Marking the ‘Election Day’ for two of the biggest associations of the entertainment industry in the country, television artists’ organization Actors Equity Bangladesh also held its third election on Friday at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) in the capital. The day-long voting closed at 5:30 pm at the National Music, Dance and Recitation Centre of BSA, which will determine the 21-member executive body for the term between 2022 and 2025. Read:18 artists, 2 organisations to receive Shilpakala Padak 2019, 2020 Since 9:30 am, the voting began at the academy maintaining strict security and COVID-19 protocol to avoid trespassing, although the protocol was lighter in comparison to the Film Artistes Association election which began on Friday at 9 am at Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (BFDC) premises. A total of 48 candidates are contested for 21 posts in this year’s election, with the immediate-past General Secretary Ahsan Habib Nasim and actor Sahadat Hossain Nipu standing against each other as the two presidential candidates.

The festivity of Eid, whether at the end of a month of fasting or with the qurbani (sacrificial offering) of cattle, has traditionally been the most important period of the year for the country's cinema, and general entertainment industry. Each year, the two chunks of holidays were always observed with a number of new movies in the theatre halls and a lot of television dramas for the viewers at home.    Even in the entertainment industry's worst years, or as the number of cinema halls up and down the country kept shrinking, this remained a fixture, with the year's most anticipated movie premieres booked around the Eid holidays and the Bengali New Year.   Read:“Ghotona Shotto” infuriates audiences for insensitive portrayal of children with special needs   The exception occurred finally in 2020, in the shadow of the Covid-19 pandemic, and now it has carried over and taken away 2021 as well. Another Eid just passed with no new films in the theatre but a significant number of drama productions. Due to the ongoing global pandemic of Covid-19, two of these biggest yearly festivals were not celebrated with brand new movies in the theatres. However, thanks to the moneymaking platforms like YouTube and OTT platforms as well as the classic medium of entertainment, television - the drama industry saw a massive amount of new productions for Eid-ul-Adha.A large number of new films namely the much-awaited “Mission Extreme”, “Operation Sundarban”, “Bidrohee” and more were scheduled to be released this Eid, which could not be possible because of the current hazardous situation in the country.   Read:Bongo introduces seven original telefilm adaptations Based on books this EidMeanwhile, small screens including television, YouTube and OTT’s took the charge of mass-entertaining people on the festive holidays, which have also been elongated amid the nationwide shutdown and let people watch the contents more comfortably on their cellphones, laptops and smart televisions.According to the producers and various production companies, more than 300 drama productions have entertained the audiences this Eid, uploaded on YouTube after being aired on television. The TV channels aired these dramas on their usual 5 to 7 days special programme schedules, starting from Eid day.   Read Greatest Business Movies for Entrepreneurs: Inspiration to Start Something New Based on the ‘Trending’ section of YouTube which showcases the interest of the viewers at the platform in specific regions, a handful of recently made and aired drama productions are dominating the top-list among other contents; although ‘Trending’ sometimes changes in a few hours, sometimes for one-two or three, even weeks. Over the last couple of years, a trend has been ongoing to air hundreds of drama productions on Eid occasions. For a considerably long period, Eid dramas were mostly comedy-based productions with monotonous themes and recurring storylines, however, due to the increasing competition on the above-mentioned platforms, makers are now becoming more aware of what kind of drama the audience is interested in and that has been vividly reflected on the trending dramas of this Eid.   Read Best Olympic Movies of All Time: The Greatest Films Enlightening the Kingdom of Olympians