According To The variety Awedacious Originals has boarded Bangladeshi filmmaker Mejbaur Rahman Sumon’s “Roid” as executive producer. The film is in the Tiger competition at the International Film Festival Rotterdam.
International Emmy Award-winning producer Apoorva Bakshi of Awedacious is executive producing the feature, which marks Sumon’s sophomore effort following his 2022 breakout “Hawa,” Bangladesh’s Academy Award submission that became the first Bangladeshi film to chart on U.S. box office rankings.
The film examines desire and attachment through the story of a couple living in near isolation in rural Bangladesh. A shy man repeatedly attempts to abandon his volatile wife in unfamiliar places, only to have her return each time a fruit falls from the palmyra palm near their home. The narrative draws parallels to the Garden of Eden story while exploring primal human bonds. “Mejbaur’s ‘Roid’ is powerful, mythic, and deeply human, with an uncompromising lyrical force,” Bakshi said. “The film confronts desire, attachment, and compulsion as natural forces rather than emotional constructs. Beneath its repetition and silences lies a fundamental truth: life’s longing for itself. That kind of philosophical boldness in narrative is rare, and it resonated deeply with us at Awedacious.” “Roid” is inspired by a true story Sumon heard from his mother about a couple who worked in his grandfather’s house. “The husband repeatedly abandoned his wife. She returned to him again and again,” the director said. “What moved me was the woman’s constant return. In it, I felt a search for something primordial, perhaps a bond older than reason.”
The project is co-produced by Mushfiqur Rahman and Tanvir Ahmed Shovon for Bongo, Shimul Chandra Biswas for Facecard, and Tanveer Hossain, alongside Sumon.
Sumon is a visionary. From ‘Hawa’ to ‘Roid,’ his ambition is undeniable,” said Mushfiqur Rahman. “We’re proud to produce a film poised to captivate audiences everywhere.”
Shimul Chandra Biswas added: “I produced ‘Roid’ because it reflects questions I couldn’t ignore – a journey I chose to live before it reached the screen. It changed how I understand closeness.”
“I was struck by how Sumon could look at ordinary lives and find within them an extraordinary absurdity and profound philosophical richness,” said Hossain, a Berlinale Talents alumnus whose recent credits include “Ali,” which earned a special mention at Cannes 2025. “’Roid’ does not shout its ideas. It listens. It allows silence, contradiction, and fragility to coexist.”
The film was selected for the co-production market at India’s Film Bazaar in 2024. It stars Mostafizur Noor Imran, Nazifa Tushi, Gazi Rakayet, and Ahsabul Y Riad, with cinematography by Joaher Musavvir Jyoti.
Bakshi’s Awedacious Originals, co-founded with Monisha Thyagarajan in 2020, launched with the Emmy-winning Netflix series “Delhi Crime” and has since produced “The Hunt for Veerappan” for Netflix, documentary “WOMB (Women of My Billion)” for Prime Video, and the Oscar-shortlisted animated feature “The Glassworker.“