Hoichoi is back with a new series titled AKA starring Afran Nisho and directed by Vicky Zahed. The trailer of the series is composed of an exciting collage of scenes that offers glimpses of the main character and his story in a manner that heightens the curiosity of the viewer, divulging the storyline only partially without giving away any details. The story is shown to operate in two timelines of the past and the present. In the 1990s, an anonymous killer called AKA punished criminals by killing them brutally, but disappeared all of a sudden. When a series of incidents take place in the present where criminals are found dead, the pattern of the murders compel people to think that AKA has resurfaced.

Afran Nisho is introduced as a youth called Abul Kalam Azad who dreamt of becoming a musician but was discouraged and insulted by those he looked up to for support. Having tried his luck at other ways of earning a living, he ultimately chooses to take up a life of crime. However, it is not revealed in the trailer what actually triggered him or what determined his choice of victims. It is possible that Nisho’s character is AKA and it is possible that he is part of the past, present or both. It may be that he imagines himself as the AKA of the current generation and makes it his responsibility to clean up a corrupt and immoral society. Afran Nisho demonstrates a powerful screen presence in the trailer and seems cut out for this intense, challenging role. His eyes express his rage, frustration and inner conflict as he struggles to discover himself and perhaps fight his inner demons. His portrayal is aggressive, extremist but at the same time very realistic.

The snippet of Bneche thakar gaan from Autograph (2010) that his character sings while giving an audition is symbolic of Azad’s struggle and perseverance. It indicates his determination to hold on to his ideals in the face of adversity, even as society tries to snatch it away. It offers a clue to the story’s underlying themes of defiance or resilience against forces that attempt to diminish one’s existence. The trailer also provides hints that AKA the series deals with the idea of a complete transformation of any system whose fundamental pillars have crumbled. The series is streaming on Hoichoi now.