Development of Bangladesh Film Industry And

its Present State

Page-1

Report On

Development of Bangladesh Film Industry

and its Present State
Prepared for
Submitted to: Professor Wg Cdr. Kazi Abdul
Matin
Department of language
Submitted By
Group name: Sky Lark

Name
Md. Nur Abu Nishat
Saida
khatun
Choudhurani
Prianka Saha
Sumaia Akter
Moudud
Ahmed
Mridha

ID
14107003
13102605

Program
BSME
BBA

13102462
13302139
12202113

BBA
BBA
BBA

Page-2

Date of Submission:

07.12.2015

Letter of Transmittal

Date: December 02,2015

To
Pro. Wg Cdr. Kazi Abdul Matin
Department of language
IUBAT- International University of Business Agriculture and Technology
Uttara Model Town, Dhaka.
Sub: Report on
Present State

Development of Bangladesh Film Industry and its

Dear Sir,
It is great pleasure for US to submit our report on the topic of " Development
of Bangladesh Film Industry and its Present State .We have prepared
this report , as partial fulfillment of the course ENG-250.To prepare this
report ,we collected what we believe to be mo0st relevant information in
terms of analytical as well as reliability. We have concentrated our best effort
to achieve the objectives of the report and hope that may endeavor will serve
this purpose. the practical knowledge and experience gathered during report
preparation will immeasurably help in our future professional life. We request
you to excuse me for any mistake that may occur in the report despite of my
best effort.
We would really appreciate, f you enlighten us with your thoughts and views
regarding the report. Also, if you wish to enquire about an aspect of our report,
We would gladly answer your queries.

Thank You

Name
Md. Nur Abu Nishat
Saida khatun
Choudhurani
Prianka Saha
Sumaia Akter

ID
14107003
13102605

Program
BSME
BBA

13102462
13302139

BBA
BBA

Page-3

Signature

Moudud Ahmed
Mridha

12202113

BBA

letter of Authorization

Md. Nur Abu Nishat

ID # 14107003
Prog. : BSME

Dear Student,
You will be happy to know that, a report on " Development of Bangladesh
Film Industry and its Present State.
Has been assigned to your group. You will have to submit your group report
within the given deadline. I hope you will successfully complete the report on
time. After successfully completion of the report you are requested to
present in a PowerPoint slide presentation.

For any kind of needs don't hesitate to contact with him.

Thank You

Pro. Wg Cdr. Kazi Abdul Matin (Retd)

Department of language

Page-4

Student Declaration
This is to inform you that, this report on has only been prepared for the
fulfillment of the course Public Speaking ENG- 250.

It has not been for any other purpose ,reward, or presentation.

.
Md. Nur Abu Nishat
ID # 14107003
Program : BSME
On behalf of the group Sky Lark

Page-5

Acknowledgement

All praise to almighty Allah, our creator, our sustainer to whom all have to
return. We bear the witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah
merciful and benevolent.
We have done to try to our best report in this way and we would like to pay
our gratitude and respect to some persons foe their immense help and
enormous cooperation.

First of all we would like to pay my respected academic supervisor and

advisor Pro. Wg Cdr. Kazi Abdul Matin (Retd) whom gave the opportunity
of doing report on " Development of Bangladesh Film Industry and its
Present State. Than we would like to thanks respected Receptionist who
provided much information, which was mandatory for doing this report. We
would also like to give especial thanks to my group member.

Page-6

Table of Content

S/N

..................................Par
ticular
The Report Preparatory
Part
- Title Fry
-Title Page
-Letter of Transmittal
-letter of Authorization
-Student Declaration
-Acknowledgement
-Table of Content
-Executive summary
The Report Body Part
Introduction
History
Present Sate
Methods
Performance , income &
Box office report
Recommendation
Conclusion
The Report Supplementary part
Appendix
Bibliography, Works Cited & Reference

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Page No

01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09-11
12-15
15-29
30-35
36-41
42-43
44
45-47
48-49

Executive summary

The cinema of Bangladesh, also known as Dhallywood informally, has been a

significant film industry since the 80's. The word "Dhallywood" is a portmanteau of the
words Dhaka and Hollywood. Dhallywood is one of the major centers of film production in
South Asia. Film production reached its pinnacle in 1990. During the 1980s to the first half
of 90's, the Bangladeshi film industry produced some of the biggest films in Bangladeshi
cinema.[6] According to film pundits, the Bangladeshi film industry is growing at a very fast
pace in recent years. 2014 has proved to be an excellent year for the film industry, with
some of the movies being the highest grossing Bangladeshi films of all time. The
Bangladeshi film industry started its journey with the 1931 production of Last Kiss; the
earliest feature film ever made in what would become Bangladesh. However, the first ever
screening of films in Bangladesh started on 24 April 1898 by Bradford Bioscope Company
at the Crown theater near Dhaka harbour. Commercially successful Bangladeshi films
include Tojammel Haq's The Gypsy Daughter, AJ Khan's The Face and the Mask,
Giashuddin Selim's Monpura, Ashiqur Rahman's Kistimaat, Iftakar Chowdhury's Agnee and
many more.

Page-8

FILM
Films are one of the most important sources of entertainments in almost every corner of the
world. It is the media that can sew people from the gloomy slums to the magnificent palaces
in the same rope. Due to an extensive margin and versatility films also resemble the culture
and daily life of common men largely than any other media and therefore films are
considered as important texts for so many academic disciplines such as, literature,
sociology, cultural studies, philosophy etc. Through a dialogue of an actor to a glittery
dress, a film has the ability to change a fashion, even to some extent a specific cultural
element. In a developed country like Bangladesh where the number of entertainments is
very few, films play a great role in shaping the lifestyle of mass public. The poor people
who work from hand to mouth to bring bread in the table construct their wild fantasy
through these films. It gives them a temporary pleasure of winning against the authority.

