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Though it is considered that cinema is one of the most popular forms of entertainment throughout the world, in our country most of the filmmakers fail to attract the attention of the viewers through their films.
   Moreover, use of VCD and increased access to satellite TV channels, home screening, and computer CDs are making films available at home. People now avoid going to cinema halls. As a result, the industry is loosing its market both at home and abroad.
   To draw the general public to cinema halls, many film producers are now making films with outrageous stories and scenes of violence, sexuality, and tomfoolery. Films with good plots and artistic excellence suitable for export to foreign market have become very rare, said a film expert.
   But a film like Molla Barir Bou, scripted by ATM Shamsuzzaman, hit theatres across the country on September 2 and got a good response from all sorts of viewers so far. As the film is being showed at Balaka cinema hall for the second week this reporter stepped into the hall premises to collect the opinion of the viewers regarding the film.
   Rowuson and Jamir, employees of private companies came to the Balaka cinema hall to enjoy the film Molla Barir Bou. As a viewer I inquired why they came to watch the film. ‘The simple presentations of life, culture and religious bindings generally attract every walks of people and Salahuddin Lovlu has aptly portrayed those aspects of life through this film,’ they said.
   Ifty and Nazu studying at Dhaka University shared their opinion saying ‘actually we do not love to watch Bangla films. The quality of our films is going down day by day. But the case of Molla Barir Bou is different because it has become a hit among a cross section of viewers. ‘Though the dialogues are simple, it creates a long lasting impression on the mind,’ they added.
   Siraj, a garment worker came along with his friend to see the film ignoring other Bangla movies because ‘those films might give us some physical excitement but not pleasure’. In his assessment, mass people are also bored being pulverised by cut-piece shots of local films.
   Rafiq, a rickshaw puller who is a regular viewer of Bangla films said, ‘most of the movies in our country are filled with violence and sex. For example, a 2 hour and 30 minutes film contains five to seven unnecessary fighting scenes, which take thirty to forty minutes, some semi-naked dances and two to three rape scenes; if this is the recipe then how long have you got for an original plot?’
   S R Ahmed Joy, manager of the hall said that most of the viewers are from middle class families who usually shun the theatres halls because of cheap films.
   ‘We have enjoyed the film immensely and the décor inside the hall is unimaginably good; in fact, such a film should be watched at a hall like Balaka,’ observed an ecstatic viewer.

