Two or three decades ago, cinema halls used to be a key venue of recreation in our country. There was a time when people went to cinema halls for having a good time with their family members. The scene, however, has changed over the years.
Cinema halls have ceased to be the source of decent entertainment. Thousands of film-lovers have stopped going to the movie theatres due to the deterioration of quality and content of Bangladeshi cinema in recent times. There was a time when fans filled up all the seats just to take glimpses of Razzak and Kobori. They seldom missed any film featuring the 'outstanding duo of the silver screen.'
For the last few years, people who share the common enthusiasm for films have tried to draw the attention of the government in this regard. They believe that our film industry can prosper immensely if the government pays adequate and proper attention.
Arguably, the past 15 years comprise the 'transition period' of the Bengali cinema. In fact, majority of the films during this period were produced with considerably low budgets and the aesthetic quality of the films was compromised as a result. In fact, our film industry have been affected by predictable circumstances - frequent repetition of screenplays, continuous application of identical plots and cinematography, unchanged roles for artists, and the fact that directors are busy plagiarising the hit Bollywood films.
As the cinema of Bangladesh is on the way of losing its aesthetic values, directors and producers seem to have started to use vulgarity in their films. This has stained the reputation of an industry which previously attracted large numbers of people to the cinema halls. Eventually, a significant number of cinema halls had to be closed down due to the failure of getting a good number of viewers.
Meanwhile, good news is that vulgarity and violence in films have been noticeably controlled over the last few years. Ever since Monpura, a film directed by Gias Uddin Selim, was released in 2009, the social perception on modern cinema has changed radically. Hence, many people, along with their family members, have revived the elegant habit of going to the movie theatres. In addition, Third Person Singular Number, directed and produced by Mustafa Sarwar Farooki, has ushered in a new era of the Bengali cinema by introducing digital films. This has lead to the increase of hall-going people - thanks to the popularity of Farooki himself.
Shakib Khan and Anonto Jalil, the two most popular actors of Bangladeshi cinema in the recent times, have been 'crowned' as leaders of the industry. Their performances have worked as a lifeline for the mainstream film-makers and audiences. However, the future of the film industry still remains uncertain in terms of quality and acceptance. Budgetary constraint, absence of superior technology and the lack of adequate knowledge and training obstruct most of the film-makers to live up to the expectation of the viewers.
The present government has declared cinema as a full-fledged industrial sector and has also declared April 03 as The National Film Day. If the government pays attention to the matter, film-makers can do better.
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