by M A Hossain & Nirupom Azad 21 October 2022
Celluloid film/drama and culture are closely entwined with each other. Culture may be defined as the way people live in this materialistic world. And when we watch cinema/drama, we see the visual representation of culture through celluloid screens.
The Cinema industry emerged roughly 113 years ago. To be exact, (on December 28, 1895), two brothers named Auguste Lumiere (1862-1954) and Louis Lumiere (1864-1948) showcased their first film at the Hotel de Café in Paris. Thenceforth, the Cinema has gradually been becoming a popular medium of Culture from west to east as well as our Indian subcontinent.
This subcontinent had its first glimpse of Cinema, even antecedent to the Independence, somewhere between 1913 and 1914, which was shown by the name of a bioscope in Armanitola. The first completed Celluloid film was Mukh-o-Mukhos directed by Abdul Zabbar. Thereafter, myriad films were produced, enlivening us for years. During this watershed period, we have been blessed with a number of prolific dramatists such as Nurul Momin, Munir Chowdhury, Sayed Waliullah, etc. Ascribing to the efforts of these dramatists, our first complete drama was released in 1952, which was directed by Taracharan Shiqdar and was named “Vhadrajun.”
Post-independence, this incipient nation witnessed the formation of thousands of enterprises. A lot of digital media enterprises were introduced here thanks to the other nations, most notably by our neighbouring country. The most popular one of them was the DISH cable channels. These channels had a corollary effect of integrating foreign cultures within us. There is hardly a family, where at least one of the members is not engrossed with these programs. And owing to this, the choices of interest of people were largely influenced and had a negative impact on our family culture.
The Digital content that is showcased through these channels is market-oriented. Market-oriented products are being made based on the desires of people. Therefore, rather subtly, our preferences of Culture have largely been maneuvered by these contents. One thing is obvious, most of the market-oriented content does not represent the culture of our region. As such, our national identity of ours was tainted. National identity is important because people, who belong to a particular locality, represent a specific way of living predicating on their beliefs, rituals, and customs. And so, these activities are based on the natural surrounding which includes, soil, air, and weather.
Subsequently, these contents have inculcated poison into our core belief, values, and ideas and galvanised us into a nation, which often is not cognisant of its own identity. However, the dichotomy might be observed in the writings of some prolific writers, such as Humayun Ahmed, who wrote some of the most beautiful dramas and novels. Samsul Haq, Humayun Azad, Akhtaruzzaman Elias, Munir Chowdhury, and Selim Al Deen were blazing the trail for epitomising our culture with their writings. We were blessed with some notable film directors like Mita, Khan Ata, Momtazur Rahman, Subhash Dutta, Matin, Ehtesham, and Kazi Hayaat in the post-independence era.
Humayun Ahmed put emphasis on making drama, films. The dramas such as “Aaj Robibar,” “Ure Jay Bokpokkhi,” and “Nokkhotrer Rath,” etc are all-time favourites. He paved the way for making glorious and eminent films like” Aguner Porosmoni”, ‘Noi Number Bipod Shanked,” “Daruchini Deep”. In addition, Writers Munir Chowdhury came up with the Drama “Ektola- dotala”. So, since then, we have been finding our own identity.
Some genius actors in film industry like Razzak, Shabana, Kobori, Bobita, Suchanda, Golam Mostafa, Faruq and in drama Humayun Foridi, Afzal Hossain, Ferdousi Majumdar, Shuborna Mustafa, Raisul Islam Asad, and Shawmi Kaiser did their Job very clinically. They had entertained us for years, and some of them are still entertaining.
But after 2000, the tremendous growth of the world cinema industry, and the availability of these foreign content put adverse pressure on our industry. Writers were not paid properly, and their freedoms of the writers were stifled. The directors were impelled to produce content that had not even the remotest nexus with our Culture.
In the recent past, our showbiz industry has been rejuvenating. A number of the present promising actors like Arfan Nisho, Apurba, superstar Mosharraf Karim, and Chanchal Chowdhury are keeping the momentum in the right direction. Needless to say, actresses like Tasnia Farin whose presentation and style of acting have changed the dynamics of our showbiz psyche, be it in “Nisswash,” “Karaghar” or “ladies and Gentlemen. ” Even before these, our Golden Era hesitated to bet on actress-oriented projects. Besides her, Joya Ahsan, Badhon, Mehazabien Chowdhury, Sabila Nur, Tanjin Tisha are doing very well on our TV screens. Young directors like Aryan, Mostafa Farooki, Rafi, and Shawki are transcending our industry beyond our borders.
The incorporation of larger media giants like Hoichoi, Chorki, Zee5, and Bioscope are investing their money to revive the showbiz industry from this soil and will make prolific digital media content as well. ” Devi,” “Rehana Maryam Noor,” and “Television” have exhibited the prowess of our directors on the international platform and made the nation proud. So, we need a concerted effort to keep the momentum brighter.
M A Hossain, a columnist based in Bangladesh. His Blog handle is : MAHNEWS24/7
Nirupom Azad, independent Researcher.