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Introduction Of Bangla cinema

Bangla cinema is the cinema produced by the cinema industry of
Bangladesh now called Dhaliwood (. Bangla cinema which started its
journey from the 1950s with the first talking movie named Mukh o
Mukhosh (Bangla) or The Face and Mask (English), has a glorious past that
still echoes today. But the cinema industry has failed miserably to uphold
the quality standards of the industry that prevailed in the start. Where the
Bangla cinema industry in the black & white arena was magnified by the
relentless work and contribution of talented directors and actors, who gave
in all their efforts to take Bangla cinema to greater heights along with
increasing expectations from the audiences, the cinema industry has
gradually lost its vigor and glamour to some evil spirits in the later years
that followed. The black and white arena that dated from the 1950s to the
1980s was the golden era of the Bangla cinema industry as a lot of quality
Bangla films were produced at that time creating a specific classy
audience class for the evergreen Bangla films of that time People from all
spheres of life were eager about these Bangla films and the passion they
had for these films were to such an extent that they did not hesitate in
spending their hard earned pocket monies to have a look at the Bangla films
at that time in the theatres.

However, sadly and unfortunately, after the entrance of the Bangla cinema
industry in the late 1990s brought a downfall to the ever shining Bangla
cinema industry. The Bangla films that later started being made were
inflicted with problems of various kinds including copying tendencies of
Hindi (Indian) movies, disastrous and copious movie music composition,
Page-10

non-Bangla love elements and outlooks. As a result, the Bangla cinema

became left out by majority of the audiences because they accused these
so-called Bangla cinemas as trash and promoting an alien culture that is
not Bangla culture at all.

Amid all these allegations, the Bangla cinema industry has survived and is
still thriving to reach at least a standard in line with its glorious history. The
Bangla cinema has evolved over the last decade on different dimensions
where the Bangla cinema was haunted by the once so much talked about
obscenity

which later came down to an acceptable level due to tough

drives against the cinema industry to free it from all evil spirits. Now-a-days
besides commercial Bangla cinemas, some feature films are also being
made which got more positive responses from the audiences than
commercial films. The commercial cinemas are now also changing to meet
up to the present day standards by using small scale innovations and new
techniques. But still the question pertains that is
Does Bangla cinema portray Bangla culture in the present times?

This research will try to find the answer to this particular question by
adopting a quantitative research approach. In this research by the term
Bangla cinema we are referring to commercial Bangla cinema produced
from Bangladesh only not any Bangla feature film as the feature films in
Bengali are quite few in number and do not constitute a fully functional
branch of the cinema industry in Bangladesh. This research paper will try to
analyze Bangla commercial cinema on the basis of Bangla culture and see
whether the commercial Bengali cinema is in harmony with the actual spirit

Page-11

of Bangla culture and to substantiate the study a few case studies of some
recent Bangla cinema will also be presented.

This research paper employed the techniques of content analysis for

discussions and participant observation for case studies as methodology.

History of Bangla Cinema

The cinema industry of Bangladesh dates as back as the late 1890s.
Bangladesh was then in nexus with the greater Indian subcontinent and in
tandem with Calcutta (the present West Bengal). Sharing the same Bangla
language, the first ever Bangla movies were made in Calcutta which
received great patronage from the then British occupiers of the Indian
subcontinent. The British rulers favored the development of Bangla cinema
in Calcutta and gave financial support both directly and indirectly. This
allowed Calcutta to set itself up as a hub for Bangla cinema in the later
period. However, cinema arrived in Bangladesh (The then Banga which later
became East Pakistan in 1947 and Bangladesh in 1971) by the end of
1890s. A newspaper report of Dhaka Prakash in1898 stated that films were
being screened in a theatre called, The Crown Theatre in Dhaka where news
and documentary video footages were displayed.

Later in the period of

1913-1914, the first cinema theatre, Picture House, started functioning.

After that cinema halls were gradually being built and the number of cinema
halls reached 80 by 1947 in the then Bangladesh where regular films were
shown, most of them being films made in Bangla from Calcutta.
Page-12

Until 1956, the Bangla cinema industry was mostly silent, movies produced
without any verbal dialogues. The first ever cinema made in Bangladesh
was Mukh o Mukhosh, which was the also the first talkie of the Bangla
cinema industry, debuted on August 03, 1956. The entire film was shot in
Dhaka with local Bangladeshi artists and a storyline that catered for the
Bangladeshi audience of that time, but the post production of the film was
done in Lahore, The then West Pakistan (the present Pakistan). Mukh o
Mukhosh was the start of the Bangla cinema industry from Bangladesh and
the journey of Mukh o Mukhosh inspired many other Bangla films produced
later onwards.

After the partition of the Indian subcontinent by the British colonial rulers in
1947, the present Bangladesh was conjoined with the present Pakistan as a
combined single state divided into two sections, East and West Pakistan.
The West Pakistan was in power of Bangladesh after 1947 and the then
West Pakistan government established the East Pakistan Film Development
Corporation (EPFDC) in 1957, a year after the release of Mukh o Mukhosh
with a view to help the Bangla cinema flourish. EPFDC was later renamed as
Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (BDFDC) after it became
independent from West Pakistan in 1971. Still now, BDFDC exists as the
focal point of the commercial Bangla cinema industry but in a very unstable
condition pounded by various problems, hence losing its potential day by
day to improve the local Bangla cinema industry. Along with BDFDC, a film
archive was also set up for conserving the much acclaimed Bangla cinema
as a remark of a precious historical national asset of the country for the
times to come, as the cinema industry is a valuable asset for any country.

