Rabeya (), also known by its English title, The Sister, is a 2008 Bangladeshi Bengali-language war film written and directed by Tanvir Mokammel, with permission from the

government of Bangladesh The government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh () is the central government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Constitution of Bangladesh comprising the executive (the president, prime minister and cabinet), the ...

. The film is set during the

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War (, ), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, was an War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalism, Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which res ...

in 1971. It stars

Aly Zaker Aly Zaker (6 November 1944 – 27 November 2020) was a Bangladeshi actor, businessman, director and writer. He was the owner of Asiatic Marketing Communications Limited (Asiatic 3 Sixty). Zaker served as a freedom fighter during the 1971 Bangl ...

, Bonna Mirza, Jyotika Jyoti, and Tauquir Ahmed in lead roles. According to Mokammel, Rabeya is a "deconstruction" of the

Sophocles Sophocles ( 497/496 – winter 406/405 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. was an ancient Greek tragedian known as one of three from whom at least two plays have survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or contemporary with, those ...

play, ''

Antigone ANTIGONE (Algorithms for coNTinuous / Integer Global Optimization of Nonlinear Equations), is a deterministic global optimization solver for general Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Programs (MINLP). History ANTIGONE is an evolution of GloMIQO, a global ...

'', and was premiered on December 6, 2008. The film was shot in

Khulna Khulna (, ) is the third-largest city in Bangladesh, after Dhaka and Chittagong. It is the administrative centre of the Khulna District and the Khulna Division. It is the divisional centre of 10 districts of the division. Khulna is also the seco ...

and

Bagerhat Bagerhat is a city in southern Bangladesh and the headquarters of Bagerhat district. Located on the banks of the Bhairab river, Bagerhat has a population of around 50,000. It is located near the old city of Khalifatabad The Mosque City of Bag ...

. It was screened at the

Singapore International Film Festival The Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) (Simplified Chinese, Chinese: 新加坡国际电影节) is the longest-running film festival in Singapore, founded in 1987. The 35th Singapore International Film Festival took place from 28 Novem ...

and in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

. It was also broadcast on television in

ATN Bangla ATN Bangla (), 'ATN' being the acronym of the unused Asian Television Network, is a Bangladeshi Bengali-language satellite and cable television channel owned by Multimedia Production Company. It is based in the Kawran Bazar neighborhood of Dha ...

on December 13, 2008.

Plot

Two orphaned sisters, Rabeya (Bonna Mirza) and Rokeya (Jyotika Jyoti), live with their uncle, Emdad Kazi (Aly Zaker) who is a conservative Muslim League leader supporting the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

, in the village of Ibrahimpur located by the

Rupsa River The Rupsa is a river in southwestern Bangladesh and a distributary of the Ganges. The Rupsa is one of the most famous rivers of Bangladesh. Description It forms the confluence of the Bhairab River, Bhairab and Madhumati River, Madhumati rivers, ...

in the Ganges Delta, where a Pakistani army captain stationed a military base. Emdad wants one of his nieces, Rabeya, to be married to his son, Tariqul. Kazi's nephew, Khaled, joins the

Mukti Bahini The Mukti Bahini, initially called the Mukti Fauj, also known as the Bangladesh Forces, was a big tent armed guerrilla resistance movement consisting of the Bangladeshi military personnel, paramilitary personnel and civilians during the Ba ...

to fight for Bangladesh's independence, but is shot dead by the Pakistan Army during a battle, and is left alone unburied by the river, and no one is allowed to be near the corpse. The Pakistan Army warned not to bury any guerrilla fighter, branded as an 'Indian agent' or 'traitor', and anyone doing so will be executed. Rabeya attempts to bury her brother, but while doing so, she runs away from the spot after almost being noticed by the razakars. Later, she tries to bury her brother again, but was caught and later spared. Rabeya was later taken to her uncle, who told her that burying someone is not the duty of a woman. One night, she goes alone and attempts to continue burying her brother, but was caught by the Pakistan Army and was shot dead. The Bengali guerrilla fighters declare Rabeya as a martyr, and inspire the poor peasants to stand against the army for an independent Bangladesh.

Cast

as Emdad Kazi - a conservative chairman of the village of Ibrahimpur * Bonna Mirza as Rabeya - a courageous sister who attempted to bury her brother, Khaled, but was shot dead at the spot * Tauquir Ahmed as the intellectually challenged son of Kazi. * Arman Parvez Murad as Tariqul - Rabeya's

fiancé An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''f ...

* Jyotika Jyoti as Rokeya - Rabeya's sister * Masum Aziz as a soldier of the Pakistan Army * Uttam Guho * Chitralekha Guho *

Abul Hayat Abul Hayat ( born 7 September 1944) is a Bangladeshi actor. He is also a writer, civil engineer and director. He earned Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film Daruchini Dwip (2007) and was awarded Ekushey Padak fo ...

as the father of the sisters, possibly, in a cameo appearance

References

{{reflist 2008 films Bengali-language Bangladeshi films Films directed by Tanvir Mokammel Films based on the Bangladesh Liberation War Guerrilla warfare in film