Bopem is the story of Rayan whose name annotates on the mythical gate of heaven, which is meant for men who had quenched their thirst by remaining thirsty in their lives through the eternal suffering inflicted upon them. Bopem presents an environmentalist perspective of the real infliction of pain caused on this earth by the insensitive actions of human beings, which transforms the land to be thirsty, making it the mirror image of Rayan. The narrative technique employed interweaves past and present of Rayan. Director had portrayed this union of past and present with reflections on the naturalism and consumerism taking representative tones, respectively. The symmetry of presentation makes it a reliable fact that the essence of life has to be a balance between these two stands. This symmetry is throughout the film, which makes it a fresh take on philosophical and organic perspectives and retrospectives without burdened script. Life in penury is created for Rayan by the vicarious feelings for his mother and her teachings that capture the essence of a worthy journey in this world. She is the past that comforts him from the devastated environment, which becomes his present. Her guidance and words of wisdom are never a lethargic bore as a cinematic experience with the freshness of nature, fullness of sea, and transcendence of a limitless sky. Ephemeral gains and happiness could not quench Rayan’s thirst. His romantic entourage is also framed on a spiritual level, with him being a silent provider of affections with a totally insensitive girl at the other end who does not bother to reciprocate. The film opens with the beautiful flower garden which portrays a lost heritage of a culture when they exploited the nature for the materialistic pursuits that never mattered for them. In the garden mother is taking the little Rayan to show him the world which he will be dealing with caution when he becomes an adult. Little Rayan asks his mother pertinent questions that is the essence of existence. And the way a good mother imparts humanity in her child’s heart as a good teacher which reminds of the philosophical induction about how to view life .then the story shifts to the present life of Rayan who is suffering from cancer while the garden turns out to be a desert drying up the sea of humanity. He has evanescent hatred for his father who had given clandestine suffering for his mother by selling her to a general which resulted in her death as her dignity was hurt. His mother has taught him that the ship in the vast sea holds a flag which waves despite being burnt by sun, eaten by salt, torn by wind and withered by time. She makes a simile of the flag to the dignity of the soul. Little Rayan wants to have his own flag to which the confident mother says that he will indeed possess his flag. In the present, the sea is lost, the ship had been wrecked and the flag has been lost from its post. To honour his mother’s dignity Rayan nurses revenge against his father and the General. Rayan murders both of them and makes his mother’s flag wave freely in the sky of self-respect. He is taking the life of his aunt who shoots barbs at his mother. Rayan possess the subjective sense of duties and responsibilities that his mother had taught her. On recollections of his mother’s teaching about the horizon, it is seen that he is duty-bound to help fellow travelers. These travelers are following the same path to the same destination. This path offers rendezvous with the discoveries, adventures, and self-realization. This imbibed lesson gets an actualisation when he saves the life of a foreign traveller whom his friends had beaten up for the crime of not sharing a common culture although he belongs to the race of humanity. There is a peer group which engages in the futile badinages and bromidic get together, Rayan becomes unique by pursuing the extra mile to make a flag of his own to prove the dignity of a mind. He does not trust the anodynes that the life is offering him as the sights of a dead Aral Sea, the skeletal remains of a dead nature makes him bear a lot of pain due to the connectedness with the nature . During the nights of thunderous storms, Rayan suffers from the carnage of the brain tumour which later on enervates him to a deep sleep. Cancer had eaten up the man and the land when both of them lost the connecting link between themselves in a rush to development, making progress a meaningless and void term. Audience is not able to appreciate the lag in the movie as we are used to the fast paces and faster communication which often makes words a fancy and fantasy keeping it away from the implied meaning .The lag is cyclical as it takes time to realize the gradual death of man and environment. The ramifications of a despotic state is the background of this film which makes it a social reality in the developing countries where alcoholic teenagers who lack an orientation, dying environment ,trust deficit on the system of government and governance, compromising and negotiating bureaucrats are characteristic traits as portrayed. Due to these elements, Rayan’s crime gets covered up.Also the absence of empathy and sympathy in the characters is another concern. The final scene is a visual experience where Rayan passes through the street where officers are discussing how to cover them up the recent murders which orphaned Rayan. In his hand he holds the red flag which reflects the inner revolution happening within him. He takes the flag to the dead Aral Sea where the wreckage ship had lost its flag in the passage of time. He waves the flag but with a rebellious attitude. he shares his flag with the nature which also suffers like him. The climax scene where Rayan after hoisting the flag jumps off depict that sometimes suicides are not inhibition of a man to face his destiny but the exhibition of a man to challenge the destiny that destroys his dignity. The story retracts to the flower garden which was portrayed in the beginning where his mother was waiting for him, making the story an organic cycle. The story’s direction was the highlight, and the performance of the actors was strong, as it is often difficult to project ordinary emotions effectively. The mix of elements of nature in the background made it an environmentalist account of Rayan. At the same time, philosophical dialogues never lacked its punch. Altogether it was a good experience for a film lover owing to the supreme message that it passes to the generations, making us need and want a flag of our own.
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