Shyam Benegal to direct Indo-Bangla film on Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

A feature film on the life and works of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to be jointly produced by India and Bangladesh will be directed by acclaimed filmmaker Shyam Benegal.

A delegation from Bangladesh led by Gowher Rizvi, Adviser to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, including Bangladesh High Commissioner Syed Muazzem Ali, met Information and Broadcasting Ministry Secretary Amit Khare and other officials here, an official statement said.

The meeting focussed on various aspects of making the feature film on the founder of Bangladesh, co-production of which had earlier been announced by the prime ministers of both the countries.

The movie will be directed by Benegal who, along with scriptwriter of the movie Atul Tiwari, was also present at the meeting.

The Bangladesh delegation assured full cooperation in ensuring smooth logistics for shooting the movie in the neighbouring.

Tiwari would travel to Bangladesh to do background research for the project. He will be assisted by Piplu Khan, noted film personality from Bangladesh, the statement said.

Co-production of documentary on Bangladesh Liberation War was also discussed at the meeting. It was mutually agreed that the director of the documentary would be from Bangladesh who would be assisted by a co-director from India.

It was also announced that Prasar Bharati has decided to not only carry Bangladesh TV on DD Free Dish platform, but also to waive carriage fees for the same.

As a reciprocal gesture, the Bangladesh delegation announced that a Doordarshan channel will be adopted on the soon-to-be-launched DTH platform of Bangladesh.

A working agreement on cooperation between All India Radio and Bangladesh Betar was also agreed upon between the two countries, implementation of which would start from June.

The Indian delegation also highlighted the strong network of Community Radio in both the countries and offered the services of Indian Institute of Mass Communication for training of Bangladesh personnel, along with exploration of sharing of content and best practises in this field.