Bangladesh PM lauds Sheikh Mujibur Rahman biopic

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina applauded filmmaker Shyam Benegal and the team for creating a "wonderful historical masterpiece" with Mujib - The Making of a Nation, a biographical drama on the country's founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The film narrates the life story of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the first president of Bangladesh, who was affectionately known as Bangabandhu -The Friend of Bengal.

PM Hasina, daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, recently saw the feature and said she was "moved" by the efforts of the artists involved in making of the film.

"I thank you very much for making this film. Specially, Mr Shyam Benegal and his team and all the artists. Everybody worked so hard. I'm really moved by the film. Actually, I don't have many words to express my gratitude to all of you... It's a wonderful historical masterpiece," she said in a video shared by the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) on its official X page on Monday.

Mujib is co-produced by Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (BFDC) and India's NFDC. The film is made under the Audio Visual Co-Production Agreement between the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh & the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India.

The Bangladesh PM also expressed gratitude to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the government of India for supporting the film. "My thanks to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Government of India. Government of Bangladesh," she said.

Mujib stars Arifin Shuvoo in the title role, along with Nusrat Imrose Tisha, Nusraat Faria, Chanchal Chowdhury, Riaz Ahmed, Fazlur Rahman Babu, Tauquir Ahmed, and a special appearance by Siam Ahmed. Akashdeep Pandey is the cinematographer, while National Award winner Aseem Sinha is the editor.

Shantanu Moitra composed the music and story and the screenplay is by Shama Zaidi and Atul Tiwari.

Hasina said she appreciates the hard work put in by all the artists, including the technical team. "I really appreciate the scriptwriter. They worked very hard. I know it was very difficult and the way they edited it, keeping the link, it was a wonderful job. The music was also very touching. And all the actors... It seems to me that perhaps they have tried to do their best one," the Bangladesh PM said.

Mujib is scheduled to be released worldwide in Hindi and Bengali on October 27.

Panorama Studios International will distribute the film worldwide. The movie was screened at the 48th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) last month.