Bangladesh Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Naman Ramachandran A galaxy of A-list talent will participate in SXSW’s inaugural South Asian House initiative. Panel discussion Creating South Asian Content for a Global Audience, will feature actor Rizwan Manji (“Schitt’s Creek”), Emmy-winning producer/writer for Vice, Falguni Adams (“Dateline NBC”) and Apoorva Bakshi, producer of International Emmy-winning series “Delhi Crime,” moderated by CEO of Jingo Media and producer of South Asian House Jitin Hingorani. Another panel, Investing in the Future of Our South Asian Stories, will feature CEO and co-founder of URL Media S. Mitra Kalita and actor Kausar Mohammed (“The Flash”), moderated by co-founder of Box Office Guru Media Gitesh Pandya.

Shamima Begum will today find out whether she has won an appeal against the decision to remove her British citizenship. Ms Begum was 15 when she and two other east London schoolgirls travelled to Syria to join the so-called Islamic State (IS) in February 2015.

Naman Ramachandran Singapore-based film marketing and distribution firm Continental Entertainment Pte. Ltd. (CEPL), which holds global distribution rights for Bangladeshi auteur Mostofa Sarwar Farooki’s “Saturday Afternoon,” will release the film in the U.S. and Canada through Reliance Entertainment. The Bengali-and-English-language film takes its cue from the brutal terrorist attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka in 2016, which took place on a quiet Saturday afternoon and left more than 20 people dead. It had considerable festival play, winning awards at Fukuoka, Moscow and Vesoul. The film was initially banned and had finally been cleared for release in January after a four year struggle with the Bangladesh Film Censor Board. However Bangladesh’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting appears to have taken a U turn and the situation remains fluid. Consequently, the film will open in the U.S. and Canada on March 10 before its Bangladesh release. It will also be released in other countries in subsequent months.

Naman Ramachandran Indian festival favorite and box office success “Dostojee” (“Two Friends”), directed by Prasun Chatterjee will release across the U.S., U.A.E. and Australia and New Zealand on March 17. California-based film distribution company Bioskope Films LLC has acquired U.S. theatrical rights and will release the film across 75 cities in 26 states. The theatrical release is an Oscar-qualifying run making the Bengali-language “Dostojee” eligible for consideration at the 96th Academy Awards, 2024. The film will have a premiere in New York City. “Dostojee” will also release theatrically across 15 cities in Canada, 10 cities in Australia and New Zealand, and Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Ajman in the U.A.E. Phars Film Co Motion Pictures will handle the U.A.E. distribution and Bongoz Films Australia and New Zealand.

EXCLUSIVE: Myco claims it experienced a 1,200% uptick in new users after becoming the first web3 video platform to stream a live sports event.

India’s Reliance Entertainment and Singapore-based Continental Entertainment Private Limited (CEPL) are releasing Bangladesh’s Oscars submission Hawa (Wind) across India, marking the first time ever that a purely Bangladeshi film has received a wide pan-India release. 

A Dumfries Infirmary medic has been named as the country’s best doctor.

EXCLUSIVE: In step with domestic, Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Strange World will make its offshore theatrical debut this week, and is eyeing an overseas start in the $21M-$29M range. That’s lower than where a new animated movie from Disney might normally kick off, but the studio has taken a voluntary pass on more than 20 markets, choosing not to submit the film in countries where its LGBTQ+ content would have very likely forced demands for edits.

Health officials have warned about two mutant strains of coronavirus that have emerged in the UK.

EXCLUSIVE: Indian Two Time Grammy Award composer and environmentalist Ricky Kej has signed to compose the original music for American-Bangladeshi writer-director Asif Akbar’s spy action-thriller MR-9 featuring Frank Grillo as a villain.

A rapidly spreading Covid strain has been dubbed the Nightmare Variant after it was found to double infections in a matter of days.

Naman Ramachandran Chorki, one of the leaders in Bangladesh’s fiercely competitive Bengali-language streaming landscape, has revealed a strong 2023 slate. The 25-strong lineup is director-driven, helmed by 25 of the leading lights of the Bangladesh industry. Mostofa Sarwar Farooki (“No Land’s Man”), leads the slate with “Ministry of Love,” details of which are under wraps at the moment. Abdullah Mohammad Saad, whose “Rehana” was at Cannes and Busan in 2021, also has an under wraps projects in the lineup. Abu Shahed Emon (“Jalal’s Story”) has thriller “Mercules” in the works for Chorki, where a woman must find out if the love of her life and father of her unborn child is a rapist.

Manori Ravindran International Editor New York’s South Asian International Film Festival has appointed Chayan Sarkar as its new president. A filmmaker, entrepreneur and festival director, Sarkar is also the founder of the Indian International Film Festival of Queensland in Australia. He takes over from SAIFF founder Shilen Amin, who will step down as president, but will remain a member of the festival’s board of directors. Sarkar joins SAIFF as the festival enters its 19th year as a leading film festival in the U.S. for new cinema from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, and within the Indian diaspora. In recent years, SAIFF has become increasingly influential as a platform for South Asian cinema, both in the U.S. and internationally. Fourteen of India’s submissions for the international feature film Oscar have had their North American premieres at the festival.

Naman Ramachandran For the first time in its 37-year history, the SXSW festival in Austin will host South Asian House, an initiative to celebrate South Asians from India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and Maldives as well as accomplished members of the diaspora. The initiative, scheduled for the first weekend of SXSW on March 11 and 12, 2023, will feature programming around film and television, dance and music, technology, business, fashion, comedy and climate change from a South Asian world view across plenaries, sessions, panel discussions, workshops, art exhibits, book launches and music concerts. It will take place in the 4th Street neighborhood of downtown Austin, near the Austin Convention Center event headquarters.

