OTT (Over-the-Top) platforms have revolutionized the service of watching TV with web content on the Internet. OTT offers users an alternative way to watch their favorite TV shows, movies, and other content. Nowadays, different local OTT platforms have become increasingly popular in Bangladesh. The emergence of new forms of Bengali serials following the trend of international web series is giving a power boost to the entertainment industry. In his legacy, the Bangla OTT platform Binge offers a wide range of available content.  The popular playwright and director Vicky Zahed's first web series 'Silence' is going to be a more blazing example of this evolution. The web series stars a bunch of popular and talented actors from old to new generations. Let’s get updated about this thriller series which is waiting to be released on Binge screen in the upcoming February month. Vicky Zahed: A Storyteller Who Plays with the Psychology of his Audience The birth date of Vicky Zahed is August 29, 1990. He spent his entire childhood and adolescence in Dhaka. Although he studied textile engineering, he went straight to visual media after his studies from the Bangladesh University of Textiles. Taking this new career turn was not very pleasant. On the other hand, he had to fight a lot with himself and his family in addition to pursuing his career against the tide. Read More: Angela Bassett’s Oscar nomination for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” first acting nod for a Marvel movie After several works, 26-year-old Vicky Zahed finally got the limelight in 2016 for the short film 'Moments'. In line with its popularity, 'Maya', 'Doyal', 'Durbin', and 'Aaj Amar Pala' were released one by one. Through these works, he basically tried to understand his audience as well as taught himself. With 'Dwitiyo Shuchona', 'Priyo Adnan', and 'Kaikobaad', he continued to redefine the thriller genre in Bangladesh. Each of his creations comes with fresh themes, concepts, and storylines which have entertained the fans of the Bangla thriller genre. The drama 'Chirokal Aaj' and the web film series ‘Punorjonmo’ finally marked a long milestone in his career. Vicky became the focus of patronage for many prominent figures in the entertainment industry. Punorjonmo-3 became one of the most viewed videos on YouTube within just 12 hours of its release. Even those who did not know Vicky till then watched the film and went back to watch its first parts. Read More: Top 10 Upcoming English TV Shows on Netflix in February 2023 Now, Vicky Zahed’s creations come first, when it comes to crime, thriller, supernatural, and suspense dramas or movies in Bangladesh. This is very obvious for him to be a devoted fan of Alfred Hitchcock, the father of the modern thriller genre in Hollywood. He candidly admits his interest in playing with the psychology of the audience. Even to critics, he is unabashed, straightforward, and spontaneous in his storytelling.

Several young filmmakers are now taking Bangladeshi content to the international arena, and Nuhash Humayun is one of them. With drama projects such as ‘Hotel Albatross’, the short film ‘700 Taka’, web series ‘Pet Kata Shaw’, his recent short film 'Moshari' and his upcoming project for the international OTT platform Hulu, Nuhash's career is gaining momentum towards global success. After the success of 'Moshari' at two 'Oscar qualifying’ film festivals (HollyShorts Film Festival and Melbourne International Film Festival), audiences in Bangladesh have been wondering where and when to see the film, and answering that question, Nuhash told UNB that the short film is going to be available for Bangladeshi viewers in October. Regarding the work plan and experience, he said, "Interest of our viewers always sparks inspiration for any content creator. I have been blessed with that interest and our audiences might not have to wait too long for ‘Moshari’, which I hope everyone will be able to see in October.” Read:'Beauty Circus’ & ‘Operation Sundarban’ set the ball rolling for Bangladesh film industry “Working on this project has been really different for me. To succeed, I had to wait ten years. The idea for the plot first came to me ten years ago, but at the time there was no support since I dared to experiment with such fiction. I still needed a lot of creative support when I started developing ‘Moshari’, but I managed to finish it. Additionally, I've received a lot of reaction from audiences abroad. Now I’m eagerly waiting for Bangladeshi audiences’ reaction.” The news that Nuhash Humayun has created content for the international OTT platform Hulu broke the local internet, while the conversation regarding ‘Moshari’ was still going on. The completed content, which features numerous well-known Bangladeshi actors, is already in Hulu’s pipeline; however, due to the embargo till the official promotion from Hulu, Nuhash is currently keeping a lot of information about the project private.

