Surongo

Surongo (সুড়ঙ্গ, ) is a 2023 Bangladeshi crime thriller film directed by Raihan Rafi and produced by Alpha-i and Chorki. The film features Afran Nisho and Toma Mirza as lead roles. It is the debut film of Afran Nisho on the big screen.

Plot
Masud, an electrician, falls in love with Moyna when he sees her one day while fixing a street light. They later meet each other while repairing the refrigerator at Moyna's house and develop a romantic relationship. Masud and Moyna get married. Masud gets a job in Malaysia so that he can support his new family. In Masud's absence, Moyna gets gifts from his friend Jahir and develops an extramarital relationship with him. Later, Moyna leaves Masud and runs away with Jahir. However, after she elopes with him, she learns that Jahir is already married. Masud returns to Bangladesh to find that his home was repossessed by the chairman of his union council as he was unable to repay the loan he took for his wedding. He searches for Moyna and Jahir, eventually finding them. To earn money, he engaged in ice breaking and mining, but he does not make enough money from those jobs. As a result, Masud spends nine months digging a tunnel underground to steal money from a bank. After digging the tunnel, he steals BDT340 million from the bank and reveals this to his ex-wife in a video call. The police announces a reward of BDT500,000 for any information about the thief, so Moyna hands him over to the police. After being imprisoned, Masud escapes by digging a tunnel and burns Moyna to exact his revenge.

Cast

 * Afran Nisho as Masud
 * Toma Mirza as Moyna
 * Mostafa Monwar as Jahir (Masud's friend)
 * Shahiduzzaman Selim as Apel Khan (the chief investigating officer)
 * Ashoke Bepari as the bank manager
 * Monir Ahmed Shakil as the bank manager's driver
 * Nusraat Faria as the item number dancer

Production
Before Surongo, television actor Afran Nisho did not act in any films due to them not having a clear and polished plot. Towards the end of 2022, he slowly started to not appear in various TV dramas and web series, leading to rumors that he was preparing to make his film debut. It was reported that an official announcement about the film would be made on 12 December of the same year, and the filming would begin the following year. On 28 February 2023, there was an inauguration ceremony of the film. Raihan Rafi wanted to finish filming, as that was his highest priority at the time.

The filming began on 4 March, and was scheduled to be completed in three phases. The first phase was filmed for ten days in Sunamganj District near the Bangladesh–India border. For the second phase, the production team of 200 members went to Chittagong Division. In the last phase, some scenes were shot in Dhaka. Toma Mirza, the actress for Moyna, had to take a long break to act in this film, even though she had not signed up for any other TV dramas or films well before Surongo 's production. It is the first Bangladeshi film to be filmed using the Alexa Mini LR camera. As of May 2023, its post-production was underway. Its color grading is done in India, and post production was scheduled to be completed by 20 June.

Music
The film soundtrack was composed by Arafat Mohsin, Sajid Sarker, and Emon Chowdhury. The first song of the film, titled "O Taka Tui Amar Kolija Ar Jaan", was sung by Dilshad Nahar Kona, written by Rasel Mahmud, and composed by Arafat Mohsin. The song was published on June 12, 2023, on Chorki's official YouTube channel. Rafi wanted to have an item song in the film, offering Nusraat Faria to star in it. Two weeks later, she agreed. After a week of rehearsals, the item song was filmed over four days in Dhaka, where Nusrat was accompanied by four hundred dancers. After watching the music video, many found it similar to "Oo Antava Oo Oo Antava" from Pushpa: The Rise. Resemblances of Samantha Ruth Prabhu to Nusraat Faria were allegedly found in the music video. The film marked the film debut of its lyricist and composer Tanjib Sarowar, with the title track "Gaa Chuye Bol". He and Abanti Sithi are the singers.

