The Cinema of Bangladesh, locally known as Bengali cinema in Bangladesh, is a diverse and vibrant entity, consisting of films produced across various regions in Bangladesh, each contributing its unique linguistic and cultural perspective. Beyond the dominant Dhaka based Bengali-language film industry Dhallywood (), which is a portmanteau of "Dhaka" and "Hollywood", Bangladesh is home to cinema in several other languages and dialects. For instance, Marma, Kokborok and Chakma cinema from Chittagong Hill Tracts, Garo and Mymensinghi cinema from Mymensingh division, Meitei, Khasi and Sylheti cinema from Sylhet, Chatgaiya cinema from Chittagong, Noakhailla cinema from Noakhali, Barishailla cinema from Barishal, Dhakaiya cinema from Dhaka and other dialects and languages. These regional cinemas play a crucial role in preserving and promoting the linguistic and cultural heritage of the country. The dominant style of Bangladeshi cinema is melodramatic cinema, which developed from 1947 to 1990 and characterizes most films to this day. Cinema was introduced in Bangladesh in 1898 by the Bradford Bioscope Company, credited to have arranged the first film release in Bangladesh. Between 1913 and 1914, the first production company, Picture House, was opened. A 1928 short silent film titled Sukumari () was the first Bengali-produced film in the region. The first full-length film, The Last Kiss, was released in 1931.
Following the separation of Bangladesh from Pakistan, Dhaka became the center of the Bangladeshi film industry, and has generated the majority share of revenue, production and audiences for Dhallywood films. Mukh O Mukhosh, the first Bengali-language full-length feature film, was produced in 1956. During the 1970s, many Dhallywood films were inspired by Indian films, with some of the films being unofficial remakes of those films. The industry continued to grow, and many successful Bangladeshi films were produced throughout the 1970s, 1980s and the first half of the 1990s.
Directors such as Fateh Lohani, Zahir Raihan, Alamgir Kabir, Khan Ataur Rahman, Subhash Dutta, Ehtesham, Chashi Nazrul Islam, Kazi Hayat, Sheikh Niamat Ali, Tauquir Ahmed, Tanvir Mokammel, Tareque Masud, Morshedul Islam, Humayun Ahmed, Kamar Ahmad Simon, Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, Redoan Rony, Rezwan Shahriar Sumit, Abdullah Mohammad Saad Himel Ashraf, Raihan Rafi, and others have made significant contributions to Bangladeshi mainstream cinema, parallel cinema, and art films. Some have also won global acclaim.
History Origin On 28 December 1895, the Lumière brothers began commercial bioscope shows in Paris, with the first bioscope shows of the Indian subcontinent occurring the following year, including one in Calcutta and another at the Crown Theatre in Dhaka. The Bradford Bioscope Company of Calcutta arranged the show, which featured very short news items and other short features including footage of the jubilee of Queen Victoria, battles between Greek and Turkish forces, and the French underground railway. The price of a ticket to the show was an expensive eight anas to three taka. Bioscope shows continued to be shown throughout the region, including in Bhola, Manikganj, Gazipur, Rajbari, and Faridpur. These became the first films ever to be released in Bangladesh.
At the time when Calcutta-based film production houses were forming, East Bengal cinema halls were showing films produced in Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, Hollywood, and Paris. Sequential bioscope shows were started in Dhaka in 1913–14 in a jute store. It was named Picture House, becoming the first theater to be built in present-day Bangladesh.
Silent era In 1927–28, the Dhaka nawab family produced a short film named Sukumari (The Good Girl). The film's producers included Khaza Adil, Khaza Akmol, Khaza Nasirulla, Khaza Azmol, Khaza Zohir, Khaza Azad, Soyod Shahebe Alom, and professor Andalib Shadini. They wanted to make a film with their own actors and without the help of a studio. The male lead was played by Khaza Nosrulla, and the female lead was played by a male actor named Syed Abdus Sobhan owing to laws against the depiction of women in film. Nosrulla went on to become a politician and Sobhan became the first Bengali secretary of the Pakistan Central Civil Service. One still picture of Sukumary is kept in Bangladesh Film Archive.
After the success of Sukumari, the royal family went for a bigger venture. To make a full-length silent film, a temporary studio was made in the gardens of the family, and they produced a full-length silent film titled The Last Kiss, released in 1931. The main actor was Khaza Azmol. The physical teacher of Jagannath College, Ambujgupta, directed the film and made the Bengali and English subtitles for it. Professor Andalib Shadani of the Dhaka University made the Urdu subtitles. The Last Kiss was released in the Mukul Hall of Dhaka. Historian Dr. Romesh Chondro Mojumder started the premier show of the film. The print of the film was taken to the Aurora Company of Calcutta for bigger presentation. The developers of the film wanted to make Dhaka unique in art, literature and cinema and named their production house “Dhaka East Bengal Cinematograph Society”. It was the first film-producing organization of Bangladesh.
Early development
Pakistan era
By 1947, there were around 80 cinemas in Bangladesh.A Brief History of Bangladesh Cinema, accessed 27 July 2006After the partition of India in 1947, there were efforts to turn Dhaka into East Bengal's cultural center, with various individuals like Abbasuddin Ahmed creating short-lived film production companies in the city. In March 1948, when the Governor-General of Pakistan Mohammad Ali Jinnah came to visit East Pakistan, the radio broadcaster and filmmaker Nazir Ahmed was commissioned to create the informational film In Our Midst with the help of Calcutta-based film technicians. It was the first informational film of Bangladesh.
