues to do so.

If more films like Hawa are to be released, people will actually go to the theatres and have a good time.

Mejbaur also revealed that the film has been sent for nomination into the ‘Best International Feature Film’ category for the 2023 Oscars.