Mega movie on Bangabandhu on the cards

On August 17, India accepted a proposal to facilitate the making of a “mega movie” on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman by Bangladesh on his birth centenary, in the year 2020, and the two countries agreed to jointly produce a documentary on the Bangladesh Liberation War on its 50th anniversary.

The decisions were taken at a meeting the visiting Bangladeshi Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu had with his Indian counterpart M Venkaiah Naidu in New Delhi yesterday morning.
The meeting discussed the issue of free film trade between the two countries as Naidu asked Bangladesh to consider relaxing the legal provisions which restricted the number of Indian films in that country, saying such a step “would have a positive impact on the local film industry,” according to an official statement.
The Indian minister also offered to train young filmmakers and entrepreneurs from Bangladesh at the Indian Film and Training Institutes.
Referring to joint production of a documentary on the 1971 War of Independence of Bangladesh, Naidu stated that the archival material available with Films Division of India, Doordarshan (India's state-owned television channel), and other media units would be optimally utilised. The proposed documentary would commemorate the 50th year of Bangladesh Independence in the year 2021. 
Naidu also agreed to a proposal of Hasanul Haq Inu to facilitate the production of a “mega movie” by Bangladesh to mark the 100th birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, in 2020, said the statement.
Both sides also agreed to work out a proposal for an agreement for joint audio-visual co-production between the two countries and to organise a Film Festival of India in Bangladesh and a Bangladesh Film Festival in India.
The Bangladeshi Minister agreed to the request of Naidu to provide the celluloid version of the film “Devdas” directed by Pramatesh Barua made in 1935. Bangladesh had earlier provided to India a DVD version of the film.
Naidu also said that collaborative measures would be initiated between National Film Development Corporation of India and Bangladesh Film Development Corporation to promote joint production of films and also between National Film Archives of India and Bangladesh Film Archives for digitisation and archiving.
He also said that information dissemination is critical to counter terrorism which is a common issue plaguing both India and Bangladesh.
 “Timely and correct dissemination of information will prevent rumours and falsehood while at the same time, build the spirit of cooperation and understanding between people,” according to the statement.
Naidu conveyed to his Bangladeshi counterpart that All India Radio would be launching an exclusive service for Bangladesh and Bengali diaspora titled “Akashvani Maitree” on August 23, 2016. The President of India would be launching the radio station which would act as a bridge of amity between the two countries.
The two ministers, during their deliberations, also agreed to promote capacity- building and training workshops for media persons, exchange programmes for officers associated with information and broadcasting, and exchange of programmes between Doordarshan and its counterpart in Bangladesh.