After causing much controversy regarding its General Secretary candidacy since the election two years ago, the Bangladesh Film Artistes' Association (BFAA) is all set to welcome a new panel of executive committee members in its upcoming election.

The association elect an assembly of executive committee members through a lawful voting system every two years to lead, represent, and ensure the well-being of artistes and the film industry as a whole.

The upcoming biennial election of BFAA has been announced to be held on April 19 for the term 2024-26, informed artiste Samsul Alam, a member of the Election Commission's Appeal Board, to the Daily Star.

However, the strains, controversies and courtroom drama surrounding the last election for the 2022-24 term have made the upcoming election a matter of the moment in anticipation of a similar kind of rivalry and diplomatic collaborations.

One of the strongest panels of this term will be led by two influential artistes, Monowar Hossain Dipjol and Misha Sawdagar, with Joy Chowdhury as the organising secretary. Another panel will presumably be led by Nipun Akter, the general secretary of the recently ceased committee, although the panel awaits an official announcement.

In the last election, Nipun Akter and Zayed Khan were the 'talk of the town', primarily due to the many controversies surrounding their candidacy for General Secretary of the Bangladesh Film Artistes Association.

Although Zayed had been elected to the post of General Secretary, upon hearing an appeal filed by Nipun, the Appellate Division terminated his candidacy due to allegations of Zayed bribing the voters. After terminating his candidacy, the Appellate Division declared that the post would be taken over by her.

After creating a stir in the last election, Zayed Khan, the most anticipated candidate for this election, announced that he wouldn't participate in the upcoming one due to family reasons. Recently, in an interview with the media, the actor said, "I devoted enough of my time to BFAA elections that I couldn't make time for my family. I recently lost my parents, and now my family doesn't want me to get involved in elections. Therefore, I decided to opt out of the endeavour this time.

In the previous term, Misha, who was from Zayed's panel, added a layer of controversy to the pre-existing mayhem by attending and supporting  Ilias Kanchan and Nipun Akter's panel after the court dismissed Zayed's appeal to the general secretary position.

Regarding a possible dispute between Misha and Zayed, this year's panellist, actor Dipjol, said, "I don't think that there is any dispute existing between Misha and Zayed. They are good colleagues, and they will always be in support of a fair and peaceful election, is what I believe."

"This is not a time to think about disputes. We have to think about what went wrong with the previous committee and what can be done better in the next term; our concentration is solely on that," Dipjol said while adding that it might be his last election as he is not physically well enough to participate in the next one.

The actor shared that he is creating a panel from a sense of responsibility towards the film fraternity. He believes that artistes' rights need to be protected, and he is participating in the election for that purpose. 

He said, "Where is our film industry going? We are relying on foreign films now. The role of the Film Artists' Association has not been bold enough to tackle the poor situation of the film industry. For two years, I envision making a difference with my panel if we win. A complete list of the panel will be announced soon," the actor concluded.

Several sources have informed The Daily Star that the current president, Ilias Kanchan, is not contesting for presidency in the 2024-25 biennial election along with the current General Secretary, Nipun Akter.

On the other hand, rumours were circulating regarding Dhallywood's leading actor, Shakib Khan, who was rumoured to be contesting for the presidency alongside Nipun in the upcoming Film Artistes Association election. However, it has been confirmed that he will not run for the president's position in the election.

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Additionally, due to differences of opinion, former Joint General Secretary Symon Sadik recently submitted a request to step down from his committee position as his term concluded. He intends to contest the upcoming election as an independent candidate.