Humayun Ahmed was a Bangladeshi novelist, dramatist, screenwriter, filmmaker, songwriter, scholar, and academic. His breakthrough was his debut novel Nondito Noroke published in 1972. He wrote over 200 fiction and non-fiction books. He was one of the most popular authors and filmmakers in post-independence Bangladesh. Pakistani English newspaper Dawn referred to him as the cultural legend of Bangladesh.
Syed Waliullah was a Bangladeshi novelist, short-story writer and playwright. He was notable for his debut novel, Lalsalu. He was awarded Bangla Academy Literary Award (1961), Adamjee Prize (1965), Ekushey Padak (1984) and Bangladesh National Film for Best Story (2001).
Tanvir Mokammel is a Bangladeshi filmmaker and writer. He is the recipient of Ekushey Padak in 2017. He won Bangladesh National Film Awards total ten times for the films Nodir Naam Modhumoti (1995), Chitra Nodir Pare (1999) and Lalsalu (2001). He is the current director of Bangladesh Film Institute in Dhaka.
Humayun Kamrul Islam was a Bangladeshi actor. He worked in television dramas, movies and theatre plays. He won Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Actor for his lead role in the film Matritto (2004). He was awarded Ekushey Padak posthumously in 2018 by the Government of Bangladesh.
Tareque Masud was a Bangladeshi independent film director, film producer, screenwriter and lyricist. He first found success with the films Muktir Gaan (1995) and Matir Moina (2002), for which he won three international awards, including the International Critics' FIPRESCI Prize, in the Directors' Fortnight at 2002 Cannes Film Festival. The film became Bangladesh's first film to compete for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
The Cinema of Bangladesh is a diverse and vibrant entity, consisting of films produced across various regions, each contributing its unique linguistic and cultural perspective. Beyond the dominant Dhaka based Bengali-language film industry Dhallywood, which is a portmanteau of "Dhaka" and "Hollywood", Bangladesh is home to cinema in several other languages and dialects. For instance, Chakma cinema from Bandarban, Garo cinema from Sherpur, Meitei and Sylheti cinema from Sylhet, Chatgaiya cinema from Chattogram. These regional cinemas play a crucial role in preserving and promoting the linguistic and cultural heritage of the country. The dominant style of Bangladeshi cinema is melodramatic cinema, which developed from 1947 to 1990 and characterizes most films to this day. Cinema was introduced in Bangladesh in 1898 by the Bradford Bioscope Company, credited to have arranged the first film release in Bangladesh. Between 1913 and 1914, the first production company, Picture House, was opened. A 1928 short silent film titled Sukumari was the first Bengali-produced film in the region. The first full-length film, The Last Kiss, was released in 1931.
Ahmed Sofa was a Bangladeshi writer, thinker, novelist, poet, philosopher and public intellectual. Sofa is considered by many, including National Professor Abdur Razzaq and Salimullah Khan, to be the most important Bengali Muslim writer after Mir Mosharraf Hossain and Kazi Nazrul Islam. A writer by occupation, Sofa wrote 18 non-fiction books, 8 novels, 4 collections of poems, 2 collections of short stories, and several books in other genres.
Morshedul Islam is a Bangladeshi film director. His notable films include Agami (1984), Chaka (1993), Dipu Number Two (1996), Dukhai (1997), Khelaghor (2006), Durotto (2006) and Amar Bondhu Rashed (2011).
Anusheh Anadil is a Bangladeshi musician, artist, cultural activist, and social entrepreneur. The band 'Bangla' was the first female lead band from Bangladesh that became iconically popular in both Bangladesh and West Bengal (India), for their first album Kingkortobbobimuro (2002). Their rendition of spiritual folk songs, along with their own original songs, became a revolution for bringing the sounds of the village bard into popular culture. They helped popularize the philosophy of Fakir Lalon Shai, as a breath of fresh air, to the urban youth. Bangla's second album Prottutponnomotitto (2005) is a tribute to Fakir Lalon Shai. The album questions religious extremism and corrupt politics by using songs of the insightful mystic. The band 'Bangla' inspired many young musicians from both sides of Bengal to rediscover their roots.
Censorship in Bangladesh refers to the government censorship of the press and infringement of freedom of speech. Article 39 of the constitution of Bangladesh protects free speech.
Amar Bondhu Rashed is a film directed by Morshedul Islam, known for making indie movies. Adapted from the novel of same name Amar Bondhu Rashed by Muhammad Zafar Iqbal, the story narrates the courageous actions by schoolboy Rashed, told from the perspective of his friend Ibu, during the Bangladesh Liberation war. The movie was released on 1 April 2011. The music was composed and directed by Rizvi Hasan.
Ora Egaro Jon is a 1972 Bengali historical drama film written by Al Masood and directed by Chashi Nazrul Islam, based on the Bangladesh Liberation War. Director Islam and lead actor Kamrul Alam Khan Khasru were both members of Mukti Bahini.
The Bangladesh National Award for Best Film is one of the categories in the National Film Awards presented annually by the Department of Films and Publications, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information in Bangladesh. It is the highest award for films in Bangladesh. This award goes to the producers of the film and is the only category in a year. The award comprises a medal, a certificate, and a cash prize of ৳50,000.
Jyotika Jyoti is a Bangladeshi actress. Her first film, Ayna, directed by Kabori Sarwar, was released in 2005. The next two important releases were Nondito Noroke by Belal Ahmed and Rabeya by Tanvir Mokammel. Later she acted in Tanvir Mokammel's film Jibondhuli and Azad Kalam's Bedeni. Jyoti also acted in a number of short film. her first short film named Break Up was in 2010. she acted in seven short film till 2019. In 2015, she appeared in Morshedul Islam's Anil Bagchir Ekdin as Atoshi, Anil's sister. Jyoti starred in Grash, production of which began in 2013. It was released in 2017.
The 1990s was a decade of the Gregorian calendar that began on 1 January 1990, and ended on 31 December 1999. For Bangladesh this decade was characterized by transition to democracy, rapid urbanisation and globalization and struggle for free and fair elections. The newly earned democracy influenced the cultural activities in the decade.
Rabeya, also known by its English title, The Sister, is a 2008 Bangladeshi Bengali-language war film written and directed by Tanvir Mokammel, with permit from the Government of Bangladesh. The film is set during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, and stars Aly Zaker, Bonna Mirza, Jyotika Jyoti, and Tauquir Ahmed in lead roles. According to Mokammel, Rabeya is a "deconstruction" of the Sophocles play, Antigone, and was premiered on December 6, 2008.
Rupsha Nodir Banke is a 2020 Bangladeshi biographical full-length film. This Bangladesh government-funded film is written and directed by Ekushey Padak-winning filmmaker Tanvir Mokammel. The main thrust of the film is the involvement of events in the historical life of a supporter of left-wing politics at different ages. In the political biography of the main character of the film called Manabratan Mukhopadhyay, various historical events that happened in Bangladesh from 1930 to 1971 are presented. Khairul Alam Sabuj, Tawsif Saadman Turjo and Zahid Hasan Sobhan have acted according to the age of Manabratan Mukhopadhyay.