The era of 1956 till 1990 of the Bangla cinema industry was completely
black and white. After 1990, the Bangla cinema industry entered the colorful
Page-13

age and had undergone a massive process of commercialization. Hence the

Bangla cinema industry from 1990 onwards lost its artistic element and was
overridden with very much commercialistic elements which constitute the
famous model of social class difference (rich-poor)-cheesy romance-some
erotic dance numbers- hilarious fight scenes-happy ending that still govern
most of the commercial Bangla cinema of today.

Note: The history of Bangla cinema has been adapted from the following
resources:
a) Banglapedia:

Film,

Feature

http://www.banglapedia.org/httpdocs/HT/F_0076.HTM
b) Wikipedia:

Cinema

of

Bangladesh

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_Bangladesh

What Is Bangla Cinema?

Apparently Bangla Cinema refers to the films produced Bangladesh but interestingly it is not
that transparent. Bangla Cinema specifically indicates to the mainstream commercial films
that are produced and directed by the illiterate, ordinary persons and the film stars are
completely mediocre, the story is based on the conflict between poor and rich, the targeted
Page-14

audience is mainly the rickshaw pullers or the garments labourers and ultimately there is no
message or artistic elements in the films. Needless to say the films that are abstract and
convey a message are not called as Bangla Cinema though they are also produced in
Bangladesh. For example, Matir Moyna or Third Person Singular Number do not fill in to
that category of Bangla Cinema since they have that artistic element and convey a message.
And as Raymond William defines popular culture as inferior kind of work, well liked by many
people and work deliberately setting out to win favour with the people, these commercial films
certainly can be tagged as popular culture (Storey 2). And therefore it can also be said that
these commercial films are one of the channels to visualize the people living in the lower part of
the society, but the question is whether it is the authentic presentation or not?

Why Cinema Is Important?

There are a couple of entertainment medias in Bangladesh. Apart from films we can name
radio, television, newspaper and magazines and nowadays social networking sites.
However, radios and televisions are mainly based on drama serials, musical program and
package programmes like political talk shows, celebrity gossips etc. Except for the national
television channel all the channels in Bangladesh are commercial and run on TVC. As a
result their first priority becomes making profit and therefore their programmes are targeted
for the rich audience. The drama and other programs are mainly based on their lifestyle and
therefore remains the representation of the high class of the society. So the poor is clearly
neglected here since they do not bring profit. For the reason films become the only source
of entertainment that represent their life and on the other way it is also an easy way to
Page-15

manipulate these minds ideologically by the bourgeois society. These cinemas therefore
work as ISA (Ideological State Apparatus) which actually is a key to hallucinate the poor
and keep them under domination.

Present State
During 1990s, Bangladeshi films started losing a large sector of audience
because of lack of quality. The film directors started giving more attention to
film's music, dance and other elements instead of story and screenplay. Some
also began to add action and intense scenes. A few directors began to imitate
and copy foreign films, mostly Indian films. Hence, the films could attract only
the urban living small income people.
During 2000s, Bangladeshi films began doing poor business and initially, the
numbers of films decreased. The term 'Bangla Cinema' became a matter of
joke among the people. Though there always have been some independent film
makers who attempt to make movies in a good manner, their work attract only
a few audience.
After declining during most of the 2000s, the Bangladeshi film industry
bounced back after 2009. With the help of the Bangladeshi Government and
the emergence of giant production companies, the Bangladeshi film industry
is growing at a fast pace. Since 2010, Bangladesh has developed several large
production and distribution companies, such as Jaaz Multimedia and Tiger
Media Limited and the films produced by them have been doing better
business than the others for their large budget and glamorous appearance.
But these films hardly catch the educated audience living in rural and urban
areas.
Page-16

The year 2014 proved to be the most profitable year, while 2015 is already the
biggest, with some of Bangladeshs biggest films lined up for release.
Bollywood's Reliance Entertainment Limited has expressed their interest in
producing Bangladeshi films. However, the Bangladesh Film Corporation
didn't respond due to the ban on Indian films in Bangladesh.

The Economic Segment:

Though the study of Film as a discipline started around 1960s, the debate
whether a movie is a piece of art or not began much earlier. A group of
academicians favor the term Film over Movie and recognize it as a piece of
Art. But a great number of practitioners and academicians regard it as a form
of entertainment, pure and simple. Government may promote movies as a
mass communication tool to communicate nationally important messages to
its people. We will not take any extreme position to explain the phenomena of
Film industry of Bangladesh. Assumptions that fail to provide criteria for the
analysis of messages, falling between the extremes of good and bad, beautiful
and ugly and art and non-art must prove singularly unfit as basic
assumptions for the analysis of films that so clearly fall between these
extreme. (Sol Worth 1971)

Page-17

On the other hand, the inherent issues like demand uncertainty, risk involvement
and big investment movie turns to be a business. . From the perspective of the
phenomenal decline of Hollywood in the late 1960s and early 1970s Fadiman
(1973) contends that Movie making is business which is at the same time an art
and an industry. While producing a movie, producers and directors have clear
idea on what factor will be dominating in that movie. Even without negating any
of these factors and making a balance among the factors a director can make an
outstanding movie.
After the War of Independence of Bangladesh in 1971, most of the time we have
seen one man show in the film Industry. Sometimes it is Nayok Raz Razzak,
Sometimes it is Dashing Hero Jashim, then Romantic Hero Salman Shah and
Lastly Super Star Manna. After the sudden death of Manna in 2008, whole film
industry was jolted down. Shakib Khan came to the limelight and whole industry
was directed centering him. Situations worsened as there was lack of variation in
stories, lack of innovation in other areas of movie making. People started to forget
about going Cinema Hall to watch movies as the number of movie-goers was
decreasing slowly after the death of Salman Shah. The Cinema Halls were shut
down one after another. At last, despite the strong protest from directorsproducers-actors, Bangladesh Cinema Hall Owners Association imported Indian
Bangla movie to exhibit in their dormitory. But this initiative went in vain also.

