A look at absurdity of life after 9/11

KOLKATA: One year after the crumbling of the World Trade Centre in New York in the terrorist air attacks, a Kolkata filmmaker has chosen to look back on the ‘war against terror’ through an absurd drama. And, as any true representative of the genre would, its absurdity exposes a reality that may be dangerous for a realist to show.
“The film deals with a feeling,� says director Bikramjit Gupta, “a feeling of being misbehaved with, and a feeling of being misunderstood.� Since 9/11, this feeling has gripped the followers of a faith the world over.
Laden is not my friend tells the story of Aftab (Monaj Haque), a 25-year-old Bengali Muslim living with his widowed mother in Kolkata. An expert in computer animation, he dreams of working in the Disney studio in America. But September 11 comes in the way.
Aftab wants to convince the US President that he is not a terrorist. After many efforts and ignoring many well-wishers’ advice against doing so, he writes the letter, strongly arguing that Osama bin Laden is not his friend. He even promises that he himself would be on the terrorist’s trail, and catch him in the earliest opportunity.
The boy has a chance encounter with Osama in a local train. He gives him a hot chase and almost gets him, but the man suddenly disappears. Aftab writes to the US President about the encounter. Finally, the reply comes. Aftab opens it in a trance.
What does he find? For the answer, one has to wait till the film is premiered before a select audience in the city this 9/11.