Bengali Cinema

History

Origin: The history of the cinema of Bangladesh dates back to 1898, when the Bradford Bioscope Company arranged the screening of a film at the Crown Theatre near Dhaka Harbour, which became the first film ever to be released in Bangladesh. Bangladesh started the journey of its own production in 1913, with "New Picture House" becoming the first theater to be built in present-day Bangladesh.
On 28 December 1895 in Paris De Café, the Lumiere brothers started the first commercial bioscope show. After 6 months, the Lumiere Brothers started the screening of their films in Dhaka, becoming the first established bioscope of the subcontinent. The first ever films to be released in Bangladesh were The Jubli Michil, Greek-Turkey Battle, The Jump of Princess Diana, The Game of Snow and The French Underground Railway.

Silent Era: The first Bengali silent film, Bless the World, was released on 8 November in 1919 under the direction of Jotish Banerjee from the French Madden Company. There were eighty theaters in Bangladesh during that time. In 1927-28, the Dhaka Royal family stepped forward and produced a short film named The Good Girl. After the success of The Good Girl, the Royal family went for a bigger venture. They set up the Dhaka East Bengal Cinematograph Society and produced a full-length silent movie titled The Last Kiss, the first Bangladeshi full-length silent film.

Early Development: By 1947, there were around 80 cinemas in what is now Bangladesh. The first Bengali organization for producing and exhibiting films was the Royal Bioscope Company, established in the 1890s in Calcutta by Hiralal Sen. Although feature films were made in Bengali as early as 1919 (Bilwa Mangal), most production was done in Calcutta. The Nawab family of Dhaka produced Sukumari (1928–1929) and The Last Kiss (1931).

Pakistan Era: After the partition of India in 1947, the first film made in East Pakistan was a newsreel about the visit of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, produced in 1948 by the radio broadcaster Nazir Ahmed.

The first full-length feature film with sound made in East Pakistan was Mukh O Mukhosh, which was produced by Abdul Jabbar Khan and released on August 3, 1956. Editing, printing and all other film processing for this movie were done in Lahore, Pakistan. In the 1960s, one of the prominent directors of East Bengal was Zahir Raihan. Some of his works include Kokhono Asheni, Kancher Deyal, Dui Bhai, Shangam, Let There be Litet, and Jibon Theke Neya.

In 1971 he made a documentary on the Bangladeshi Liberation War, Stop Genocide, which was one of the first internationally acclaimed films of Bangladesh.

Present

During mid 1990s, Bangladeshi films started losing a large sector of audience because of lack of quality. The film directors started giving more attention to film's music, dance and other elements instead of story and screenplay. Some also began to add action and intense scenes. A few directors began to imitate and copy foreign films, mostly Indian films. Hence, the films could attract only the urban living small income people.

During 2000s, Bangladeshi films began doing poor business and initially, the numbers of films decreased. The term 'Bangla Cinema' became a matter of joke among the people. Though there always have been some independent film makers who attempt to make movies in a good manner, their work attract only a few audience.

After a drastic decline in the 2000s, the Bangladeshi film industry bounced back after 2009. With the help of the Bangladeshi Government and the emergence of giant production companies, the Bangladeshi film industry is growing at a fast pace. Since 2013, Bangladesh has developed several large production and distribution companies, such as Monsoon films, Jaaz Multimedia and Tiger Media Limited and the films produced by them have been doing better business than others for their large budget and glamorous appearance. But these films hardly attract the educated audience living in rural and urban areas.

The year 2014 has been the most profitable year yet, while the previous record is expected to be surpassed in 2015, with some of Bangladesh's biggest films lined up for release. Bollywood's Reliance Entertainment Limited has expressed their interest in producing Bangladeshi films. However, the Bangladesh Film Corporation didn't respond due to the ban on Indian films in Bangladesh.

Government Support

The government of Bangladesh played a huge role in the re-emergence of Bangladeshi films. The Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (BFDC) was established as an assistance hub for Bangladeshi cinema. The government also spends about $1 million annually for the development of Bangladeshi art cinema.

The Golden Era of Dhallywood

Back in 1980’s the movies of dhallywood was more realistic and life based storied. This time period is recognized as the golden era. Films like “Titash Ekti Nadir Naam” and “Ora 11 Jon” were classics.

➢ Black & White: At the very beginning the movie used to be black and white. High technology was not available in that time. So the industry had to adjust with the black and white filmography. ➢ Realistic Stories: The stories of movies at that time were quiet realistic. Most of the stories were picked from day to dat life. ➢ Good songs: Many popular and well known singers used to deliver good songs that waved the movie very well. ➢ Natural Acting: No over drama was mixed in acting at that time. ➢ Sober Get-up: Formal and gentle dress up was followed by the acting crews. ➢ Inner Meaning: Every movie wanted to give a message and a meaning through their stories.

The Commercial Films Era

In 2000 the movie material and stories of Dhallywood changed. Less reality, colorful, fake action based films began and movies only became the way to earn money.

➢ Colorful Print: During this time the film industry found a new technology. It was a new step towards a new era. The films got a new look, colorful look. ➢ Melodramatic Stories: Non realistic stories started to become the main material of movies by this time. ➢ Peculiar Music Composition: Music also became very weird. That resulted to distract audience interest from music of movies. ➢ Overacting: Unnecessary acting became another fact of this era. ➢ Fake Action: Fake and weird action, fights were another part of this era.

The Recent Era

More recently Dhallywood has become a mixed platform for both commercial and story based movies. Two types of movie makers are playing main roles in the Industry.

Typical Recipe of Dhallywood

Almost every movie in Dhallywood is made in the same formula. Poor hero, Rich heroine, Six songs, Three fights, Two villains, Police and Happy ending. Nevertheless only the actors face changes.

▪ Poor Hero ▪ Rich Heroine ▪ Six Songs ▪ Three Fights ▪ Two Villains ▪ Police ▪ Happy Ending

Almost every movie is following this materials and recipe. This are making audience bored.

Scope of Improvements

Dhallywood may improve their movie qualities if they give more effort in making films rather making money earning strategy. They can improve if they put meaningful stories, quality of print, careful about casting, quality of music, quality of dance moves, quality of get ups, technology, trained directors, environment of cinema halls etc.

➢ Meaningful stories ➢ Quality of Print ➢ Careful about casting ➢ Quality of music ➢ Quality of dance moves ➢ Quality of get-up ➢ Technology ➢ Trained directors ➢ Environment of cinema halls

If Bangladeshi film industry follows this particular steps and formula, they surely have the potential and ability to deliver extraordinary movies. People of the country definitely deserve better movies and entertainment policies.

Conclusion

Moreover we can say Dhallywood or Bengali Film Industry may not be as great in making movies as it should be. But it can improve with little more effort. Some research say, Dhallywood is becoming advanced in technology but it may need the right directions. The experience directors and technicians should pave the way and come forward to give the film industry a good direction.