Page-18

Guerrilla
With the emergence of some brilliant young directors especially Mostofa Sarwar
Farooki

( director) , M. A. Jalil Ananta (Producer-Actor), Giasuddin Selim

(Monpura), Nasiruddin Yousuff (Guerrilla), Redoan Rony (Chorabali) the film

industry get back its life. Bangla movie experiences some benchmarks with
completely different, wonderful stories, unprecedented cinematography and the
phenomenal improvement in every technical side of movie making. Now time
comes to arm the life of the film industry with continuous re-engineering . It is a
business term what Japanese calls Kaizen. From the capitalistic view, without the
motivation of profit continuous development or re-engineering of something is
impossible.

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Monpura
We all know that a good producer is a good investor; a good director is a good
manager and obviously a good marketer also. You need proper planning,
managing whole shooting unit, finishing all activities within a definite period
of time and within definite amount of budget, developing a control system to
be a successful director. You have to act like a total businessman.
Another thing to consider is that popularity in the past has been has been
found to be no guarantee of success in the future. There is no simple,
consistent relationship between film themes, costs of productions and box
office receipts.(Edmunds and Strick 1977).It is strategically sound to
recognize the truth of movie business more elaborately. The measure of
success in movie making is attendance either in terms of the number of
admissions, the dollar value of the rental fees which exhibitors return to the
distributors. But more practically it is not the number of admission, not box
office hit; it is the rentals which the distributor receives that are used in
calculating the actual profit or loss.(Jowett, Linton 1980)

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Chorabali
In the competitive market one must differentiate his/her movies in the market.
But In which area you have to differentiate, in which area you have to compete is
a matter of concern. Each movie while produced is essentially a unique
commodity. It needs high degree of product differentiation which results in
promotional competition rather than admission price competition. (Larmett et al,
1978).Product differentiation needs to be dealt with cultural sensitivity and the
most important thing is to position in the audiences mind differently.
Understanding the phenomena of the film industry in a pragmatic way is
significant to the people having stake in the industry. Contemplating the learning
of modern management and implementing latest marketing strategies in
producing movies can play an influential role to develop the film industry of
Bangladesh.

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 The Global Segment

Bangladeshi cinema-goers can now enjoy Indian films in cinema halls across
the country, for the first time, as the Indian action crime thriller, Wanted, got
clearance

certificate

from

the

Bangladesh

film

censor

board

yesterday. Saiful Islam Chowdhury, member of the censor board and president
of

Bangladesh

Motion

Picture

Exhibitors

Association,

confirmed

the

development. Inn-win Enterprise has imported the film, under the Import
Policy Order, 2012-15. Inn-win Enterprise proprietor Iftekhar Uddin Naushad
told The Independent that screening each others movies should be allowed in
both the countries, to save the cinema halls and the film industry in general.
Many cinema halls are closing down. If this continues, it will be difficult to
save the industry. Thats why we have to open up the market, he added.
About releasing Wanted, Naushad, also the proprietor of Madhumita Cinema
Hall, said, Ive called upon the film producers' association, to release the film
in 50-60 cinema halls across the country. Everything depends on the approval
of the association.
Recreational programmes like music, drama, movies, documentaries, etc. can
be exported in the form of audio and video cassettes, compact discs (CD),
DVDs, etc., if there is no objection from the information ministry, the order
said.
Armed with this order, Bangladesh distributors imported Indian films such as
Don 2, Three Idiots, and Taare Zameen Par. Of the films imported, Wanted got
the clearance of the censor board for the first time, Saiful Islam Chowdhury
said.
Two other filmsKhoka Babu and Khoka 420are in the pipeline for
clearance of the censor board, he added.
Page-22

Under the order, two organisations, Khan Brothers and Upahar Cinema,
exported eight films Ananta Bhalabasha, Hridoyer Bondhan, Maa Amar
Swarga, Tumi Amar Moner Manush, Mukhoshdhari, Sramik Neta, Praner
Manush, and Josner Prem. Of these, Maa Amar Swarga and Tumi Amar
Moner Manush got clearance from the Indian censor board.
JK Entertainment, a West Bengal-based distributor, distributes the films. It
has filed an application with the authorities at West Bengal state-run Nandan
cineplex, in Kolkata, to screen the films there, in December.
Under the Import Policy Order, 2012-15, import of cinematographic films from
SAFTA countries will be equal in number, against export of films produced in
Bangladesh.

Page-23

 The Technological & Sociocultural Segment

The technique of art is to make objects "unfamiliar", to make forms
difficult, to increase the difficulty and length of perception because
the process of perception is an aesthetic end in itself and must be
prolonged. Art is a way of experiencing the artfulness of an object:
the object is not important.
(Art as a Technique, Viktor
Sklovosky)
As mentioned earlier the familiar portrayal of the liberation war of
Bangladesh was not the central concern of Nasiruddin Yousuff and
Rubayat Hossains recent films
Guerrilla and Meherjaan. Rather these films attempt to open new
perspectives from the typical representation of the liberation war where the
dominant version has been always projected with passion and authenticity.
Getting away from the earlier gender- biased projection of characters, these
two film makers defamiliarize the typical representation of women by voicing
it from the womans perspective and adopting a distinctive narratological
process.

