During Eid-ul-Azha, several Bangladeshi films were released, including ‘Taandob’, ‘Insaaf’, ‘Utshob’, ‘NeelChokro’, ‘Esha Murder – Karmaphal’ and ‘Tagore’. Among these, only ‘Taandob’ and ‘Utshob’ achieved commercial success.
Five months on, none of the films released since Eid have managed to perform well at the box office, leaving Dhallywood industry insiders disheartened.
Following Eid, ‘Ali’, ‘Uraal’, ‘Jol Rong’ and ‘Anyadin…’ were released in July. Eight more films hit cinemas in August ‘Amar Sesh Kotha’, ‘Dot’, ‘Nandini’, ‘Udiyaman Surya’, ‘Ator Bibi Lane’, ‘Barir Naam Shahana’, ‘Shopne Dekha Rajkonna’ and ‘The Silence’.
In October, ‘Bachelor Trip’, ‘Bandhab’, ‘Ondhokare Alo’, ‘Direct Attack’, ‘Saat Bhai Chompa’ and ‘Kanya’ have been released so far, with ‘Behula Dorodi’ set to premiere on the final day of the month.
In previous years, September and October often saw surprise box-office hits outside of major festivals. Dhaka Attack (released on September 21, 2017) and ‘Debi’ (released on October 4, 2018) were both commercially successful despite not coinciding with Eid, Pohela Boishakh or Valentine’s Day.
Encouraged by such examples, producers began releasing promising titles during these occasions. However, in the past two years, the trend has reversed, with most non-Eid releases failing to draw audiences.
Addressing the issue, Shaheen Suman, President of the Film Directors’ Association, blamed the lack of quality content. “It’s not easy to fool audiences anymore. You can’t just make anything and expect people to come to the cinema,” he said.
He questioned why viewers would spend over Tk 1,000 to watch what he described as “disrespectful” films, adding that the industry must reduce its overreliance on superstar Shakib Khan.
“Shakib’s films are only released during Eid. Anon Mamun released ‘Dard ‘with him outside Eid and it didn’t work. We need to invest in other actors and actresses as well,” Suman said.
“We must make films that audiences genuinely look forward to. Only then can we overcome this situation,” he added.
Awlad Hossain Uzzal, General Secretary of the Cinema Exhibitors Association, echoed the sentiment, telling The TIMES of Bangladesh, “The films being released now are not suitable for screening in cinemas, so audiences aren’t coming. As a result, business is suffering.”
He also pointed to a lack of government initiative to address the crisis. “We, the hall owners, have tried several times to meet the Information Adviser, but he hasn’t given us time,” he said.
Under the SAFTA agreement, Indian Hindi and Bengali-language films were once regularly imported. However, since the fall of the Awami League government, only two Hindi films have entered the country, neither released simultaneously with India.
“As we face a shortage of quality local productions, we requested permission to screen Indian films to help sustain cinema halls,” Uzzal said, adding, “But the government hasn’t responded. If things continue like this, we may be forced to close our halls altogether.”