Bob Rafelson, an influential figure in the New Hollywood era of the 1970s who was nominated for two Oscars for “Five Easy Pieces,” has died. He was 89. Rafelson died at his home in Aspen Saturday night surrounded by his family, said his wife, Gabrielle Taurek Rafelson. Rafelson was responsible for co-creating the fictional pop music group and television series “The Monkees” alongside the late Bert Schneider, which won him an Emmy for outstanding comedy series in 1967. But he was perhaps best known for his work during the New Hollywood era, which saw a classical studio system giving way to a batch of rebellious young voices and fresh filmmaking styles, and helped usher in talents like Martin Scorsese, Brian De Palma, Francis Ford Coppola and Steven Spielberg. Rafelson directed and co-wrote “Five Easy Pieces,” about an upper-class pianist who yearns for a more blue-collar life, and “The King of Marvin Gardens,” about a depressed late-night-radio talk show host. Both films starred Jack Nicholson and explored themes of the American dream gone haywire. “Five Easy Pieces” got Rafelson two Oscar nominations in 1971, for best picture and screenplay. Read: Marvel teases new Avengers movies, ‘Black Panther’ sequel He also produced seminal New Hollywood classics including Peter Bogdanovich’s “The Last Picture Show” and Dennis Hopper’s “Easy Rider.” Coppola once called him “one of the most important cinematic artists of his era” and his fans include Quentin Tarantino and Wes Anderson. Rafelson was born in New York City and was a distant relative of “The Jazz Singer” screenwriter Samson Raphaelson, who he said took an interest in his work. At Dartmouth he also became friends with legendary screenwriter Buck Henry. He developed an interest in Japanese cinema and the films of Yasujiro Ozu, especially “Tokyo Story,” while serving in the U.S. Army in Japan. After college, Rafelson married his high school sweetheart, who would work as a production designer on his films and others. He got his start in the entertainment business in television, writing for shows like “The Witness” and “The Greatest Show on Earth.” But “The Monkees” was his first big success. The idea for The Monkees, he said, predated The Beatles and the musical comedy “A Hard Day’s Night,” but it hit the moment well when it premiered on NBC in 1966. It ran for two years and allowed Rafelson to take a stab at directing himself. The Monkees also appeared in his feature directorial debut, “Head,” which would be the first of many collaborations with Nicholson. “I may have thought I started his career,” Nicholson told Esquire in 2019, “but I think he started my career.” Rafelson was proudest of the 1990 film he directed, “Mountains of the Moon,” a biographical movie that told the story of two explorers, Sir Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke, as they searched for the source of the Nile, his wife said. Rafelson's own adventures to places like Morocco, India, southeast Asia, Mexico and Guatemala influenced his work, she said. “He loved nothing more than disappearing into strange pockets of the world,” Taurek Rafelson said. Rafelson left Hollywood two decades ago to focus on raising two sons with Taurek Rafelson, Ethan and Harper, in Aspen. He and his first wife, Toby Rafelson, also had two children, Peter, and Julie, who died in 1973 when she was 10 years old.

A 55-year-old director of a women’s madrasa in Darshana upazila of Chuadanga has been arrested for allegedly raping a seven-year-old student on several occasions. The arrestee has been identified as Mufti Golam Kibria. A purported video of the accused admitting to the heinous crime has gone viral. Kibria was, in fact, nabbed by local residents on Thursday as he attempted to flee when the girl's parents confronted him after the rape survivor confided in them. AHM Lutful Kabir, officer-in-charge of Darshana police station, said the accused was handed over to cops by locals and a rape case was filed against him on a complaint from the father of the girl. According to the complaint, Kibria raped the child, a third grade student of the same madrasa, repeatedly over a period of time in a rented house in the vicinity. The girl's parents got a whiff of her crime from her classmates after she narrated her ordeal to them. Later the girl confided in her parents too. READ: Madrasa teacher lands in jail for raping 2 students in Panchagarh Ahmed Ali Bishwash, investigating officer in the case, said medical tests of the student have been conducted and she also recorded her statement before a judicial magistrate. The accused was produced in a local court and remanded in police custody for further interrogation, he said. Bangladesh's rape epidemic Sexual assaults on women, including children, continue unabated in Bangladesh, despite the government introducing death penalty for rape in 2020. Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) data shows that 1,018 children were raped in 2020 alone, but only 683 police cases had been filed. Also, 116 survivors were six years old or below. Overall, 1,627 rape cases were reported in 2020 and 53 of the women were killed by the perpetrators while 14 took their own lives, as per the data. However, ASK's data is just the tip of the iceberg, according to aid agencies, who report that most women are too afraid to report rape. In October 2020, the country was rocked by protests after a woman was allegedly attacked and raped in Noakhali. In November, 2020, Bangladesh introduced capital punishment for rape, following days of protests against sexual violence against women in several cities across the country. But human rights organisations say the move will not solve the country's rape crisis, as the survivors of the heinous crime are often stigmatised in the society.

