Bangladesh's cultural and entertainment scene experienced a lot of exciting events throughout the year, and enthusiasts across the country were kept occupied by everything that the nation's superstars, artists, and cultural mediums had to offer. 

The landscape of films in Bangladesh, as a result, observed and celebrated 2023 as one of the most eventful years in memory.

Not only did the year witness the jovial return and continuity of audiences in theatres, it also welcomed a handful of local and foreign films - most notably, the Bollywood blockbusters.

This year marked the importation of Hindi movies once again in the country under the SAFTA agreement, which has been a long-standing demand of cinema hall owners. The demand was fulfilled with the arrival of Shah Rukh Khan starrer Bollywood blockbuster film ‘Pathaan’ in May this year, followed by his other history-making film ‘Jawan’ which marked the same-day release for a Bollywood film in the country’s multiplexes and single screens.

The industry was surrounded by talks, opinions, controversies and incidents throughout the year, marking it a special year for the industry - but leaving stakeholders with unfulfilled hopes but significant objectives.

From ‘Mujib’ - the much-anticipated biopic of the Father of the Nation, to the industry’s long-crowned king Shakib Khan’s mega-blockbuster ‘Priyotoma’ and television’s seasoned actor Afran Nisho’s silver screen debut ‘Surongo’ - the film industry in Bangladesh welcomed a total of 51 films, with some achieving economic success and others failing in terms of attracting the moviegoers.

However, a long-standing frustration remained once again the recurring theme in Dhallywood this year, which is the dependency on Eid-based film releases. Festive seasons are understandably the most awaited moments for the filmmakers and hall owners, but other films which were scheduled throughout the year failed to grab a large chunk of the audiences in theatres.

This year, a total of eight films got released across a hundred movie theatres including single-screens and multiplexes on Eid ul Fitr, including the Shakib Khan starrer ‘Leader Amie Bangladesh’, Ananta Jalil’s ‘Kill Him’, Jaaz Multimedia’s ‘Jinn’ and ‘Paap’, alongside four other films - ‘Shotru’, ‘Local’, ‘Adam’ and ‘Prem Pritir Bandhan.’

On the other hand, audience demand for quality films in Eid ul Azha were fulfilled with five movies - 'Priyotoma', 'Surongo', 'Prohelika', 'Lal Shari' and 'Casino'.

That being said, the Eid releases this year include Shakib Khan starrer ‘Leader Amie Bangladesh’ and ‘Priyotoma’ - the latter of which spellbound the viewers with a never-seen-before look of the superstar, and the much-anticipated Raihan Rafi-Afran Nisho-Chorki film ‘Surongo’ captivated the audiences during the Eid festivities.

Aside from Eid, there have been some other films which were able to keep the interest and conversations going and also entertained the moviegoers. The major player in this category was undoubtedly the Shyam Benegal-directed Bangabandhu biopic ‘Mujib-The Making of a Nation’ with Arifin Shuvoo’s valiant portrayal as the Father of the Nation.

Several other big releases marked the debuts of renowned actors as filmmakers, including Hridi Huq’s much-acclaimed film ‘1971 Sei Sob Din’ and veteran Aruna Biswas’s Jatra-themed movie ‘Ashomvob’. The much-anticipated ABM Sumon-starrer ‘Masud Rana’ spy thriller film ‘MR-9 Do or Die’ and seasoned filmmaker Dipankar Dipan’s ‘Antarjal’ starring Siam Ahmed-Bidya Sinha Mim in the lead roles, which was claimed to be the first Bangladeshi thriller film made on cyber war, also tried to capture the attention of the moviegoers.

Two prominent Bangladeshi actresses, Jaya Ahsan and Azmeri Haque Badhan, solidified their lasting impressions in Bollywood this year. Badhan’s acting in the Vishal Bhardwaj-directed Netflix film ‘Khufiya’ received critical acclamations from both audiences and critics in India and Bangladesh.

Jaya Ahsan, who continued her successful track record in West Bengal’s film industry with Srijit Mukherjee’s ‘Dawshom Awbotar’ this year, also made her successful debut in Bollywood with OTT platform ZEE-5’s film ‘Kadak Singh’ alongside popular actor Pankaj Tripathi.

BDST: 1224 HRS, DEC 31, 2023
MN/SMS