With every passing day, more and more of our movie theatres have been shutting down due to the lack of quality local content. In October last year, the leaders from the country's three film-related organisations, Bangladesh Film Exhibitors, Producers and Directors Association, agreed to screen Indian Hindi films to keep the cinema hall afloat.

In a meeting with the Information Minister last year, the owners of the hall proposed to import and display 10 Indian Hindi films a year. However, no update or initiative have come across in this regard in the last 10 months.

"The government had assured us that we will be allowed to import Hindi films," shares Mia Alauddin, senior vice-president of Film Exhibitors' Association. "Their assurance had boosted our hopes but the matter is still limited to what I see. We are trying to organise another meeting this October to discuss this issue. However, we won't have any choice but to close the halls if we don't see progress in the nearest future."

Madhumita, one of the largest and oldest cinema halls of Dhaka, has been closed for the past 17 months. "We are in a very bad shape but no one seems to be concerned about our struggles in this pandemic," shares former president of the Hall Owners Association Madhumita Cinema Hall owner Iftekhar Uddin Nawshad. "We don't have good Bangladeshi films to run in our theatres and thus, can't open the halls for the audience.

"As per our last meeting, we were unanimous about the screening of Hindi movies, however, there has been no further progress in importing Hindi movies since last year," mentions noted producer  Khorshed Alam Khosru. "We even promised to prioritise Bangladeshi films over Indian productions during festivals."

Bringing Hindi content to the Bangladesh audience through theatrical releases seemed to be the only way to save the cinema halls during the pandemic as no local producer is willing to take the risk of releasing their productions in this situation, adds Khorshed Alam Khosru.  

Shaheen Sumon, General Secretary of President of Bangladesh Film Directors Association (BFDA) looks forward to a unified decision that will help lessen the hurdles faced by all the stake holders in this regard. "Though we have not come to any conclusive decision regarding this issue, we will soon come up with a definite verdict," he concludes.

Translated by Ashley Shoptorshi Samaddar