Director and producer Jean-Marc Vallée, who won an Emmy for directing the hit HBO series “Big Little Lies” and whose 2013 drama “Dallas Buyers Club” earned multiple Oscar nominations, has died. He was 58. Vallée died suddenly in his cabin outside Quebec City, Canada, over the weekend, his representative Bumble Ward said Sunday. Vallée was acclaimed for his naturalistic approach to filmmaking, directing stars including Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal over the past decade. Also read: Netflix Web Series Decoupled Review He directed Emily Blunt in 2009's “The Young Victoria” and became a sought-after name in Hollywood after “Dallas Buyers Club,” featuring Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto, earned six Academy Awards nominations, including best picture. “With a gentle hand and heart Jean-Marc was a true receiver — he didn’t romanticize life so much as he saw life romantic — from the struggle to the pain to the wink and the whisper, love stories were everywhere in his eye,” tweeted McConaughey, one of several stars paying tribute to Vallée on Monday. Vallée often shot with natural light and hand-held cameras, giving actors freedom to improvise from the script and move around within a scene’s location. The crew roamed up and down the Pacific Coast Trail to shoot Witherspoon in 2014's “Wild." “They can move anywhere they want,” the Canadian filmmaker said of his actors in a 2014 interview with The Associated Press. “It’s giving the importance to storytelling, emotion, characters. I try not to interfere too much. I don’t need to cut performances. Often, the cinematographer and I were like, ‘This location sucks. It’s not very nice. But, hey, that’s life.’” He re-teamed with Witherspoon to direct the first season of “Big Little Lies” in 2017, and directed Adams in 2018′s “Sharp Objects,” also for HBO. Vallée won DGA awards for both. “I will always remember you as the sun goes down," Witherspoon wrote on Instagram along with a series of photos of the director. "Chasing the light. On a mountain in Oregon. On a beach in Monterey. Making sure we all caught a little magic in this lifetime. I love you, Jean Marc. Until we meet again.” Also read: Golden Globes announce nominations to a skeptical Hollywood Her “Big Little Lies” co-star Laura Dern on Instagram called Vallée a “beloved friend” who was “one of our great and purest artists and dreamers.” Leto said on Twitter that he was “a filmmaking force and a true artist who changed my life.” And Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted that “Jean-Marc Vallée’s passion for filmmaking and storytelling was unmatched — so too was his talent. Through his work and with his art, he left a mark in Quebec, across Canada, and around the world.”

