Mira Nair is an Indian-American filmmaker based in New York City. Her production company, Mirabai Films, specializes in films for international audiences on Indian society, whether in the economic, social or cultural spheres. Among her best known films are Mississippi Masala, The Namesake, the Golden Lion–winning Monsoon Wedding, and Salaam Bombay!, which received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and the BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language.
Ritwik Kumar Ghatak was an Indian film director, screenwriter, actor and playwright. Along with prominent contemporary Bengali filmmakers like Satyajit Ray, Tapan Sinha and Mrinal Sen, his cinema is primarily remembered for its meticulous depiction of social reality, partition and feminism. He won the National Film Award's Rajat Kamal Award for Best Story in 1974 for his Jukti Takko Aar Gappo and Best Director's Award from Bangladesh Cine Journalist's Association for Titash Ekti Nadir Naam. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri for Arts in 1970.
The culture of Bangladesh is intertwined with the culture of the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent. It has evolved over the centuries and encompasses the cultural diversity of several social groups of Bangladesh. The Bengal Renaissance of the 18th early 19th centuries, noted Bengali writers, saints, authors, scientists, researchers, thinkers, music composers, painters, film-makers have played a significant role in the development of Bengali culture. The culture of Bangladesh is deeply intertwined with the culture of the Bengal region. Basically, Bengali culture refers to the culture of Bangladesh. The Bengal Renaissance contained the seeds of a nascent political Indian nationalism which was the precursor in many ways to modern Indian artistic cultural expression.
Jharna Basak, known by her stage name Shabnam, is a Bangladeshi–Pakistani stage and film actress. Actor Waheed Murad introduced her to the Pakistani film industry by offering her a lead role in his film Samundar in 1968. Shabnam remained active in Lollywood in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. She has been nominated for Nigar awards several times, winning it 13 times. She has appeared in over 150 films films. She was a leading actress in the Pakistani film industry for 28 years.
The Cinema of Bangladesh, also known as Bangla cinema, is a diverse and vibrant entity, consisting of films produced across various regions in Bangladesh, 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.
Titash Ekti Nadir Naam, or A River Called Titas, is a 1973 Indian-Bangladeshi film directed by Ritwik Ghatak. The film was based on the novel of the same name, by Adwaita Mallabarman. It explores the life of the fishermen on the bank of the Titas River in Brahmanbaria, Bangladesh.
Jaya Maswood, popularly known as Jaya Ahsan, is a Bangladeshi film actress, model, producer and playback singer. Starting her career as a model and, later, as a film actress, she works mostly in Bangladeshi and Indian Bengali films. She won Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Actress six times for her performances in the films Guerrilla (2011), Chorabali (2012), Zero Degree (2015), Debi (2018), Alatchakra (2021), and Beauty Circus (2022). She also earned four Filmfare Awards East, Zee Cine Awards, and Meril-Prothom Alo Awards.
Ferdousi Mazumder is a Bangladeshi film, television and stage actress. She was awarded Ekushey Padak (1998), Independence Day Award (2020) and Bangla Academy Literary Award (2020) by the government of Bangladesh. As of 2009, on stage she has given over 1200 performances of about 35 plays, mostly for her own group, Theatre. Director Abdullah Al Mamun called her "one of the most sought after actresses of the golden era of BTV dramas".
Nurul Alam Atique is a Bangladeshi television dramatist, scriptwriter and film-maker. Atique received the Bangladesh National Film Award as the best scriptwriter for the full-length feature film Kittonkhola directed by Abu Sayeed. He also received the National Award for Best Scriptwriter for the film Laal Moroger Jhuti, which he directed himself. This film, based on the Liberation War of 1971 in Bangladesh, won four National Awards, including Best Film. He also received the Meril-Prothom Alo Awards as the best director and best scriptwriter for his first film Choturtha Matra. His film Peyarar Subash was an official selection of 45th Moscow International Film Festival and was later released in theatres in Bangladesh and available on Chorki.
