United News of Bangladesh

Young filmmaker Juboraj Shamim's debut film "Adim" (The Instinct) has won two awards at the 44th Moscow International Film Festival. The film bagged Silver Saint George (Special Jury Award) and Netpack Jury awards on the last day of the film festival that ran from August 26 to September 2, Juboraj told the media Saturday. Adim won the Silver Saint George award for "realism and humanity," according to the organisers. Read: 8th Dhaka International Mobile Film Festival begins The 84-minute Bangladesh-Netherlands co-production has no star cast. The cast members are the inhabitants of a Tongi slum where Juboraj shot the film. The cast of the film includes Badshah, Dulal, Shohagi, and Sadek. The crowd-funded film was produced under the banner of Juboraj's production house Roshayon. It was co-produced by Lotus Film. "Juboraj Shamim is the perfect example of how to chase and fulfil one's dreams. I am so happy for you, man," Mostofa Sarwar Farooki wrote on Facebook. Iranian filmmaker Behruz Shoaib's "Without Prior Agreement" won the Golden Saint George award for the best film in the main competition category of the 44th Moscow International Film Festival.  

Over the past decades, South Indian cinemas have gone through changes in the plots and filming methods. Meanwhile, the popularity of such cinemas has increased tremendously among the viewers. Like other months, in September, a list of South Indian movies are waiting to be released. Now the cinema enthusiasts around the world wait for the Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada movies. Stay with us, to decide which South Indian movies to include in your watchlist.   Top 10 South Indian Movies Set to Release in September 2022 Ranga Ranga Vaibhavanga, Telugu Romantic-Comedy In Theater on September 2, 2022 Gireeshaaya directed the movie featuring Vaishnav Tej and Ketika Sharma as the main characters. A young man and woman are constantly at loggerheads with each other in the prologue. From childhood, every one of them expects others to always apologize first. Along with fun entertainment, the movie will also have a drama of family sentiments. Devi Sri Prasad took care of the music composition of the film. Shamdat Sainuddin was in charge of shooting and cinematography of the film. The entire production was made by BVSN Prasad under the banner of Sri Venkateswara Cine Pictures. Read Badhon’s first glimpse in Vishal Bhardwaj’s Khufiya teaser Gold, Malayalam Comedy In Theater on September 2, 2022 Alphonse Puthren played a major role in the making of this entire drama film. Not just writing, editing, and directing; He also worked on stunt choreography, color grading, visual effects, and animation for the film.  The film, produced by Listyn Stephen and Supriya Menon, stars Prithviraj Sukumaran and Nayanthara in the main roles. This film is a love story of Jaya and MGR with a complex plot behind fun activities. Rajesh Murugesan worked as the music director in the film. The cinematography was handled by Biswajit Odukathil and Anind C Chandran. Padavettu, Malayalam Action-Thriller In Theater on September 2, 2022 Newcomer filmmaker Liju Krishna's writing and directing work can be witnessed through this movie. The story of the film revolves around the lives of a group of oppressed people in North Kerala. The movie stars Nivin Pauly, Aditi Balan, Manju Warrier, Shammi Thilakan, Shine Tom Chacko, Indrans, and Vijayaraghavan.  Read Top 10 Best South Indian Thriller Movies for Weekend Movie Mania The cinematography of the film was done by Deepak D Menon. Shafiq Mohammad Ali made the edits, and Govinda Basant took care of the music composition. Sunny Wayne has done the overall production of the cinema. Banaras, Kannada Romance In Theater on September 2, 2022 Jayathirtha wrote and directed the film based on the beauty, rich heritage, and culture of Banaras, a city in Uttar Pradesh. In the mysterious love story, Siddharth and Dani fall in love with each other while exploring Banaras.  Produced by Tilakraj Ballal, the movie will release simultaneously in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and even Hindi languages. The film stars Sonal Montero and Zayed Khan in lead roles. B. Ajaneesh Loknath composed the songs for the film and Advaita Gurumurthy did the visual shoots. Read Greatest War Movies of All-times: Be the Witness of the Historical Warfares Aa Ammayi Gurinchi Meeku Cheppali, Telugu Romantic Drama In Theater on September 16, 2022 Mohana Krishna Indraganti has written and directed the movie with a beautiful love tale. The story has Sudhir Babu and Kriti Shetty in the major roles. This is the third time Sudheer Babu and Mohana Krishna Indraganti worked together in a film.  The cinematography of the film was completed by P.G. Binda. Marthand K Venkatesh did the editing and Vivek Sagar made the music composition. The production houses of the cinema are Benchmark Studios and Mythri Movie Makers.

After much speculation about Azmeri Haque Badhon’s debut in Bollywood, fans got to see her first look for Vishal Bhardwaj’s spy thriller ‘Khufiya’ in a teaser released today. The teaser was released by Netflix on Monday in the form of a blurred image where the mystery is maintained, even if Badhon's character can be made out to be in saree. Besides Badhon, fans got similarly stealing glimpses of her Indian co-actors in the film, the extremely highly regarded Tabu and relative newcomer Ali Fazal, on the day without unveiling much about the story itself. Also read: Azmeri Haque Badhon: Starring the Title Role of 'Rehana Maryam Noor' Film Premiered in 74th Cannes The spy thriller’s screenplay is based on writer Amar Bhushan’s ‘Escape to Nowhere’ which was inspired by true events. Badhon's acting was rarely talked about till her formidable turn as the title character in Rehana Maryam Noor, which was selected in the 'Un Certain Regard' section at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. Also read: Cricketer Shakib, actor Badhon become ISHO brand ambassadors Soon after that she was seen in an episode of the thriller web series, Rabindranath Ekhane Kawkhono Khete Aashenni (English: Rabindranath never came here to eat), directed by Srijit Mukherji.