Viktor Sklovosky in his Art as a Technique expresses

Anyone who knows Tolstoy can find several hundred passages in his
work where his method of seeing things out of their normal context is
so apparent. Tolstoy described the dogmas and rituals he attacked as
if they were unfamiliar, substituting everyday meanings for the
customarily religious meanings of the words common in church
ritual. Many persons were painfully wounded; they considered it
blasphemy to present as strange and monstrous what they accepted
Page-24

as sacred. Their reaction was due chiefly to the technique through

which Tolstoy

Page-25

perceived and reported his environment. And after turning to what

he had long avoided, Tolstoy found that his perceptions had
unsettled his faith.
The technique of defamiliarization is nothing new. But in Bangladeshi
context, Hossain applies this technique for the first time in Meherjaan to
encounter the grand narrative of the nations liberation war through her
outlandish love-story and faces almost similar criticism that Tolstoy had
faced then. As Pablo Casals said, The love of ones

country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the border?
Having this notion

in mind Hossains film Meherjaan breaks the border bringing the people
together under the magic of love. Meherjaan portrays the emotional
aspects of human psyche where people are in war fight and kill each other,
but the only thing remains is the purity of love. Following the tagline of the
film Loving the other Hossain creates a love story in the backdrop of the
war, but there is little of war in it. She tries to provide a post-nationalist
perspective of 1971, by valorizing the everyday politics of the villagers and
also emphasizes on looking at the liberation through the eyes of the
women who loves a Baloch Army, Washim, who rescues her from a rape
attempt. Again this Washim rejects to support his own army when he
realizes the shameless ferocities they are doing in Bangladesh. Interestingly,
this film pronounces the necessity of loving the other in a rather more
atypical way that projects all the sensual aspects of feminine love ignoring
the horror of the war (upon which the story is supposedly based).
Meherjaan, the protagonist of the film falls in love with an enemy soldier
while living in the same home with her cousin Nila. Her character
symbolizes the symbol of love, but in the wrong time of the history. She is

Page-26

educated, peaceful and against war. But despite being educated, she is
totally unaware of the national demand of independence and the reasons
behind that. This projection somehow might remind of a typical Indian
films romance genre, where the war is between the families in the
backdrop, and the lovers are courting aside. Criticisms aside, this surely
is a new way of projecting the war in the cinema of Bangladesh.

Again, I find strong resemblances of Hollywood action films with that

of Guerilla, where the heroine is to bring justice and is involved with
serious action. The protagonist of Guerilla disguises herself, provides
grenades and explosives to co- fighters, deceives the high-ups of the army and
sets a bomb there that explodes minutes after her departure. Even at the end
of the film she manages to set the army camp on fire through her hand bomb.
All this action pack thriller-drama has been technically done in a real
Hollywood style. The violent portrayal of gruesome killing also reminds us of
any Hollywood thriller film. Even the Bengali soundtrack in the film is also
influenced by Western compositions. In total, this film, portraying the 1971
liberation war, is actually demonstrating a whole new 21

st

century stylish

action thriller as a genre, which also is very new way of defining the
liberation war on the celluloid in Bangladesh.

Page-27

 The Political Segment

Bangladeshi movie actors and directors have gone on an indefinite strike

protesting against a decision to screen Indian movies in local theatres.
Shoots both at Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (FDC) and
elsewhere in the country have come to a halt since Thursday evening.

'Bangladesh Chalachitra Oikya Jote' (films unity) told bdnews24.com that the
strike would continue until further announcement.
Leaders of the unity submitted a memorandum to the Prime Ministers Office
on Thursday afternoon opposing the import and screening of Indian films.

Prime ministers Information Affairs Adviser Iqbal Sobhan received the

memorandum.

A leader of the Oikya Jote and Bangladesh Film Directors Associations

Publicity Secretary, Ahmed Ali Mondal said, In protest against the release of
Indian movie Wanted, we have decided to suspend all movie-related activities.

"We are now waiting for the prime ministers response. Our strike will continue
until our demands are met.
He said film stars including 'Shakib', 'Moushumi' and Amit Hasan along with
crew members would visit theatres at 9am on Friday.
They would request the audience to boycott Bollywood movies at halls where
Wanted is expected to be released.
Page-28

Bangladesh Film Directors Association, Film Artists Association and other

organisations of the film industry have started the protest since Inwin
Enterprise decided to imported four Hindi movies from India 'Wanted', 'Don
2', 'Taare Zameen Par' and '3 Idiots'.
The Oikya Jote was formed after the Inwin announced the release of Wanted
in 80 theatres.
Leaders of the Oikya Jote said at a press conference at the FDC on Tuesday
that they would prevent the screening of Hindi movies at any cost.

On the other hand, head of the Inwin Nawshad said they followed the SAFTA
Agreement and the direction of the information ministry while importing the
movies and hence there was no legal hurdle in releasing Wanted.

Meanwhile, on behalf of the Oikya Jote, Advocate Ekhlas Uddin Bhuiyan has
sent a legal notice to the cabinet secretary, cultural affairs minister and
secretary, chairman of the Censor Board, Dhaka deputy commissioner, IG of
the

police

asking

them

not

to

allow

screening

of

Wanted.

In the meantime, the Bangladesh Film Producers and Distributors Association

has convened an emergency meeting on Saturday to take a decision on the
import and screening of Indian films.

