A promised celebrity interview turned into hours of waiting, an unexpected stint as film extras and a bitter row over professional respect. Journalists who arrived at the set of Jaaz Multimedia’s upcoming film Lajja say they were left with little to show for their Saturday morning after being roped into a scene without prior notice and failing to secure a scheduled interview with lead actress Nusraat Faria.
The controversy unfolded at the film’s shooting location in Dhaka’s Diabari area of Uttara on Saturday, 10 October. According to journalists from several media outlets, Jaaz Multimedia owner Abdul Aziz had contacted them on Friday night, asking them to arrive at 8am the following morning. He also told them that Faria would be available for interviews.
The journalists say they took him at his word. Some reached the location as early as 7am, expecting to cover the shoot and speak to the actress. Instead, they allege, the production team had them appear in a scene from the film without telling them beforehand that they would be expected to act.
The promised interviews remained another matter. After waiting for hours, the journalists say they approached Faria for the scheduled conversations, only to be told that she had an upset stomach. The actress subsequently left the set, according to their accounts, leaving the journalists angry and questioning why they had been called in the first place.
What followed was an outpouring of frustration from media representatives who said their time, resources and professional responsibilities had been treated lightly. The dispute also put Aziz, who acknowledged responsibility for the misunderstanding and apologised to the outlets, on the defensive.
Muhib Al Hasan of Somoy TV questioned what his reporter had actually gained from the assignment.
“They shot the scene, fine. But I sent a reporter. What did my reporter get out of it? A driver, a car, a cameraman and a reporter went there. What did they get? How could Faria dare to insult so many media outlets?” he said.
For newsrooms, the complaint went beyond an interview that never happened. Sending a reporter to a film set involves time, transport and production resources, all of which have to be justified when the assignment yields neither the promised interview nor the expected coverage.
Robiul Islam Rubel of Jatiyo Arthoniti said the journalists had spent hours waiting and would still have to explain the wasted time to their respective offices.
“We have to answer to our offices. We cannot just tell them that a mistake happened. They got journalists with original branded microphones, and we still said nothing. We sat there from 7am until 12.30pm. Her stomach was fine all that time, but when it was time to speak to us, she suddenly had an upset stomach,” he said.
Maksudul Haque Imu of DBC was equally blunt about the alleged use of journalists in the film scene, saying they had arrived to report the news, not become part of it.
“Those who went there went for news. Nobody went to act in a film. They could simply have said so. We could have sent some students from Dhaka College or Titumir College instead. They could have gone and acted in the scene,” he said.
Faria’s response to the allegations was not available. Jaaz Multimedia owner Abdul Aziz, however, apologised to all the media outlets over the incident, accepting that the mistake was his.
Speaking to TIMES, he said the intention had been to generate publicity for a film that had received little promotion so far. He admitted, however, that he had not anticipated the misunderstanding that followed.
“We wanted to promote the film because it had not received much publicity before. But I did not realise that this kind of misunderstanding would happen. If we had wanted this, I would not have used the channels’ original cameras. I would have used faulty cameras instead,” he said.
The incident has placed Lajja in the headlines for reasons beyond its story, which focuses on social awareness. A joint production of Impress Telefilm and Jaaz Multimedia, the film is directed by MH Khokon, with Aziz writing the story.
Azmeri Haque Badhan and Nusraat Faria play the two central characters, marking the first time the actresses will appear together on the big screen. The makers have yet to announce the remaining cast members.
The two production companies signed an agreement at the Channel i office in early September. Impress Telefilm and Channel i managing director Faridur Reza Sagar and Aziz attended the ceremony. Lajja is scheduled for a theatrical release in 2027, followed by its availability on the OTT platform iScreen.
The makers first announced the film around two years ago, on International Women’s Day in 2024.
For Faria, Lajja marks another chapter in her association with Jaaz Multimedia. She returned to the production house after nearly seven years with Jinn 3. The actress made her big-screen debut in 2015 with Jaaz Multimedia’s Aashiqui.
For now, however, the conversation around Lajja is less about its on-screen story than what allegedly happened behind the scenes and a publicity opportunity that ended with journalists demanding answers.
