Cinema is a contemporary communication medium. It has shown its power as an effective medium of information, entertainment, and freedom of expression from time to time. Filmmakers have always used film as a means of involving the audience in a variety of current events.
From the beginning of the Bangladeshi film industry, war was one of the most considered topics in Bangladesh. Because Bangladesh was comparatively a newly independent country and many intellectuals took an active role in the Liberation War. The war had a direct impact on their creative thinking and they tried to express their perspectives with their works. For example, When the Liberation War began in 1971, renowned film director Chashi Nazrul Islam was a member of Mukti Bahini (Liberation Army) in the Liberation War. He decided that if he could survive the war, he would make a movie, based on the Bangladesh Liberation War which will tell about war victim’s perspectives. When Bangladesh was declared as a Liberal country after a nine-month war on 16 December 1971, through the surrender of the Pakistani forces, Chashi Nazrul Islam went to meet actor Khosru on December 19. Back then Khosru was a student leader and a freedom fighter during the war. Chashi Nazrul Islam expressed his desire to make a movie on the Liberation War. Khosru agreed instantly; as a result, in 1972 director Chashi Nazrul Islam came up with the first feature film about our Liberation War named “Ora Egaro Jon”, which is still perhaps, one of the most iconic films ever made in Bangladesh which depicts the sacrifices, struggles and the pride of independence. While some may consider this to be Chashi Nazrul Islam’s best effort as a director and very few disagree with that. Many remarkable films on the heroic war have been made, and both the audience and critics have praised them.
In 1971, the Liberation War of Bangladesh was a serious issue and got an significant amount of international attention. Chashi Nazrul Islam’s film got more concerned as most of the actors of the film took an active role in the liberation war too. The movie narrates the story of 11 fearless freedom fighters and their battles against the Pakistani armed forces.
Another movie that unveils the crisis of war situation of Bangladesh is “Aguner Poroshmoni”. It was released in 1994 and directed by the famous novelist Humayun Ahmed. The movie plot set in the middle of 1971. The film portrays when the curfew was going on all over Bangladesh during that time, the Mukti Bahini (Liberation Army) operates as an effective guerrilla force where Badiul Alam is a member. Badiul plans to start guerrilla operations toward the capital and takes shelter at Mr. Matin’s house. Mr. Matin lives with his loving wife Surma and two beautiful daughters, Ratri and Opala. In association with other freedom fighters, Badiul operates a few successful guerrilla attacks against the barbaric Pakistani military. However, his fellow freedom fighters are being caught by the military and got tortured and murdered. As Badiul is being taken to Matin’s house, he is shot and critically injured.
Ten years later, in 2004, Humayun Ahmed had another massive success in the industry with “Shyamol Chhaya,” a feature film on the Liberation War. The story of this film revolves around the sufferings of the war-ravaged people of Bangladesh in 1971. Pitamber, with his blind father and grandmother, Karim with his daughter-in-law Ratri, Fuli with her mother, Maulana Munshi, and his Begum, Gaurango with his mother and wife are the passengers on board. The boatmen are taking them to safety, far away from the fierce clutches of war. The people on board are devastated by the horrors of war. As the story advances, different events unravel.
While Humayun Ahmed’s films show Liberation War incidents, from a family perspective on the other hand director Chashi Nazrul Islam took it to another level. Hangor Nodi Grenade is an adaptation of Selina Hossain’s novel Hangor Nodi Grenade, which has remained unchanged. The film won Bangladesh National Film Award in three categories, including Best Director, Best Story, and Best Actress. This film comprises a mother’s tragic story, who dedicates her only child to the country’s freedom, during the Liberation War. Shuchorita, who played as a mother, had a special teenage child during the war. When Pakistan Army came to kill all the freedom fighters in their village, they know that some freedom fighters were hiding in Shuchorita’s house. When they arrived, there was only one last freedom fighter who had been injured. Shuchorita had to choose between giving up her son and the unknown freedom fighter.
Another film that is exposed with a female protagonist is Guerrilla. It was directed by Nasiruddin Yousuff and was based on a real incident. Guerrilla is the first Bangladeshi war film, where the story is about a female warrior, Bilkis Banu. Bilkis lost her husband Hasan on the bloody night on March 25, 1971. Cinematic representations of the war have always portrayed the combat experience as an exclusively masculine enterprise. Most of the audiences saw the women constructed as a passive victims. In this film, the director subverts widespread through the centering on a female freedom fighter, by the stereotypical gender norms.
Another Liberation War-based great film is Joyjatra, directed by Tauquir Ahmed. The movie is metaphorically compared the entire country to a boat, which is faced terrible time turbulence. It portrays the story of a boat journey in Bangladesh where the helpless people going towards the borders for safety during the War.
Where other Liberation War-based films tried to tell about the story from a point of view of a human being; Tareque Masud’s debut feature film “Matir Moina” tells the story from the viewpoint of religious conflict. The story sets in East Pakistan in the late 70s, during the unrest that would eventually bring about the creation of an independent Bangladesh after the Liberation War of 1971. Matir Moina narrates the story of Anu a young country boy who is sent to a Madrasah (Islamic school) by his devout father, Kazi. Warning against the dangers of blind subservience to religious leaders, “Matir Moina” switches between Anu’s experiences at the harsh Madrasah and his father’s increasingly irrational attempts to force his family to follow religious orthodoxy.
Matir Moina won the International Critics Prize at Cannes in 2002. For Bangladeshi national cinema, it’s a bit of a first: An internationally recognized (and widely disseminated) production that was well-received on the global platform and went to the shortlist for the 76th Oscar nomination in the Foreign Language category.
The story-telling of Amar Bondhu Rashed took a different approach. In which the events unfold the miseries and distress of war from a perspective of a young boy. It was a fictional story, based on the Liberation War of Bangladesh and written by Muhammad Zafar Iqbal. The film’s educational part is symbolized by the storytelling, which involves a father and his son. Parents or elders who had witnessed the war first-hand should share their experiences with post-war generations. Rashed was a brave young kid who helped the freedom fighters taking big risks. He also operates in a mission with his friends and fights against the Pakistani Army along with other freedom fighters. In the end, Rashed had two choices, one was to give out the positions of freedom fighters to the enemy and the other was to accept a bullet. Rashed took the courageous decision.
Source:
- Gayen. K,” Women, War and Cinema: Construction of Women in the Liberation War Films of Bangladesh”, French Journal for Research, (2015,3),
http://www.frenchjournalformediaresearch.com/lodel - 0/main/index.php?id=478&fbclid=IwAR2qXOsCWN0gtPRTxQtn0R3Y8lgO0UH0OycO9ZeZ2y5tXWPbLKd1sm2rJn8, (2020,6)
- “IMDB”, Most Popular Bangladesh Liberation War Movies and TV Shows, https://www.imdb.com/search/keyword/?keywords=bangladesh-liberation-war&fbclid=IwAR1_ph9mizhTXSC4fX-xS0iU-HU4duZfWTGBxK2thiroIf5AQuB7xMUo1UI
- (2017, March, 25). Must-watch Liberation War films. Dhaka Tribune, Retrieve from https://www.dhakatribune.com/showtime/2017/03/25/must-watch-liberation-war-films?fbclid=IwAR239wu103eZeOgWtgNGWNL8HB57MV9I2j3sTpvKktJiDFYTZ3ah9WgZqxc
All the images have been collected from different sources available on the internet.
