The leaders of Bangladesh Film Exhibitors’ Association have demanded an import of Indian cinema, as they concern of incurring losses due to a scarcity of high quality Bangla cinemas. On May 12, the leaders of the affiliation had raised this matter in a gathering with the Minister of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, Dr. Hasan Mahmud, MP.
Sudip Kumar Das, Chief Advisor to the Exhibitors’ affiliation, stated, “Hall owners are keen to take loans. However, if you want to return this loan with interest, you have to do so by generating revenue from showing films in the halls. It is not possible to pay off these loans if we show movies that are currently being made in the country. That is why hall owners are requesting to showcase more Hindi films, as it can help bring in revenue.”
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Iftekhar Uddin Naushad, managing director of Modhumita Hall, advised The Daily Star, “Last Eid-ul-Fitr, we have been doing nicely with native movies. However, at current, we’re going by way of a foul scenario. If we proceed on this trajectory, we’ll incur heavy losses. A paan salesman earns more cash day by day than us. We want to make extra movies which have good tales, high quality producers and expert actors. I’ve heard from the censor board, that there’s a concern that upcoming native movies aren’t up to the usual. If we want to save our cinema halls, we should begin importing Hindi movies. If we do not, then we may have to shut down our halls quickly. The import of Hindi movies is important to flip the cinema corridor business round. ‘
Rubel, from Madhuban Cineplex in Bogra advised The Daily Star, “We are not able to bring audiences into our halls in any way. To save the cinema halls, we must start importing Hindi movies. Otherwise, I don’t think it will be possible to save our halls. Bengali movies from India should also be alongside Hindi movies. If we continue with the status quo, then very soon we will have to close our doors and move onto another business.”
Ahsan Ullah, an official from Shyamoli Cinema Hall talked about to The Daily Star, “If we import Hindi films, there is an opportunity to increase our audience. If Hindi movies runs alongside Bangla one, then we may be able to survive. I hope all film-related organisations will come to a consensus on this issue.”
