Film industry sinks into atrophy as it yields to tech

The glamour world of heroes and heroines appears to be getting into the twilight as the state-backed film corporation runs up cumulative losses in an outmoded movie business.
Officials said the Bangladesh Film Development Corporation-nicknamed Dhallywood in the fashion of Hollywood and Bollywood-stands far off from modern technologies needed for production of latest filmy-style movies.
The changed technologies are being used in different fields of the country. But the state corporation on cine-world is far away from the modern age when people of cine-going age are charmed by action movies on mobile phones and television, they said.
The corporation has been incurring losses since fiscal year (FY) 2006-07. The amount of cumulative losses is swelling every year, one person inside the FDC said.
The corporation counted a loss of Tk 13.9 million, Tk 14 million, Tk 28.3 million, Tk 21.5 million, Tk 45.2 million, Tk 42.8 million and Tk 46.0 million respectively from the fiscal year (FY) 2006-07 to FY 2012-13, according to the FDC data.
Presently, 295 permanent employees are serving in the BFDC. Of the staff, 51 and 244 are officers and staffers respectively. Besides, 34 are serving in the state film-development agency on temporary basis.   
"The operational activities of the BFDC are severely being hampered due to dearth of necessary funds. So, a revenue allocation is needed urgently to operate the BFDC," a senior official of the corporation said.
Some 32 officers and staffers of the BFDC have gone on retirement in last six years. But it is not possible to provide their gratuity amounting to about Tk 40 million yet, one official said.
"Most people of the country do not go to cinema hall for watching film due to lower standards of films. They depend to meet their entertainment needs on foreign films, serials and TV channels etc," he said.
Besides, they also take help to watch movie through available internet services. As a result, doors of the country's existing cinemas are getting shut down one after another, industry- insiders said.
Out of 1,230 cinemas, more than 908 have gone bust over the last one decade, according to data available with the Bangladesh Cinema Hall Owners Association (BCHOA).
Recently, Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu sent a letter to Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith for a grant assistance of Tk 100.5 million for the BFDC to continue its development works, said a high official of the Ministry of Finance (MoF).
The government does not provide any allocation in revenue budget in favour of the BFDC since its inception, they said         
"To keep the BFDC existence, an allocation of over Tk 100 million is needed urgently," the person at the FDC said.     
The BFDC was established on April 3, 1957 aiming to preserve and promote the tradition, culture and values of the country through inspiring the filmmakers and providing them various facilitates and  assistance so that they could produce healthy cinemas and cine-culture in Bangladesh.
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