Page-29

 The Demographic Segment

After the independence the decades of seventies and eighties witnessed the golden
time of film industry. There were 1,200 cinema halls in the country and only in
Dhaka city there were 44 cinema halls .Since 2001 this number started to reduce
and at present there are 500 cinema halls and out of them 100 halls are seasonal
which remain closed almost all the year round. They are opened just on some
occasions. In Dhaka city there are only 33 cinema halls now and in Chittagong
only three cinema halls are in operation. From the perspective of the phenomenal
decline of Hollywood in the late 1960s and early 1970s Fadiman (1973) contends
that "Movie making is business which is at the same time an art and an industry."
While producing a movie, producers and directors have clear idea on what factors
will be dominating in that movie. Even without negating any of these factors and
making a balance among the factors a director can make an outstanding movie.
Bangladeshi film industry witnessed one man show after 1971. Situation worsened
as there was lack of variation in stories, lack of innovation in other areas of movie
making. People started to forget going to cinema halls to watch movies as the
number of movie-goers was decreasing slowly after the death of Salman Shah. The
cinema halls were shut down one after another. At last, despite the strong protest
from directors-producers-actors, Bangladesh Cinema Hall Owners Association
imported Indian Bangla movies to exhibit those in their halls. But this initiative
went in vain.
With the emergence of some brilliant young directors especially Mostofa Sarwar
Farooki, M A Jalil Ananta who is both a producer and actor, Giasuddin Selim who
produced Monpura, Nasiruddin Yousuff who created Guerrilla and Redoan Rony
who made Chorabali, the film industry has somehow saved its life. Bangla movie
experiences some benchmarks with completely different, wonderful stories,
unprecedented cinematography and the phenomenal improvement in every
Page-30

technical side of movie making. Now time has come to arm the life of the film
industry with "continuous re-engineering. We all know that a good producer is a
good investor; a good director is a good manager and obviously a good marketer
also. In order to be a successful director

proper planning, managing whole

shooting unit, finishing all activities within a definite period of time and within
definite amount of budget, developing a control system are the prerequisites.
Understanding the phenomena of the film industry in a pragmatic way is
significant to the people having stakes in the industry. Contemplating the learning
of modern management and implementing latest marketing strategies in producing
movies can play an influential role to develop the film industry of Bangladesh.