When the film Censor Board was recently re-constituted inducting on it a few new faces and getting rid of certain questionable ones, people felt optimistic that the changes have been made for the better. This optimism got a further boost when the Board started punishing delinquent film-makers either by refusing certification to the obscene films or by cancelling those issued earlier.
   Raids on certain cinema houses across the country stealthily showing obscene and unauthorised scenes inserted in films also appears to have inspired the authority to give a facelift to our moribund film industry. So far so good. But, the censor board now appears adrift in an ocean of indecision without any sense of direction whatsoever as to what it should do.
   Yes, we're speaking of the full length feature film 'Nacholer Rani' made under the banner of 'Pankowri' and directed by the talented, young director, Syed Wahiduzzaman Diamond. It is strange that the film submitted to the Board in July and reportedly viewed a few times by its members, is neither being given a certificate nor being labelled a 'banned' film.
   The members of the Censor Board are reportedly appreciative of the artistic merit of the film but they have divided opinion on a scene or two.
   It is known by now that the film is based on the historic Santal peasant movement at Nachole in Chapai Nawabgonj district, with the main role being played by Ila Mitra. The deprivation of the dispossessed Santal peasants of Nachole reached an abysmal low and then Ila Mitra came on the scene to provide leadership to the movement aiming for a rightful share of the peasants over the produce of their land.
   Relevant to mention that the withdrawal of the British colonial powers from the subcontinent and the creation of the new state of Pakistan in these parts did not bring about any change whatsoever in the lot of the peasants.
   In fact, as the decade of the 1940's rolled into the 1950's and the political transition took place from British India to East Pakistan, the Santal peasants got better organised under the leadership of Ila Mitra.
   This brought in its wake a greater apprehension in the minds of the big landholders, who further intensified their repression of the peasantry with an active participation of the police.
   The police brutality, as a matter of fact, went so far as to arouse active resistance from the Santals. In one such incident, a few policemen got killed inviting a hellish retaliation leading to wholesale killing, arson and rape of the peasants.
   The leader of the movement, Ila Mitra, while fleeing the scene to a place of safety in the guise of a Santal peasant woman got arrested along with some other colleagues. The rest is recorded history.
   The savagery committed on the person and psyche of an individual of the status of Ila Mitra would put the most brutal of the brutes to shame. She was gang-raped in police custody by the forces of law and hard boiled eggs were forcibly shoved up her genitals in addition to other forms of physical assault and abuses.
   The talented film-maker, Syed Wahiduzzaman Diamond, has very artistically portrayed these in his yet-to-be-released film and the censor board, although initially rather hesitant, has now reportedly accepted them as historic facts after the director provided them with authentic documents in support of these. The indecision now appears to lie elsewhere.
   Some of the members on the Board reportedly feels that the showing of the framed photograph of Mr M A Jinnah and the tortures carried on underneath might harm our good relations with Pakistan. This at best can be called a misapprehension.
   The director of the film wanted to convey to the viewers the timing of the event and he had to do so in an artistic but convincing manner. So the photograph of Mr Jinnah is not meant to be an indignity to him or an affront to Pakistan.
   The members on the Censor Board are supposed to be amongst the most intelligent and widely knowledgeable of viewers and if they fail to appreciate such a simple matter, where will the good film makers go? And the utterance of pushing 'Pakistani injection' by one of the policemen on duty is a well-documented historical truth. How can we erase it? Can we erase our liberation war and the death, destruction, rape and arson committed by some Pakistani soldiers during that period from our memory, or from the pages of history, now that we have good relations between Bangladesh and Pakistan?
   Another objection reportedly raised by these members, stems from an apprehension that showing indignities on Ila Mitra might annoy the Indians since she latter became a Member of the Legislative Assembly of West Bengal. This indeed is incomprehensible. The brutalities committed on Ila Mitra, instead of belittling, have raised her to the status of an extra-ordinary human being and a dedicated leader of the people:
   Had those scenes not been there in the film, it would be a misrepresentation of history which might, in fact, be rejected by everyone including the Indians.
   We would expect the reconstituted Censor Board to come up with the bold leadership expected of it to uphold and carry forward the cause of good. The unreasonable and quite unnecessary delay in giving certificate to the film will, I am afraid, tarnish the image of the Censor Board and therefore of the country as a forward looking, democratic nation.

September 14: Jism, (thriller), India, 2002, 3:30pm, Bus 174, (documentary), Brazil, 2002, 6:30pm,
   September 15: 71/2 Phere, (comedy), India, 2005, 3:30pm, Bruce Almighty, (comedy), USA, 2003, 6:30pm, Marathon Man, (thriller), 125 minutes, USA, 1976, 8:30pm,
   September 16: And Justice for All, (drama), USA, 1979, 3:30pm, Merchant of Venice, (drama), UK, 2004, 6:39pm,
   September 17: Devdas, (romance), India, 2002, 3:30pm, Osama, (drama), Afghanistan, 2003, 6:30pm, Basic Instinct, (thriller), USA, 1992,8:30pm,
   September 18: Dil Chata Hai, (drama), India, 2001, 3:30pm, Kung Fu Hustle, (foreign), China, 2005, 6:30pm.
   September 20: How to Deal, (romance), USA, 2003, 3:30pm, The Princess Diaries, (drama), UK, 2004, 6:30pm.

A lethal virus has wiped out an African village. Now, it has broken out in a small California town and, if it isn't stopped, it could devastate America... and the world.
   Dustin Hoffman stars in this tense techno-thriller as the leader of a team of dedicated scientists assigned to assess the damage. What Colonel Daniels (Hoffman, Hero) doesn't realize is, the U.S. army is watching his every move.
   This dynamite suspense thriller directed by Wolfgang Petersen, (In The Line Of Fire) "demonstrates a smooth stylistic savvy that keeps the film highly absorbing form beginning to end," (Variety).
   With Oscar winner Kevin Spacey (The Usual Suspects), Cuba Gooding, Jr. (A Few Good Men) and Donald Sutherland (Disclosure).
   HBO
   9:30pm
   Starring
   Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo, Kevin Spacey