Panaji,29 Nov(PTI): After evoking a good response in its homeland, period drama ‘Children of War’ is all set to re-release in Bangladesh on December 16 this year on country’s ‘Victory Day’.
The film, a dark tale on the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, did a good four-week business in the country during its initial release early this year.
Directed by newcomer Mrityunjay Devrat, the movie has an ensemble cast of actors Victor Banerjee, Raima Sen, Tilotama Shome, Farooque Sheikh and Riddhi Sen.
“We got a thundering response to the film in Bangladesh. Distributors had told me that people were shouting and chanting ‘punish the culprits’ inside theatres after the screening. This kind of feedback made us proud and on popular demand, we are re-releasing it on Victory Day of Bangladesh, i.E. December 16,” Devrat said on sidelines of ongoing event IFFI.
The film was screened here in a jam-packed theatre last evening. It was released in Indian on May 16 this year.
The young filmmaker said he chose a dark subject of Bangladesh partition as his first film because he felt this how he could return something to his country.
“Right after my birth in India, my parents took me to Bangladesh. This was the country where I first went to school… I was brought up there, I could feel the pain of people. So, I felt it was a payback time to the mati (motherland),” he said.
The director also revealed that revisiting the past through the film was a tough call because people of Bangladesh don’t want to recall the horrific past.
“Nobody wants to remember a bad past. People of Bangladesh are reluctant to speak about the issue which they are very sensitive about. They had distanced themselves from the pain. Those who opened up on the issue often got angry while narrating the incidents of genocide,” Devrat said.
To get the facts right, the director read various books on Bangladesh Liberation war including ‘The Unfinished Memoirs’ by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the late President of Bangladesh and many other books which were banned by Pakistan.
Devrat said he does not want to show anybody in bad light through the film and that films are just a medium to generate support from the people to get justice.
His next project will again deal with the core issues of humanity.