Members of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrested one of the directors of 24tkt.com, yet another scam operation beneath the veil of e-commerce from the 3Sadarghat area in Old Dhaka, on charge of embezzling money through fraudulence. Mizanur Rahman Sohel is not the first member of the board of directors of 24tkt.com to be arrested. READ: Money laundered by e-commerce firms to be recovered: Murad Hassan Earlier on October 4, a team of CID arrested another director of 24tkt.com Rakibul Hasan from Chuadanga district. According to the complaint of a customer, the accused in collusion with them embezzled money through providing false information on their websites and Facebook. The e-commerce platform www.24tkt.com launched its website in 2019 and so far it has been used to embezzle Tk 50 crore, police sources said. Besides, a team of cybercrime police of CID arrested an agent of ringID, a social media platform, from Borogram in Kamrangirchar of Dhaka on Sunday. The arrestee was identified as Redwan Rahman, 22. After primary interrogation, Redwan said he got involved in the e-commerce platform as a user and embezzled over Tk 1 crore selling the Id of customers. READ: More e-commerce scams exposed: 6 officials of Tholay.com, WeCoom.com held The platform used the well-worn formula introduced by Evaly to defraud people, by offering products at abnormally large discounts, conceding there may be delays but in cases of cancellation or refunds, plus even gimmicky 'cashback' offers, the money would only be returned as far as the customer's 'e-wallet' on the platform, from where it could only be spent again on tkt24.com, and thus effectively never being returned at all.  

Director of the Institute of Environmental Science of Rajshahi University Professor Golam Sabbir Sattar has been appointed as the new vice-chancellor of Rajshahi University. A gazette notice was issued Sunday by the Education Ministry confirming the  appointment. READ: The contenders to be the next VC of Rajshahi University President Abdul Hamid, chancellor of the university, appointed Professor Golam Sabbir Sattar in accordance with section 11(2) of the 1973 Act of Rajshahi University, for a 4 year period. READ: Rajshahi University BCL locks up VC He will be provided the salary and conveniences as determined for the current post. He will act his responsibility according to the statute law of the university. The president, as chancellor of the university can set aside the appointment if necessary.

At a socially distanced Oscar ceremony retooled for the pandemic, Chloé Zhao made history. The “Nomadland” filmmaker won best director on Sunday (April 25, 2021), becoming just the second woman in the 93 year of the Academy Awards to win the award and the first woman of color. Only Kathryn Bigelow, 11 years ago for “The Hurt Locker,” had previously won the award. The win, widely expected, caps the extraordinary rise of the China-born Zhao, a lyrical filmmaker whose “Nomadland” is just her third feature. Her film, the favorite to win best picture, is a wistful open-road drama about itinerant life in the American West. “I have always found goodness in the people I’ve met everywhere I went in the world,” said Zhao. “This is for anyone who has the faith and the courage to hold on to the goodness in themselves and to hold on the goodness in other no matter how difficult it is to do that.” Also read: Is this an ‘Asterisk Oscars’ or a sign of things to come? The 93rd Academy Awards, the most ambitious award show held during the pandemic, rolled out a red carpet and restored some glamour to the nearly century-old movie institution, but with a radically transformed — and in some ways downsized — telecast. The ceremony — fashioned as a movie of its own — kicked off with opening credits and a slinky Regina King entrance, as the camera followed the actress and “One Night in Miami” director in one take as she strode with an Oscar in hand into Los Angeles’ Union Station and onto the stage. Inside the transit hub (trains were still running), nominees sat at cozy, lamp-lit tables around an intimate amphitheater. Daniel Kaluuya won best supporting actor for “Judas and the Black Messiah.” The win for the 32-year-old British actor who was previously nominated for “Get Out,” was widely expected. Kaluuya won for his fiery performance as the Black Panther leader Fred Hampton, whom Kaluuya thanked for showing him “how to love myself.” “You’ve got to celebrate life, man. We’re breathing. We’re walking. It’s incredible. My mum met my dad, they had sex. It’s amazing. I’m here. I’m so happy to be alive,” said Kaluuya while cameras caught his mother’s confused reaction. Also read: Oscar nominations Monday could belong to 'Mank' and Netflix With the awards capping a year of national reckoning on race and coming days after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted for killing George Floyd, police brutality was on the minds of many attendees. King said that if the verdict had been different, she might have traded her heels for marching boots. Travon Free, co-director of the live-action short winner “Two Perfect Strangers,” wore a suit jacket lined with the names of those killed by police. His film dramatizes police brutality as an inescapable time loop like a tragic “Groundhog’s Day” for Black Americans. “Today, the police will kill three people. And tomorrow, the police will kill three people. And the day after that, the police will kill three people because on average, the police in America everyday kill three people, which amounts to about a thousand people a year,” said Free. “Those people happen to disproportionately be Black people.” Years after the Academy Awards were harshly criticized as “OscarsSoWhite” — and after the film academy’s membership was greatly expanded in recent years — a historically diverse slate of nominees led to records in many categories. Read ‘Nomadland’ wins best picture at a social distanced Oscars Best supporting actress went to Yuh-Jung Youn for the matriarch of Lee Isaac Chung’s tender Korean-American family drama “Minari.” The 72-year-old Youn, a well-known actress in her native South Korea, is the first Asian actress to win an Oscar since 1957 and the second in history. She accepted the award from Brad Pitt, an executive producer on “Minari.” “Mr. Brad Pitt, finally,” said Youn. “Nice to meet you.” Hairstylists Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson of “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” became the first Black women to win in makeup and hairstyling. Ann Roth, at 89 one of the oldest Oscar winners ever, also won for the film’s costume design. The night’s first award went to Emerald Fennell, the writer-director of the provocative revenge thriller “Promising Young Woman,” for best screenplay. Fennell, winning for her feature debut, is the first woman win solo in the category since Diablo Cody (“Juno”) in 2007. The broadcast instantly looked different. It’s being shot in 24 frames-per-second and in more widescreen format. In a more intimate show without an audience beyond nominees, winners were given wider latitude in their speeches. In the opening, King explained how Sunday’s Oscars were even possible — testing, vaccinations, social distancing and more testing. The safety protocols, she said, echoed those of film shoots during the pandemic. “It has been quite a year and we are still smack dab in the middle of it,” King said. The telecast, produced by a team led by filmmaker Steven Soderbergh, moved out of the awards’ usual home, the Dolby Theatre, for Union Station. With Zoom ruled out for nominees, the telecast included satellite feeds from around the world. Performances of the song nominees were pre-taped and aired during the preshow. “Husavik (My Hometown)” from “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga.,” was preformed from the Iceland town’s harbor. Others were sung from atop of the academy’s new $500 million film museum. Pixar notched its 11th best animated feature Oscar with “Soul,” the studio’s first feature with a Black protagonist. Peter Docter’s film, about a about middle-school music teacher (Jamie Foxx), was one of the few big-budget movies in the running at the Academy Awards. Another was Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet,” which last September attempted to resuscitate moviegoing during the pandemic, took best visual effects. David Fincher’s “Mank,” a lavishly crafted drama of 1940s Hollywood made for Netflix, came in the lead nominee with 10 nods and went home with award for cinematography and for production design. Best adapted screenplay went to the dementia drama “The Father.” “My Octopus Teacher,” a film that found a passionate following on Netflix, won best documentary. Danish director Thomas Vinterberg’s “Another Round” won best international film, an award he dedicated to his daughter, Ida, who in 2019 was killed in a car crash at age 19. The red carpet was back Sunday, minus the throngs of onlookers and with socially distanced interviews. Only a handful of media outlets were allowed on site, behind a velvet rope and some distance from the nominees. Casual wear, the academy warned nominees early on, was a no-no. Stars, limited to a plus-one, went without their usual battalions of publicists. But even good show may not be enough to save the Oscars from an expected ratings slide. Award show ratings have cratered during the pandemic, and this year’s nominees — many of them smaller, lower-budget dramas — won’t come close to the drawing power of past Oscar heavyweights like “Titanic” or “Black Panther.” Last year’s Oscars, when Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite” became the first non-English language film to win best picture, was watched by 23.6 million, an all-time low. Sunday’s pandemic-delayed Oscars bring to a close the longest awards season ever — one that turned the season’s industrial complex of cocktail parties and screenings virtual. Eligibility was extended into February of this year, and for the first time, a theatrical run wasn’t a requirement of nominees. Some films — like “Sound of Metal” — premiered all the way back in September 2019. The biggest ticket-seller of the best picture nominees is “Promising Young Woman,” with $6.3 million in box office. Read Anthony Hopkins wins best actor Oscar for 'The Father'

Eminent Indian artist Anjan Dutt, who is perhaps more famous in Bangladesh as the troubadour of troubled love than a prolific filmmaker in Kolkata’s film industry, made his debut at the Dhaka International Film Festival on Saturday.