Page-31

Digital Method of Making Digital Film

Page-32

D
i g
t a
l
DS oi u
gn id
tS a y s
lt e e
m

C
a
s
t i
n
g

D
i
g
i t
a
l
F i l
Dm

i
g
i t
a
l

D
i
g
i
t a
l
C
a
m
e
r
a

After Digitalization Film Industry Using Digital

Movie Camera

Page-33

Before Digitalization

Page-34

Before Digitalization Sound System

Page-35

Page-36

After Digitalization Sound System

Page-37

Digitalization stunt

Page-38

Performance of Bangladesh Film

Industry

25%
56%
19%

1980-1999
2000-2014
2014-2015

Page-39

Income Percentage Of Bangladesh Film

Industry

88%
90%
80%
70%

56%

60%
50%

35%

Series 1

40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
1980-1999

2000-2014

Page-40

2014-2015

Box Office
Collection

Critics
Ratings

Audience
Ratings

Film

Theaters

Agnee 2

104

5,43,00,000

58%

75%

Padma
Patar Jol

23

12,90,000

77%

89%

Chuye Dile
Mon

3,20,00,000

64%

87%

Box Office Report

FILM RATING
Film

Critics

Audience

Love Marriage

31%

55%

Agnee 2

58%

75%

Podmo Patar Jol

71%

89%

Dashboard 2014-2015

Top Earners
Page-41

Film

Cast

Agnee
Hero
Superstar

The

Director

Gross

Arefin
Shuvo,
Mahiya Mahi

Iftakar
Chowdhury

120 million

Shakib Khan, Apu

Biswas,
Eamin
Haque Bobby

Bodiul
Alam

100.10
million

Romeo vs Juliet

Mahiya
Mahi,
Ankush Hazra

Kistimaat

Arefin
Achol

Most
2

Welcome

Shuvo,

Ashok Pati

65.49 milli
on

Ashiqur
Rahman

64.35
million

Ananta Jalil, Afiea

Nusrat Barsha

Ananta Jalil

50.05
million

Ami
Sudhu
Cheyechi
Tomay

Subhasree
Ganguly, Ankush
Hazra

Ashok Pati

43.50
million

Rajotto
:
Deadly Journey
of a Gangster

Shakib
Eamin
Bobby

Iftakar
Chowdhury

40.1 million

Chuye Dile Mon

Arifin
Shuvoo,
Zakia Bari Momo

Shihab
Shaheen

32.30
million

Warning

Arifin
Shuvoo,
Mahiya Mahi

Shafi
Uddin

28.70
million

Tarkaata

Arefin Shuvo, Mim

Bidya Sinha Saha

M.M Kamal
Raj

22.50
million

Khan,
Haque

Page-42

All Time
Highest Grosser
Cast

Director

Gross

Agnee

Arefin
Shuvo,
Mahiya Mahi

Iftakar
Chowdhury

120 million

Hero
The
Superstar

Shakib Khan, Apu

Biswas,
Eamin
Haque Bobby

Bodiul Alam

100.10
million

Priya
Priya

Shakib Khan

Bodiul
Alam

100 million

Nishwartha
Bhalobasha

Ananta Jalil

Ananta Jalil

72 million

Most Welcome

Ananta Jalil

Anonno
Mamun

70 million

Number
One
Shakib Khan

Shakib Khan

Bodiul
Alam

70 million

Purnodoirgho
Prem Kahini

Shakib Khan, Arefin

Shuvo, Joya Ahsan

Shafi Uddin

68 million

Romeo
Juliet

vs

Mahiya
Ankush Hazra

My Name
Khan

Is

Amar

Mahi,

Ashok Pati

65.49 milli
on

Shakib Khan

Bodiul Alam

65 million

Kistimaat

Arefin Shuvo, Achol

Ashiqur
Rahman

64.35
million

Most Welcome
2

Ananta Jalil

Ananta Jalil

50.5 million

Full and Final

Shakib Khan

Malek
Afsari

47 million

Ami
Sudhu
Cheyechi
Tomay

Subhasree Ganguly,
Ankush Hazra

Ashok Pati

43.5 million

Rajotto

Shakib Khan

Iftakar
Chowdhury

40.3 million

Bhalobasha

Arefin Shuvo

Debashish

38 million

Page-43

Zindabad
Moner
Tumi

Biswas

Majhe

Riaz, Purnima

Motiur
Rahman

35 million

Ami
Sudhu
Cheyechi
Tomay

Subhasree Ganguly,
Ankush Hazra

Ashok Pati

33.2 million

Chuye
Mon

Arifin
Shuvoo,
Zakia Bari Momo

Shihab
Shaheen

32.30
million

Pora Mon

Symon
Mahiya Mahi

Zakir
Hossain

30 million

Warning

Arifin
Shuvoo, Mahiya
Mahi

Shafi
Uddin

28.70 millio
n

Tarkaata

Arefin Shuvo, Mim

Bidya Sinha Saha

M M Kamal
Raj

22.5 million

Dile

Sadik,

* Running
Beder
Josna

Meye

Ilias Kanchan, Anju

Ghosh

Tojammel Hoque
Bokul

400
million

The Original Beder Meye Josna (The Gypsy Daughter); Released in 1989 is
considered the highest grossing film of all time; According to reports, the film
collected 400 million at Box Office (With Inflation), The film was later remade in
West Bengal.

Page-44

Recommendation

Bangladesh film industry must produce quality movies

The picture shows M A Jalil Ananta (left), a brilliant young director, with his co-actress Borsha
Bengali cinema is passing through a tough and critical time. Cinema halls in the country have
been reduced to half. Releasing new cinemas has also come down to half. The lack of
patronization of government, non-government, influence of sky culture, unhealthy and
dilapidated condition of cinema halls, not producing quality films, financial constraints, lack of
modern technology, lack of filming education and training have been identified as the prime
causes for miserable days of this industry. Films are not only a means of entertainment but
also a great and very effective medium of education which many books cannot do. Next its
prosperity

goes

with

economic

development

as

well.

'Mukh and Mukhush,' the first film of the country, was released 58 years ago in 1956. Since
then 2,905 films were released till 2013. Releasing films got increased and in 2005, some 100
films were released. From 2005 it started to witness a sluggish trend and in 2013, only 45 films
were produced. The situation has got back to that of four decades ago. The same mundane

Page-45

formulaic stories had taken over the industry. A major breakthrough is required. Someone
must break the norm and bring fresh outlook to films that will present a better quality of
action; stunts and effects that would make the films stand out from the rest. Movies must be
highly entertaining as well as educative; otherwise spectators would not come to the cinema
halls. They will satisfy their needs by buying CDs and watching Bollywood movies. And this is
what is actually going on now.
Developing a film institute is a crying need of this industry. The institute will produce talented
directors, producers, actors and actresses. Sound, culture friendly, timely films can be
produced which will exhibit relevant issues discussed at the present time. Films can be easily
produced based on famous literary books of Bengali and English literature. Films can show the
present day world politics, make the people know the rules of health and hygiene, teach traffic
rules, crumbling religious faith of humans, teach us why girls' education is necessary, it can
show us how rural and urban gap can be minimized. The entire gamut of human behavior,
social, political and international issues can be featured through the films. These diversified
issues will definitely draw spectators from various fields and backgrounds removing the
insecurity of meeting financial loss. What do we see in our present day films? Just the same
and known stories are used in a series of films. Even a simple and non-sensible man can also
guess its course, turning point and ending very easily. Vulgarism and irrelevant entertaining
scenes and similar kind of stories reign in the present day cinemas of Bangladesh which have
lost the appeal of the audience almost totally. Twenty-first century films must be very
promising, challenging, scientific, fully educative and critical thought provoking.

Better cinema should be produced based on real life stories.

Environment of cinema halls should be improved.
Technical qualities of cinema should be of international standard.
Titles and posters should be tasteful for everyones acceptance.
Sufficient money should be invested in this sector.
All kinds of corruption should be eliminated.

Page-46

Educated actors and actresses should be there.

Directors and Producers should be adequate educated and cultured.
More cinemas should be produced for the educated audiences.
Censor Board should be watchful, tasteful and stricter.

Conclusion
The Film industry has for long been neglected from substantial Public or Private
Sector

Investment.

The

True

Potential

of

this

industry

has

long

been

misunderstood. Recent World Economy is undergoing a Recession and Stats

suggest that return upon investment in the film Industry is risk Free, More
Secure and more Prospective than other Conventional forms of Investment.

Indeed film making is a risky business and very few in our country dare to denote a notion of
defamiliarization against the typically familiar projection, however it is a noteworthy change
in the context of our socio-cultural environment that the recent film-makers are daring to
Think otherwise and show different perspectives of the great history of our country. The
aspiration and the dare to think otherwise should stand strong. If so, then someday in near future
Bangladeshi film industry will be able to uphold the glorious national history of our country in
front of the world audience with larger definitions and interesting interpretations.

Page-47

Appendix
Subject:

Development of Bangladesh Film Industry And its

Present State

(The information collected from this questionnaire will be used for

research/academic purpose and will be kept secret)

Name of respondent : .
Location :

..
Page-48

Age:

Marital Status : Married

Separated

Unmarried

Divorced

Other...........................

Educational Qualification:..........................................................