Distribution
As of March 2023, before the production team had finished filming, Bioskope Films bought the distribution rights for its release in North America. In June 2023, with Shree Venkatesh Films (SVF) promoting the film in India, it had become the distributor of the film in West Bengal. On the other hand, Shahriar Shakil, one of the producers of the film, did not clarify this matter, but said that they were trying to release the film in the Indian state. Surongo was passed for uncut censor certificate by the Bangladesh Film Censor Board on 18 June 2023. Australian distributor Bongoz Films announced the release of the film across the country on 7 July. On 23 June, SVF officially announced that the film is going to be released in West Bengal.

Theatrical
It was scheduled to be released on Eid al-Adha of the same year (29 June 2023) in Bangladesh. Rafi stated that like his previous films, he wanted to release it in a small number of movie theaters first. On 26 June 2023, it was announced that the film will be domestically released in 28 movie theaters, and it was released on the scheduled day. Its number of shows in multiplexes went from 9–18 on the day after its release in Bangladesh. Rafi announced after the film's release in Bangladesh that Surongo will be released in 21 July in Canada and New York City, and in 28 July across the United States. He also informed that there are plans to release the film in the Middle East. All tickets for 12 of the 37 shows in Australia were sold out in advance before the scheduled release date. On 7 July 2023, the number of movie theaters showing it in Bangladesh remained unchanged, but seven shows stopped showing the film. It was released in 31 Indian movie theaters on 21 July 2023. Also from this day, the movie theaters in Bangladesh showing the film was increased by 22. It is scheduled to release in New Zealand on 30 July 2023. As of 22 July 2023, it is showing in 16 movie theaters in Australia.

Piracy
After release, some reviewers recorded scenes with their phones and posted them to the Internet. Hall prints of the film were uploaded online and at least 400 recorded videos were removed from Facebook and YouTube in an effort by Chorki authority to curb piracy. The reason for the film's piracy was its editor's statement that its video was leaked from a movie theater in Bangladesh. The movie was recorded in a movie theater from a time when there was no audience. From here it became clear that some unknown person related to the movie theater was involved in piracy. Raihan Rafi went to the office of Detective Branch to discuss the prevention of online piracy. It was then learned that the film's production team had lodged a complaint with the police to prevent piracy. Five persons were named as perpetrators in the complaint. According to Jaaz Multimedia, due to online piracy, the producers of Surongo may lose BDT1 crore. According to filmmaker Abdul Aziz, the film was leaked because its distribution was handed over to The Content Specialists, whose distribution servers did not have adequate security measures in place. On 28 July 2023, Harun Ur Rashid, chief of the Detective Branch, assured that action would be taken against those involved in piracy. On the same day Raihan Rafi warned everyone that whoever uploads the footage of the film on the internet will be arrested under the existing law. He called on all those who uploaded its footages to delete it. Two days later, two people were arrested for piracy.

Home media
Surongo was digitally premiered in Bangladesh through Chorki on 24 August 2023.

Audience
Ticket sales for its shows at the mini theater Roots Cineclub in Sirajganj had 90% tickets sold by 18 June. Due to increasing demand, the mini theater organized a special screening of the film in 1 July at 1:00 am for the audience. According to the entertainment reporter's news article published by Ajker Patrika in July 2, Priyotoma and Surongo are in the highest demand during the Eid-ul-Azha season of 2023. Since there is no movie theater in Afran Nisho's native Bhuapur Upazila, his fans have rented the Shadhinata Complex auditorium and set up a makeshift movie theater there to watch the film for a week. As of 3 July 2023, the temporary movie theater was set up with the help of the municipal authority at a cost of BDT0.3 million, and is running 4 shows of the film with at least 700 tickets being sold daily.

