Cinema and the Liberation War

Tareque Masud speaks at the discussion. PHOTO: STAR

Giving a few examples, Masud critically analysed the positive and negative sides in the portrayal of our Liberation War in cinema. To quote Masud, "Set against the backdrop of our freedom movement, movies were made in post-Liberation War Bangladesh."

Talking about some milestones in Bangladeshi filmdom, Masud said, "Film exponent Zahir Raihan made Jibon Theke Neya, overcoming the hurdles created by the then Pakistani military rulers. He made his popular documentary Stop Genocide during our Liberation War. In the process, Zahir not only concentrated on the genocide by the Pakistani military during our freedom movement but also lampooned all the genocides that took place worldwide, Besides this, Arunadoyer Agnishakkhi and Dhire Bohe Meghna are examples of quality movies on our Liberation War.

"It is not necessary for war scenes to be the sole topic of movies on the Liberation War. Through narrative, the Liberation War can be portrayed with a unique aesthetic presentation."

In response to questions from the audience, Masud outlined the limitations of making quality movies on the freedom movement. He said, "Films are considered an industry all over the world, but when it comes to bank loans films are not viewed from a commercial aspect."

Besides technical limitations, Masud thinks that filmmakers in our country have a few other barriers. There is a time constraint to begin with due to limited budgets. On movies based on our Liberation War, the director says, "We should try to portray the Liberation War from different, interesting dimensions."

Amongst the audience, actor Al Mansur and Professor CR Abrar shared their views on the topic.