1. Do you watch Bangla cinema in cinema hall?

a. Yes

b. No

c.why? -

2. Which things do you like or dislike most about Bangla cinema?

a. Story

b. Music

c. Characters

d. Choreography

3. Which one makes you disliking Bangla cinema?

a. Environment of hall

b. cinema itself

4. What is your opinion about Bangla cinema?

a. Vulgar

b. Lower standard

c. Copy from Hindi cinema

Page-49

5. Which thing should be changed first?

a. Characters of cinema

b. Cinema Hall

c. Story/Theme of cinema

6. Do you watch Bangla cinema in television?

a. Yes

b. No

c.Why?

7. Do you think Hindi cinema is responsible for our disliking Bangla cinema?
a. Yes

b. No

c. Why?

8. Which classes of people go to cinema hall in Bangladesh?

a. Lower class

b. Middle class

c. Upper class

9. Which professions people usually go to cinema hall?

a. Day labourers

b. Students

c. Job holders

10. Do you think that cinema halls are gender friendly?

a. Yes

b. No

11. Which periods cinema is better?

a. Before 1971

b. Upto 1990

c. 1990 to till now

12. What is your opinion about Bangla cinemas title?

a. Under rated

b. Appropriate

c. Absurdd. Vulgar

Page-50

d. Housewives

13. Who should be changed first?

a. Audiences

b. Directors c. Producers

d. Actors/Actresses

Bibliography, Works Cited & Reference

1. Karim Waheed, 2005, Celebrating 50 years of our cinema, The Daily Star, 12
August, viewed on 7 November 2010 on
http://thedailystar.net/2005/08/12/d50812140197.htm
2. Tazeen M. Murshid, 1997, State, Nation, Identity: The quest for legitimacy in
Bangladesh, South Asia: journal of South Asian studies, Volume 20/Issue 2,
Page 1-34
Page-51

3. N. deVotta, 2001, The Utilization of Religio-Linguistic Identities by the

Sinhalese and Bengalis: Towards a General Explanation, Commonwealth and
Comparative Politics, Volume 39/Issue 1, Page 66-95
4. Tinaz Pavri, 2008, National Identity and Homeland in Bangladesh, Peace
Review, Volume 20/Issue 1, Page 107-112
5. Zakir Hossain Raju, Bangladesh: Native Resistance and Nationalist Discourse,
Page 120-132
6. Fahmidul Haq, 2007, Film of Bangladesh, Communication and Culture of
Bangladesh, weblog post, 8 November, viewed on 3 November 2010 on
http://fahmidulhaq.blogspot.com/2007/11/film-of-bangladesh.html
7. Fahmidul Haq, 2010, Cinemas of Bengal, Communication and Culture of
Bangladesh, weblog post, 23 April, viewed on 3 November 2010 on
http://fahmidulhaq.blogspot.com/2010/04/cinemas-of-bengals.html
8. Kajalie Shehreen Islam, 2007, Bangla cinema: An industry in decay, The Daily
Star, 30 May, viewed on 4 November 2010 on
http://www.thedailystar.net/magazine/2008/05/05/cover.htm
9. Fahmidul Haq, 2007, Media Scenario and Pedagogy: Bangladesh Experience,
Communication and Culture of Bangladesh, weblog post, 7 November, viewed
on 3 November 2010 on http://fahmidulhaq.blogspot.com/2007/11/mediascenario-and-pedagogic-experience.html
10.Sohel Islam, What the film directors think, The Independent, viewed on 5
November 2010 on http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?
q=cache:PhAN7nlOnHIJ:www.bangladeshshowbiz.com/news/film_director_say
s.htm+what+the+film+direcotrs+think++weekend+independent&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&client=firefox-a
11.Jotsna Pervin, 2009, Socially conscious films of Bangladesh, Film of
Bangladesh, weblog post, 25 December, viewed on 4 November 2010 on
http://jbpv.wordpress.com/category/film-of-bangladesh/
12.Zakir Raju, 2000, National cinema and the beginning of film history of
Bangladesh, Screening the Past, Issue 11, viewed on 3 November 2010 on
http://www.latrobe.edu.au/screeningthepast/firstrelease/fr1100/rzfr11d.htm
13.Catherine Masud, 2004, Bangladesh National Cinema in the Age of
Globalization, The Daily Star, 17 December, viewed on 4 November 2010 on
http://www.thedailystar.net/magazine/2004/12/03/cinema.htm
Page-52

14.Helen Rowe, 2004, Bangladeshis reject smutty Bengali films, Things Asian,
22 April, viewed on 5 November 2010 on http://www.thingsasian.com/storiesphotos/2941
15.Shovon Chowdhury, 2008, Portraying women in Dhakai cinema, Ground
Report, 27 April, viewed on 4 November 2010 on
http://www.groundreport.com/Arts_and_Culture/Portraing-in-DhakaiCinema/2860036
16.Karim Waheed, 2006, The red and green silver screen, The Daily Star, 4
February, viewed on 8 November 2010 on
http://www.thedailystar.net/suppliments/2006/15thanniv/celebrating_bd/celeb
_bd21.htm
17.Banglapedia: Film, Feature, viewed on 8 November 2010 on
http://www.banglapedia.org/httpdocs/HT/F_0076.HTM
18.Maher Sattar, 2010, Bangladeshis take culture seriously, Knowledge Must,
weblog post, 15 May, viewed on 8 November 2010 on http://blog.knowledgemust.com/archives/23-Bangladeshis-Take-Culture-Seriously.html
19.Banglapedia: Folk Culture, viewed on 7 November 2010 on
http://www.banglapedia.org/httpdocs/HT/F_0117.HTM
20.Wikipedia: Cinema of Bangladesh, viewed on 7 November 2010 on
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_Bangladesh

Page-53