‘YouTumor’ gave us a taste of something different

In the last six months, we have seen a lot of promising Bangladeshi content being released on OTT platforms. 

Among them, 'YouTumor' was something I was hyped about for a long time, only for the fact that Adnan Al Rajeev is back after a hiatus of a few years. As a result, my expectations were quite high as well. 

So, did YouTumor meet the expectations? 

Watch the trailer of Youtumer here 

The story follows two friends - Don (Pritom Hasan) and Monty (Ziaul Hoque Polash), who want to make something out of themselves through online media.  

As they have seen many Bangladeshis make their way to the top by becoming YouTubers, they start their journey in an unconventional way, which leads them through lots of ups and downs. 

As Jackson Bhai (Shorif Siraj) himself said, "If there are no ups and downs in life, you are not alive." But the world of the internet has a lot of ugly consequences and the two boys soon fall victim to it, which messes up their lives and eventually brings them back to square one. 

The ending left us with a cliffhanger, almost resembling the beginning of the story, which Adnan executed really well.

Although the film was well directed, somehow it felt as if something was missing throughout.  

Some of the scenes were simply amazing. For example, the scene when Jackson Bhai and Monty were partially submerged in water. The cinematography, framing, camera work - all of it was beautifully done by the crew. 

Each of the characters was given a unique trait, which was great to see. 

The crew's performance was satisfactory, yet Ziaul Hoque Polash as Monty stood out the most to me. This also calls for a big shout-out to Shorif Siraj as Jackson Bhai. 

The attempt to create a character such as Jackson Bhai was a bold move by Adnan and something we should see more from Bangladeshi filmmakers. 

The supporting characters should also be given enough importance as they all contributed to make the movie better.

But to me, the biggest letdown was the skeleton of the movie - the story itself. 

The story did not have enough depth in it. The purpose of the characters did not seem strong enough and the obstacles that hindered the characters to achieve their full potential were not compelling, at least that is what it seemed to the audience. 

We often think comedy movies do not need a strong storyline, which is not true at all. Just like in the case of other genres, the story is the essence in comedy movies as well. 

We often see comedy movies getting nominated for several awards all over the world and this would not be possible without a strong storyline. 

The comic relief in the movie was a brave attempt but not something that will stay with you for an extended period of time. 

However, the inclusion of many YouTubers as guest appearances and easter eggs was an interesting move and greatly appreciated by the audience. 

Considering everything, I would rate the movie a 6.8 out of 10. 

Adnan Al Rajeev has already said that he wants to do something different. It is true that we have been greatly influenced by Indian content and are now heavily stuck on watching thrillers. 

I, myself, absolutely love watching thrillers and it is one of my favorite genres. But this does not mean that we do not want to watch other genres as well.

Our industry is overflowing with young-adult romance films and series and it is high time this changed. 

Thrillers are the new trend and we love watching them but we would also like to request the creators to explore more genres and do something bold like Adnan did with his new dark comedy.  

Adnan has always been an exceptional director and I believe his take on comedy movies is extremely important to save such genres. 

It is not the best we have seen from him but I believe we are getting there. Some of his highly raved about telefilms such as 'Middle class sentiments' and 'Bikel belar pakhi' are still stuck in our minds. 

That is why there are more expectations from him than most other filmmakers in the country and we want him to come back stronger and keep making exceptional content because we certainly love watching his work.