Victor Banerjee and Jaya Bachchan starrer 'Meherjaan', about a
Bangladeshi woman's affair with a Pakistani soldier in the backdrop of
the 1971 Liberation War abruptly withdrawn from theaters in the
neighbouring country, will soon be released in India.
"We are looking for a distributor in India. We are also trying
for a DVD release in India and Bangladesh," the film's director Rubaiyat
Hossain, who has tied up with Anticlock Films owned by Sanjay Suri and
Onir to sell the film in India, told PTI from Dhaka.
The film which also has Pakistani and Bangladeshi actors and
depicts certain pitfalls of nationalism that create conditions to
justify war, killing and violence was withdrawn from theatres in
Bangladesh after a week's screening in January despite impressive box
office earnings.
A
section of intellectuals and freedom fighters criticised the film for
allegedly distorting the country's independence war and humiliating
freedom fighters and 'Biranganas' (Bangladeshi women raped by occupation
Pakistani troops).
"The censor board was clearly reluctant to have any further
discussions with me. The removing of 'Meherjaan' from theatres has been
jointly done by the cultural and political elites and the armed forces,"
the debutante director said. The film has received critical
appreciation and awards at various film festivals like Moondance
International Film
Festival and Silent River Film Festival and was screened at the Kolkata Film Festival (KFF) on Saturday.
“I am more at ease in portraying character roles” - Joya Ahsan