1950s Two years after the creation of the Bengali language movement in 1952, the film-making company Co-operative Film Makers, Ltd. was formed in Dhaka under the leadership of Shohidul Alam, Abdul Jabbar Khan, and Kazi Nuruzzaman. The company produced Salamot (1954) under the direction of Nazir Ahmed. The film was commercially successful and allowed the company to grow. In 1955, during the rule of the United Front, Chief Secretary N.M. Khan created a film studio and laboratory in Dhaka's Tejgaon Thana. The first full-length feature film with sound made in East Pakistan was The Face and the Mask, which was directed by Abdul Jabbar Khan and released on 3 August 1956. Editing, printing and all other film processing for this movie were done in Lahore, Pakistan. Abdul Jabbar directed and starred in the film, which also starred Inam Ahmed, Purnima Sen, and Nazma.
"The East Pakistan Film Development Corporation Bill, 1957", establishing a national film development corporation, was introduced by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh. The bill was passed in the East Bengal Provincial Assembly, and Nazir Ahmed was appointed as the first creative director.
Initially, the East Pakistan Film Development Corporation allowed only specific directors to make films. Fateh Lohani directed the rural art film Asiya, the first film produced by the East Pakistan Film Development Corporation, with Nazir Ahmed supervising the production. Asiya received the President Award for best Bangla film in 1961. Other early films released by the East Pakistan Film Development Corporation include Akash Ar Mati (The Sky and The Earth), a song film directed by Fateh Lohani in 1959.
A. J. Kardar directed the Bengali-Urdu film The Day Shall Dawn in 1959, with Zahir Raihan working as the assistant director. The film was based on the 1936 Bengali novel Padma Nadir Majhi (The Boatman on The River Padma) by Bengali novelist Manik Bandopadhyay. It was an internationally acclaimed movie. The film was submitted as the Pakistani entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 32nd Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences It was also entered into the 1st Moscow International Film Festival, where it won a Golden Medal.
The establishment of the East Pakistan Film Development Corporation led to the growth of the East Bengal film industry and gave rise to three prominent studios: the Popular Studio, Bari Studio, and Bengal Studio. Prominent directors Abdul Jabbar Khan, Fateh Lohani, Ehtesham, and Mohiuddin worked with these studios. Notable films from these directors include Matir Pahar (The Clay Hill) (1959) by Mohiuddin and E Desh Tomar Amar (1959) by Ehtesham. The East Pakistan Film Development Corporation's own films sometimes struggled to achieve financial success.
1960s
During the late 1960s, 20-35 films were produced every year. Fateh Lohani's Asiya and Ehtesham's Rajdhanir Buke (In the heart of the capital) were both positively reviewed by critics. In addition to directing, Lohani also acted in a number of East Bengali films throughout the 1960s, including Tanha (1964), Agun Niye Khela (1967) and Julekha (1967). Other notable directors of the 1960s include Salahuddin, who made a number of social drama films like Je Nodi Morupothe (1961), and Khan Ataur Rahman, who directed Nawab Sirajuddaula (1967). Rahman was also an actor and a singer, and featured in Kokhono Asheni (Never Came) (1961), Kancher Deyal (Crystal Wall) (1963).
Zahir Raihan was a star director of East Bengali cinema in the 1960s, and directed films like Kokhono Asheni (Never Came) (1961), Shangam (1964) (The first Pakistani colour film), and Jibon Theke Neya. Jibon Theke Neya, a political satire based on the Bengali Language Movement under the rule of Pakistan, is considered a classic of Bangladeshi cinema.
Some notable actors from the 1960s include Rahman, Sumita Devi, Khan Ataur Rahman, Rawshan Jamil, Anwar Hossain, Anwara Begum, Golam Mustafa, Abdur Razzak, Kabori Sarwar, Shabana, Farida Akhter Bobita, Farooque, Shabnam, Shawkat Akbar, Rosy Samad, Baby Zaman, and Kohinoor Akhter Shuchanda. The most well-known Bangladeshi actor to date had been Abdur Razzak, who was deemed the Nayok Raaj Rajjak (King of Heroes) by his fans. He started his career as a side actor in 1965 and became a leading actor in 1967. Abdur Razzak and Kabori Sarwar was the most popular pair from 1967 to the 1970s.
After independence
1970s A total of 41 films were released in 1970, including Shorolipi by Nazrul Islam, Taka Ana Paay and the Jibon Theke Neya by Zahir Raihan.
Jibon Theke Neya, considered a milestone film in the history of Bengali cinema, was a political satire based on the Bengali language movement under the rule of Pakistan. It stars Shaukat Akbar, Anwar Hossain, Khan Ataur Rahman, Rawshan Jamil, Abdur Razzak, Kohinoor Akhter Shuchanda, Amjad Hossain and Rosy Samad. The film has been described as an example of "national cinema", using discrete local traditions to build a representation of the Bangladeshi national identity. Other significant works of 1970 were Mishor Kumari of Karigir, Tansen of Rafiqul Bari, Bindu Theke Britto of Rebeka, Binimoy of Subhash Dutta, Kothay Jeno Dekhechi of Nizamul Hoque.
Only 6 Bengali films and two Urdu films made in East Bengal were released in 1971 before the Bangladesh Liberation War. Some notable social drama films include Nacher Putul by Ashok Ghosh, Sritituku Thak by Alamgir Kumkum, and Shukh Dukkho by Khan Ataur Rahman.
Following the outbreak of the Bangladesh Liberation War, Raihan made the documentary Stop Genocide to draw attention to the plight of the people of East Bengal. It was one of the first internationally acclaimed films of Bangladesh.