Critical response
Filmmaker and writer Sadat Hossain wrote that the film making was "wonderful" and made "the traditional story unique". However, according to Hossain, its dialogue could have been better and the film didn't need an item number. Kudrat Ullah from RTV praised the film's story and Nisho's performance. Film critic Ahsan Kabir gave Surongo 6.5/10, and writes in Bangla Tribune that the film is actually a different version of Raihan Rafi's "Poran". According to him, in this story, both Masud and Moyna are wrong, but only Moyna's fault is highlighted here. Kabir stated that the scenes in the film are exciting and enjoyable enough. He also noted inconsistencies in the bank robbery scene and the lack of escape from the prison scene. Rodela Neela of Bdnews24.com praised its cinematography and color grading, but she criticized it for underplaying the characters associated with the bank after the interval. Hasib Ur Rashid Ifti of The Daily Star criticized the film's background music, sound mixing, and editing, but said that Surongo 's climax would make audiences forget its weaknesses. Critic Masuda Bhatti pointed out the film was a risk taken by producing it in the current plight of the cinema of Bangladesh, which has succeeded. Shuvodip Biswas of The Financial Express praised its unpredictable story without plotholes. According to him, the presentation of the Seven Deadly Sins in the film made it a commercial success. However, he criticizes that the film's portrayal of women in a negative way and how the use of violence may send the wrong message to the society. According to Muhammad Altamish Nabil of Banglanews24.com, Rafi made the film a commercial success using his usual formula. According to the reviewer, someone more suitable could have been cast in the role of Zahir. Shuparno Rahman of Prothom Alo wrote that its songs gave the movie atmosphere and praised the initiative of the film. According to Saqlain Rizve of The Business Standard, Surongo is a "slow-paced film with breathtaking visuals". According to Faruque Ratul of Dhaka Tribune, the plot of the film is unpredictable but the script is not good. He also said that its plotholes left him clueless.

Sanchari Kar of News18 Bangla appreciated the step-by-step character development of Nisho's character Masud in the film. According to her "pure entertainment and good acting are the treasures of 'Surongo'". According to Nirmal Dhar of Sangbad Pratidin, there is nothing new in the film and the screenplay is unnecessarily drawn out. According to him the performances of its actors were good but it is a purely commercial film and it is not possible for Surongo to surpass the popularity of the film "Hawa", another Bangladeshi film released in West Bengal. Poorna Banerjee of The Times of India gave it 3/5.

Box office
As of 6 July 2023, the film has earned a total of around BDT2.5 crore from the multiplexes of Star Cineplex in Bangladesh. As of 9 July 2023, a total of BDT38 lakh tickets have been sold from the shows of Surongo at Lion Cinemas. After 2 weeks the film have grossed a total of BDT4.45 crore. From July 21 to 26, it grossed only ₹0.8 million in India. It earned total of ৳15 crore.

Controversies
Prarthana Fardin Dighi claimed in December 2022 that she was signed to cast in the film in June of the same year, but the director replaced her with Toma Mirza. Dighi alleged that she is the victim of syndicate that runs the film industry. Rafi denied her allegation, stating that there was no written agreement with her in this regard, but only oral discussions. He did not sign Dighi, as she did not feel suitable for the film role. In response, Dighi claimed that she had proof of her claims.

Its first look video was released on 10 May 2023, where Afran Nisho is seen entering a tunnel. From this scene, some viewers thought that the film was based on the 2014 incident in which a robber tunneled into a Kishoreganj bank. When Rafi was asked about this, he did not give any clear answers. An official trailer was released on YouTube for promoting the film, but there were rumors that the background music used in the trailer was plagiarized. In response to this controversy, Rafi stated that the license to use the music was purchased by Alpha-i.

After its release in Bangladesh, a section of the audience criticized the adult scenes in the film. According to them, the scenes did not suit the culture of Bangladesh. In response to the situation, Rafi said that some scenes were kept in the film for the plot to be consistent, and it was given uncut certificates from the Censor Board, as the scenes were not objectionable.

Sequel
On 8 July 2023, Redoan Rony told reporters that it takes a lot of time to produce a film, and that there must a plot to make a sequel of Surongo.