1971’s independence war-based movies are landmarks for the Bangladeshi film industry. Despite the widespread acceptance of film experts and viewers, the international position of the films has still questionable. And thanks to JK 1971, the demand is finally going to be met. The teaser of the film released on Saturday, May 28, has received quite a response across Bangladesh. This is the first time, Bangladesh’s independence war-based film has been made in English. Let's get to know about the movie.
Story Behind JK 1971
On December 3, 1971, an extraordinary event took place at the Orly Airport in France, a country about five thousand miles away from Bangladesh.
The protagonist of the incident was identified as Jean Kay, a 28-year-old Frenchman. He boarded a Boeing-720 of Pakistan International Airways (PIA) and went straight to the cockpit. At 11:50 p.m., he drew his revolver on the pilot and took hostage the entire aircraft.
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The demand was 20 tons of medicine and necessary relief materials for the refugees of the liberation war stationed in India. And those medicines and reliefs have to be carried by this plane, or the whole plane will be blown up with the bomb in his bag.
With this demand in support of the independence war in East Pakistan, Jean Kay kept the plane on the runway for about five hours. The whole world was shocked when this groundbreaking incident was spread in the mass media of that time. This tense and exciting fact is going to come on the full-length screen this time.
JK 1971 Tied with International Actors
The casting of 36 artists includes Bangladeshi, Indian, Russian, and American actors and actresses. Shuvro Sourav Das from Kolkata has played the title role. He has previously acted in films like Byomkesh Returns, Byomkesh, Chiriyakhana, and Zulfiqar.
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Satyajit Ray's Feluda-famous Sabyasachi Chakraborty will be seen in the role of pilot. Francisco Raymond, an American actor, starred in the British movie Queen Warrior of Jhansi. He has also acted in an Indian movie named The Tashkent Files.
The foreign casting also includes newcomer Russian actresses Deria Gvrusenko and Nikolai Novominsky.
Fakhrul Arefin Khan, the Brightest Filmmaker of Bangladesh
Fakhrul Arefin Khan came into the limelight with his first government-funded film Bhuban Majhi in 2017. His second film, Gondi, won the National Film Award for Best Dialogue in 2020. Moreover, this talented director has already shown his skills in making documentary films. His Al-Badr movie won the National Film Award for Best Documentary.
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After a poster and official trailer, the director hopes to release the film in December this year.
Those Who Made JK 1971 Possible
Rana Dasgupta has captured all the eye-catching scenes of the film in different locations. Music was composed by Debajyoti Mishra and Pranoy Dasgupta was in charge of film editing.
Masum Reza has turned the facts into a screenplay. His associate was screenwriter Liza Ahmed. The Fourth Dimension Visual Effect was responsible for the visual effects of the cinema. Israt Sultana and the director himself produced the movie under the banner of Gorai Films.
Read 'JK 1971' official teaser released
In a Nutshell
Bangladesh is known worldwide by virtue of the rich history of 1952’s language movement and 1971’s great liberation war. Now it's time to share the stories of courage and bravery of this nation with the global audience through international films.
The films featuring Bangladesh's independence war undoubtedly claim to be world-class screenplays. All that is needed is an international standard filmmaking style and universal language to spread it all over the world. Hopefully, JK 1971 is going to be a pioneer in making Bangladeshi movies at the international level.