Deborah Roberts will expand her role at ABC News, becoming a contributing anchor for 20/20 in addition to her duties as senior national affairs correspondent.

Manori Ravindran International Editor European training program School of Film Advancement (SOFA), which aims to strengthen regional film industries across Europe with a focus on Eastern partnership, has launched its ninth edition and 2022-2023 project selection. The first SOFA workshop, running through Sept. 30, kicked off on Sunday outside the Polish capital of Warsaw. After two virtual years, the program returns with an expanded edition that comprises a line-up of 16 projects and 20 participants, composed of up-and-coming film industry executives, curators and cultural managers from 17 countries including Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, the Czech Republic, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Denmark, Bangladesh, Switzerland and Germany.

Naman Ramachandran Leading Bengali-language focused streamer Hoichoi has unveiled a 25-strong Indian and Bangladeshi series slate on the occasion of its fifth anniversary of operations. Stepping into its sixth year, Hoichoi, revealed 21 shows from India and four from Bangladesh at a gala event in Kolkata on Tuesday. Content creators Srijit Mukherji, Dhrubo Banerjee, Anirban Bhattacharya, Sahana Dutta, Syed Ahmed Shawki, Ashfaque Nipun and others continue their journey with Hoichoi, while Raj Chakraborty and Arindam Sil are making their streaming debuts. Hoichoi co-founder Vishnu Mohta said that the streamer’s monthy active users have increased by 40% and its international user base has risen by 30%. Operated by studio SVF Entertainment, Hoichoi was launched in 2017.

Like Meghan Markle, Kate Middleton also wore jewellery that once belonged to the Queen at her funeral on Monday.

The 18thCamden International Film Festival on Maine’s mid-coast – an increasingly important destination for documentary filmmakers – wrapped its in-person portion Sunday after announcing a handful of awards.

Naman Ramachandran Leading Indian AVOD platform MX Player has set a multi-year partnership with Lionsgate to bring premium Hollywood content onto the service. Via this agreement, MX Player consumers in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Maldives will now have access to more than 50 Hollywood blockbuster films dubbed in the Hindi, Tamil and Telugu languages in a year. Titles available in September include “Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1,” “Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2,” “War” and “Destruction: Las Vegas.” Mansi Shrivastav, senior VP, content acquisitions and alliances, MX Player, said: “Our partnership with Lionsgate allows us to bring some of the most popular and commercially acclaimed Hollywood films to our viewers in their local languages. This partnership also enables us to attract new users to the platform while consolidating our existing audience base. We are thrilled with this alliance and look forward to working closely with the team at Lionsgate to make more Hollywood content available for users in the region.”

Naman Ramachandran On the occasion of India’s 75th Independence Day on Aug. 15, the first teaser of Bollywood war epic “Pippa” has been revealed and Dec. 2 has been set as the release date.

Naman Ramachandran The Indian government has approved an audiovisual co-production treaty with Australia, designed to promote joint production of films between the two countries.While details are currently scarce, producer contributions from the two countries can vary from 20% to 80% of the final total cost of the jointly produced work.“Australia has emerged as a preferred destination for shooting of Indian films. India is fast emerging as a major content hub for filmmakers looking for new projects.

West Ham will host Manchester City for the Matchday 1 of the 2022/2023 Premier League. Here you will find all the information you need to know about this game, including how to watch it on TV or live stream in your country.

EXCLUSIVE: Fortress star Kelly Greyson has joined the cast of M-9, the Frank Grillo-starring spy action-thriller adapted from the James Bond-influenced Masud Rana novels.

With the price of food soaring all over the world, Qurbani donations are needed more than ever.

Katherine Tulich Lukas Dhont’s “Close,” which won the Grand Prix in Cannes last month, picked up the Sydney Film Prize, the top prize at the Sydney Film Festival, on Sunday evening.Accepting the award via video message Dhont said: “It’s a film that comes from our hearts, that we worked on for a lot of years with many people.”The international jury consisted of Australian actor David Wenham, Australian director Jennifer Peedom, writer-director-producer Mostofa Sarwar Farooki (Bangladesh), Berlin Golden Bear winner Semih Kaplanoglu (Turkey), and the executive director of the Kawakita Memorial Film Institute in Tokyo, Yuka Sakano (Japan). Twelve titles in the official competition included Carla Simon’s “Alcarras”, Hlynur Palmason’s “Godland”, Colm Bairead’s “The Quiet Girl” and Del Kathryn Barton’s “Blaze.” The winner is awarded AUD$60,000 ($41,600).

EXCLUSIVE: Michael Jai White (The Dark Knight), ABM Sumon (Dhoka) and Matt Passmore (Jigsaw) are among cast joining Frank Grillo (Captain America) in Asif Akbar’s spy thriller MR-9, which is now underway.

EXCLUSIVE: Captain America, The Purge and Copshop star Frank Grillo is set to star in action movie MR-9, which is shooting imminently in the U.S. and Bangladesh.

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Naman Ramachandran Top Bangladeshi actor Nusrat Imrose Tisha is in Cannes to promote her new film “Mujib: The Making of a Nation.” A trailer for the film, a biopic of the late Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was unveiled at the Cannes Film Market.Popularly known as Bangabandhu (friend of Bengal), Rahman was one of the founders of the Awami League party and led the movement for political autonomy for East Pakistan and the subsequent formation of independent Bangladesh in 1971. He served as the first president and then the first prime minister of Bangladesh until he, his wife and sons were assassinated in an army coup in 1975.