The Bangladesh film sector was declared an industry two years ago, in 2012. Producers, distributors and film-related people had been voicing the demand for long. In the context of the recent colloquia and lighter seminars mooting the idea of bringing diversification to our exports, the absence of feature films on the list of export items seems surprising.
The budding entrepreneurs and traders have long been toying with different innovative ideas about the sources of finance for the untapped exports. But neither the locally made movies, nor their loan or credit prospects have appealed to them.
The so-called mainstream Bangladeshi movies have earned a lot of ill reputation among the middle-class cine-goers of the country. The genre virtually has no existence with the general film buffs in the Bangla-speaking Paschimbanga state in India. In spite of this bitter truth, it is high time our enterprising traders with ambition focused a little on exportable movies --- and mulled approaching banks and financial institutions for loans or credits to be used in the business.
Since our filmdom has been declared an industry, it is now entitled to a lot of business-related benefits and exemptions including those related to taxes. The new industry can now demand exclusive zones for film-related activities. With a strong commitment and enterprising zeal, Bangladesh can usher in a grand rejuvenation in its cinema. Because of its new identity as an industry, we can at least make attempts to explore its trade potential.
The country's film world began its journey in 1956, with the release of a neatly made feature film called Mookh O Mookhosh.
After making a number of family-based and romance-laced Bangla films in the sixties that witnessed talented directors like Zahir Raihan, Salah Uddin, Fateh Lohani, Khan Ataur Rahman et al, the cinema world in the erstwhile East Pakistan made a spectacular splash with some big-budget super-hit films. These films ran 'houseful' shows for weeks in a row. In order to ensure business in the then West Pakistan, some of these films used Urdu dialogues or were dubbed in that language.
It was Zahir Raihan, an exceptionally talented film maker of the time, who pioneered the making of commercially successful cinema in this country before independence. Along with the likes of Kokhono Asheni or Jibon Thekey Neya, he directed popular films like Sangam, Bahana or Behula.
In the years immediately before and after independence, a bevy of young directors and producers occupied the Dhaka 'film industry', some making attempts to bring purely entertaining commercial movies to the theatres.
Against the backdrop of the brief, but spirited, growth of cinema in Bangladesh, the periodic emergence of directors and producers with flair for commercial ventures is noticeable. Although cinema in independent Bangladesh had to experience a kind of decadence thanks to the flooding of the industry with nouveaux riches, and their crude productions, the film makers with talent were also entering the scene. But the centre-stage had kept eluding them. We witnessed how the creative film geniuses had been elbowed out from the mainstream cinema, or shoved into oblivion. They could still be brought back.
To the majority of the middle-class movie-viewers, the Bangladesh filmdom has long been dead. For them cinema has been replaced with DVDs or CDs of mainly Indian films. The state of our present cinema could be likened to a 'waste land' growing just cactuses.
Achieving the status of an industry could not have come at a better time for Bangladeshi cinema. It is our misfortune that we are yet to realise the great impact the government decision may leave on our film world. It is high time we began our new journey in earnest.
That the film sector people can approach the government for loans to finance their productions is now a reality. These loans or credits could be availed from both public and private banks as well as financial institutions. Many big corporate houses could play a major role here.
The movies made on the said loans will be especially meant for international and regional audiences: export, that is. They won't be the low-budget avant-garde or off-beat films normally made on government grants (Onudaan). The Dhaka film industry in its new voyage should go for mega ventures on large finances, which might also comprise individual investments. The yet-to-be explored area should be encouraged to make star-studded, glitzy films.
As the prime focus of the endeavour will be on commerce, we had better kept in our mind the so-called commercial movies --- the likes of Sholey, Silsila, Ghazni or Dhoom-3 made in India. We can maintain a distance from artiness for the time being, especially when engaged in commercial ventures. Viewing from a business perspective, what we shall be trying to home in on are pure entertainers.
Such a project is not without hazards. Our broader cultural similarity with India, thus prompting overseas cine-goers to confuse our productions with those from Bollywood, is one of them. That's why we have yet to make a distinctive identity for our cooked food in the UK or the USA. In order to survive in the overseas market, our foreign eateries offering Bangladeshi or Bengali food let themselves pass as Indian ones. The truth hurts us. But it applies to the average Bangladeshi restaurant owners in British or American cities. A Tommy Miah or an Amin Ali is really hard to come by frequently. Yet in the midst of British restaurateurs, these two Bangladesh-born UK residents have long been upholding the country's image by putting in their hard labour and business finesse.
When it comes to cinema, we should be prepared for a similar challenging situation before we embark on the final ventures to serve the outside world in the era of globalisation.
India, in the decades of the 40s and 50s, showcased Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Shammi Kapoor, Nargis, Madhubala, Meena Kumari, Baijayantimala et al before the audiences, particularly in the then Soviet Russia. In the following decades, the Indian cinema export market witnessed a wider swathe with the inclusion of South Africa. From the seventies onwards, the Bollywood has been churning out dozens of blockbuster films with the market exploring destinations like the Middle Eastern and North African countries. Amitabh Bachchan, Rajesh Khanna, Hema Malini, Rekha and the later-year stars such as Shahrukh Khan, Karina Kapoor, Aamir Khan or Aishwaria Rai are now household names to the movie-goers in these regions.
As per the rule of the trade, a special one at that, the Bangladeshi film producers and distributors will be required to put in their best of efforts in the act of making movies in the style of Mumbai productions.
Exporting films is a sensitive affair, as it involves the true and honest portrayal of our culture and heritage. Unlike those made in India and screened overseas, we have to be careful about overexposing youthful exuberance and violence. This 'gap' can be filled by strong story-line, good music, visual richness and latest optical special effects. On top of all, we need to raise actors and actresses who have the capability of emerging as stars with glamour.
Yet, overseas cine-goers are long used to watching a fantasised reality in the films from outside, India in particular. Given this fact, we cannot banish the elements of 'dream-machine' from the new movies.
These days, this special type of export is intertwined with DVDs or CDs of the films shown on screen. This DVD trade can be carried out through a legal channel. But illegal DVD productions have lately become a global menace.
We can start with Southeast Asia, followed by Russia, China and Latin America. The Bangla-speaking and South Asian audiences in the UK, the USA and Canada could come next. The Middle Eastern and the Gulf countries might prove to be a lucrative market for our films in the future.
It might take 20-25 more years for Bangladesh to make an Avatar, an E.T. or a Ghazni, but we can humbly set foot on the global market with dazzling folk musicals shot in modern setting, or their animation-versions.
shihabskr@ymail.com
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