Sazaa
Official film poster
Directed byHussain Munawwar
Written byMahdi Ahmed
Screenplay byMahdi Ahmed
Produced byMahumaa Hussain Rasheed
StarringNiuma Mohamed
Lufshan Shakeeb
Ismail Rasheed
Edited byAli Musthafa
Music byMohamed Ikram
Production
companies
Farivaa Films
KID Production
Release date
  • March 29, 2011 (2011-03-29)
Running time
140 minutes
CountryMaldives
LanguageDhivehi

Sazaa (transl. Punishment) is a 2011 Maldivian romantic-drama film directed by Hussain Munawwar.[1] Produced by Hussain Rasheed, the film stars Niuma Mohamed and Lufshan Shakeeb in the lead roles while Ismail Rasheed in the supporting role.[2] The film was theatrically released on 29 March 2011.[3]

Premise

Reema (Niuma Mohamed),a carefree and cheerful young woman, visits her island B. Maalhos for holidays, where she meets Zaid (Lufshan Shakeeb), a land surveyor from Male'. Initially, their encounter sparks mutual dislike, and they engage in playful teasing and pranks whenever their paths intersect. On one such incident, Zaid gets admitted at hospital and out of guilt and worry, Reema decides to confess her love to him. To her surprise, Zaid reciprocates her feelings, and they embark on a romantic journey together. Soon after, Zaid has to go Male' to submit the survey reports to head office and promises Reema to return in three days. However, as he leaves, Reema loses connection with Zaid but impatiently wait for his return. Days turn to weeks and weeks to months. While Reema waits desperately, she sees her life changing unexpectedly as if fate has other plans for her.

Cast

Production

Development

Kid Productions and Fariva Films acquired the story rights from Mariyam Moosa.[4] Shortly before their scheduled departure to film in B. Maalhos, director Hussain Munawwar entrusted the script to Mahdi Ahmed for refinements.[4] Ahmed proposed a complete rewrite of the screenplay to enhance character development, ultimately delivering a more engaging cinematic experience.[4] Munawwar, recognizing the potential improvements, postponed the crew's departure by an additional fifteen days to accommodate Ahmed's revisions.[4] While preserving the fundamental plot, Ahmed overhauled the screenplay by introducing significant changes to character arcs, culminating in a surprising twist at the story's conclusion.[4] He completed this substantial rewrite within a week and returned the screenplay to Munawwar.[4]

Casting

Just two days before the scheduled departure, director Munawwar faced challenges in accommodating certain requests from the original cast.[4] Acting on the advice of the film's technical consultant, Mohamed Niyaz, Munawwar made significant changes to the cast.[4] These changes included bringing in Ismail Rasheed to play the role of the villain and casting Lufshan Shakeeb in the lead role.[4] This film marks Shakeeb's only appearance as the lead actor in a feature film.[4]

Filming

The film crew embarked on their journey to B. Maalhos for filming on 22 April 2010, equipped with the initial two parts of the screenplay.[4] During this time, Ahmed continued working on the remaining arc of the screenplay in Male'.[4] The filming process was successfully wrapped up within a month, and the crew returned to Male' on 26 May 2010.[4]

Post-production

The editing process for the film was initiated by director Hussain Munawwar, who divided the project into seven components.[4] After completing the first component, Munawwar assigned the editing of the remaining six parts to Ali Musthafa.[4] However, while Musthafa was working on the fifth file, it became corrupted. Munawwar insisted that Musthafa continue working on the next two files and then rework on the first and fifth files afterward.[4] Musthafa successfully completed the editing of the five functional files on 22 August 2010, and they were subsequently handed over to Mohamed Niyaz from Eternal Pictures for color-grading.[4] The entire editing and dubbing process for the film was finalized by 10 September 2010.[4] Sound mixing and recording were managed by Mohamed Ikram.[4]

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack comprises six original songs, with one of them serving as a promotional track. The music for the promotional song was composed by Hussain Sobah, while Ibrahim Zaid Ali composed the music for the remaining songs. All the lyrics for these songs were written by Mohamed Abdul Ghanee.

Release and reception

The film was theatrically released on 29 March 2011.[4]

According to director Munawwar, the film initially had poor advance booking before its release.[4] However, once it hit theaters and garnered positive word of mouth and favorable reviews, the film's ticket sales steadily increased.[4] By the end of its theatrical run, the film was officially declared a Super-Hit at the box office, ultimately earning the title of the highest-grossing Maldivian film of the year.[4]

The film received positive reviews from critics.[2] Ahmed Nadheem from Haveeru Daily expressed a preference for Sazaa over other recent releases with similar themes. He praised director Hussain Munawwar for his direction and cinematography and commended Mahdi Ahmed for his storytelling style.[2] Ismail Rasheed's villainous performance was highlighted as a standout aspect of the film.[2] Additionally, critics applauded Lufshan Shakeeb for his "memorable appearance" and Niuma Mohamed for her comic timing in the first half of the film.[2]

Accolades

Award Category Recipients Result Ref.
2nd Maldives Film Awards Best Original Screenplay Mahdi Ahmed Won [5]
7th Gaumee Film Awards Best Film Sazaa Nominated [6]
Best Director Hussain Munawwar Nominated [6]
Best Actor Lufshan Shakeeb Nominated [6]
Best Actress Niuma Mohamed Nominated [6]
Best Supporting Actor Ismail Rasheed Nominated [6]
Best Editing Ali Musthafa Won [7]
Best Cinematography Hussain Munawwar Won [7]
Best Screenplay Mahdi Ahmed Nominated [6]
Best Background Music Mohamed Ikram Won [7]
Best Sound Editing Mohamed Ikram Nominated [6]
Best Sound Mixing Mohamed Ikram Nominated [6]
Best Art Direction Hussain Munawwar Nominated [6]
Best Costume Design Hussain Munawwar Nominated [6]
Best Makeup Niuma Mohamed, Fathimath Azifa Nominated [6]

References

  1. ↑ Nadheem, Ahmed (10 January 2013). ""Dhilakani" is originated from "Sazaa"'s experience". Haveeru (in Divehi). Archived from the original on 13 June 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Nadheem, Ahmed (12 March 2015). "Director's start is worthy". Haveeru (in Divehi). Archived from the original on 13 March 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  3. ↑ "A date of release to be finalized for Sazaa" (in Divehi). Haveeru. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Rasheed, Ahmed (11 September 2023). "Sazaa: Eveyrthing about the movie". MuniAvas (in Divehi). Archived from the original on 2 October 2023. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  5. ↑ Nadheem, Ahmed (5 July 2012). "Winners of Maldives Film Awards". Haveeru (in Divehi). Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Adhushan, Ahmed (16 December 2016). "Nominations for 7th Gaumee Film Awards Announced". Mihaaru (in Divehi). Archived from the original on 30 March 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  7. 1 2 3 Adhushan, Ahmed (22 December 2016). "With 10 awards, "Loodhifa" crowned as Best Film". Mihaaru (in Divehi). Archived from the original on 31 March 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2018.

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