There have been numerous works of art created as a result of the Bangladesh Liberation War. In 1971, a concert was organized by members of the British rock band, The Beatles, in support of Bangladesh. The songs recorded for and broadcast on Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra are still considered to be the best of Bangladeshi protest songs.
Shabnam Virmani is a documentary film maker. She has also been an artist-in-residence at the Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology in Bangalore since 2002. A co-founder of the Drishti Media Arts and Human Rights Collective, Virmani has directed several documentaries, some of which have won awards. She's also a composer and festivities participant.
Devdas is a 2013 Bangladeshi romantic period drama film based on the Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay novel Devdas. The film is directed by Chashi Nazrul Islam, who also directed the 1982 version and produced by Faridur Reza Sagar under the banner of his Impress Telefilm, based on the 1917 novel of the same name by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. The film is set in the early 1900s and follows Shakib Khan as Devdas Mukherjee, a wealthy law graduate who returns from Calcutta after 13 years to marry his childhood sweetheart, Paro, played by Apu Biswas. However, the rejection of this marriage by his own family sparks his descent into alcoholism, ultimately leading to his emotional deterioration and him seeking refuge with a courtesan, Chandramukhi, played by Moushumi.
Sara Zaker is a Bangladeshi theatre and television actor, director, business entrepreneur and social activist. She was awarded Ekushey Padak by the Government of Bangladesh in 2017.
Martha Alter Chen is an American academic, scholar and social worker, who is presently a lecturer in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and senior advisor of the global research-policy-action network WIEGO and a member of the Advisory Board of the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER). Martha is a development practitioner and scholar who has worked with the working poor in India, South Asia, and around the world. Her areas of specialization are employment, poverty alleviation, informal economy, and gender. She lived in Bangladesh working with BRAC, one of the world's largest non-governmental organizations, and in India, as field representative of Oxfam America for India and Bangladesh for 15 years.
Ferdousi Priyabhashini was a Bangladeshi sculptor. She was the first one to publicly announce herself as Birangona, a term coined by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman for the rape victims of the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971. Government of Bangladesh awarded her Independence Day Award in 2010.
Narges Abyar is an Iranian film director, author, and screenwriter, best known for directing Track 143, Breath, and When the Moon Was Full. The film Track 143 is adapted from Abyar's novel titled The Third Eye narrating the story of a woman and her son during the time of war. Her films sensitively picture the sufferings of women and children caused by the society, war or radicalism.
Shabnam Parvin is a Bangladeshi actress, director, and producer.
Dr. Bobby Sarma Baruah is a national and international award-winning Indian filmmaker, producer and screenwriter whose narrative content on socio-cultural issues in Assam and the Northeast India has been highly appreciated. Her debut feature film Adomya in which she explored the sensitivity and emotional world of women was awarded the best film in the spiritual category at the 13th Dhaka International Film Festival.
Taneem Rahman Angshu is a National Award winning Bangladeshi film director, screenwriter, editor and CGI artist who largely works in Bengali films and TV productions. His first feature film Shopner Ghor (2018), was a horror film which had critical success. He won the Best Director (Bangladesh) for Shopner Ghor at 18th Telecine Award in Kolkata, India. His second film No Dorai (2019), was a major commercial success and won six national awards at Bangladesh's 33rd National Film Award (2019) including the Best Director and Best Film Category. ‘No Dorai’ also won FIPRESCI at 18th Dhaka International Film Festival. Angshu also won Best Music Video Award in Channel-I Music Awards for two consecutive years, 2016 and 2017.
Ajob Karkhana is a 2024 Bangladeshi local musical drama film story, dialogued, screenplay and directed Shabnam Ferdousi and produced by Samia Zaman under Versa Media banner. The film was made with a grant from the Bangladesh government in the fiscal year 2016-17 and the music of the film are composed by band Vikings and Labik Kamal Gaurob and it is directorial debut of Shabnam Ferdousi.