The horror film “The Invitation” needed just $7 million to finish at the top of the weakest weekend of the summer at the North American box office, according to studio estimates Sunday. Directed and co-written by Jessica M. Thompson and starring “Game of Thrones” actor Nathalie Emmanuel, “The Invitation” tells the story of a young woman who after her mother's death discovers dark secrets at her family home in the English countryside. It debuted on 3,141 screens for Sony and cost just $10 million to make. Sony also had the No. 2 movie with the Brad Pitt vehicle “Bullet Train,” which brought in an estimated $5.6 million from 3,513 screens in its fourth week, bringing its domestic total to $78.2 million. Universal’s “Beast,” starring Idris Elba, finished third with $4.9 million in its second week, after making $11.6 million and ranking second in its first. Elba was also the star of the week’s other major debut, “Three Thousand Years of Longing,” the fantasy epic from “Mad Max” director George Miller, which brought in just $2.9 million on 2,436 screens and finished a distant and disappointing seventh. The lagging results were no great surprise for this time of year. “We’re in that what is often the typical August slowdown heading into Labor Day weekend,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “This was to be expected given the lineup of films this weekend.” Paramount’s “Top Gun: Maverick” remained in fourth in its 14th weekend in theaters with an additional $4.8 million. It has made over $691 million in North America to date, making it the sixth-highest grossing domestic release of all time. Last week's No. 1, “Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero” plunged to fifth in its second weekend with $4.6 million after bringing in $20.1 million in its debut. Read: MTV VMAs ready to host, honor some of music's biggest acts The weekend overall saw about $52.7 million in North American ticket sales — the slowest in months. A strong summer has meant that the year-to-date box office is still up significantly from a tepid 2021, but a long drought lies ahead until another surge of expected big earners such as “Halloween Ends” and “Black Adam," which will both be released in October. Amid the quiet spell at the box office, movie tickets will be just $3 in the vast majority of American theaters as part of a newly launched “ National Cinema Day ” on Saturday. Major chains, including AMC and Regal Cinemas, are participating, as are all major film studios. Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday. 1. “The Invitation," $7 million. 2. “Bullet Train,” $5.6 million. 3. “Beast,” $4.9 million. 4. “Top Gun: Maverick,” $4.8 million. 5. “Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero,” $4.6 million. 6. “DC League of Super-Pets,” $4.2 million. 7. “Three Thousand Years of Longing,” $2.9 million 8. “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” $2.74 million. 9. “Thor: Love and Thunder,” $2.7 million. 10. “Where the Crawdads Sing,” $2.3 million

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change will take the initiative to withdraw a case filed against the movie 'Hawa’ for allegedly violating Wildlife Conservation and Security Act of 2012. Steps will be taken to withdraw the case filed by the Wildlife Crime Prevention Unit under the ministry, upon the appeal made by the Hawa team confessing they were unaware of the provisions of the act, it said in a press release on Sunday. The Director of Hawa Mejbaur Rahman Sumon applied to the Wildlife Crime Control Unit. The wildlife crime control unit submitted it to Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court to withdraw the case on Sunday. Also read: Legal notice seeks complete ban on screening Hawa As the case is compoundable according to section 43 of Wildlife Conservation and Security Act, 2012, and section 248 of CrpC, the appeal was submitted. The court has heard the appeal and fixed the next hearing to pronounce a verdict in this regard. On August 17, four officers of the Wildlife Crime Prevention Unit filed a case after seeing the movie released on July 29. Also read: Wind of 'Hawa' blows full On August 22, a legal notice was served to ban screenings of the film Hawa, for violating the Wildlife Conservation and Security Act. The notice demanded the license of the film be revoked, and to ban its screening worldwide, not just locally. Besides, it said the Censor Board should be reconstituted to include members of the Wildlife Crime Prevention Unit, lawyers and environmentalists. Read Iranian director reveals everything Ananta Jalil has been saying about their film In addition, before giving the Censor Board's clearance to any movie in the future, it must be ensured that a film does not violate any section of the Wildlife Conservation and Safety Act-2012. According to the notice, in the movie, a bird named Shalik is seen kept captive inside a cage on a trawler. At one point the bird is killed and eaten. Besides, there are several scenes in the movie which are clear violations of the Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act, 2012. Read Ananta Jalil responses to 'Din: The Day' director's allegations As a result, people will be encouraged to hunt, cage and kill birds. No permission was taken from the Forest Department to promote this scene, added the notice. The entire episode however drew ridicule from some quarters, and artists in particular. Read 'Golpo Bolar Swadhinata Chai': Artists place five-point demands

Actor-producer-businessman Ananta Jalil has refuted the complaints of Iranian filmmaker Morteza Atashzamzam about the film "Din: The Day" regarding its actual budget. He made the response in a video message posted on his verified Facebook page on Saturday. According to the film contract, Ananta was supposed to pay all the expenses for shooting of the film in Bangladesh. Claiming to have paid all the expenses according to the contract, Ananta said, “It is not a matter of Morteza whether it cost Tk one crore or four crore for shooting here.” He said the shooting of the film started in 2019 and completed by 2020. “You can watch my interviews in television, newspapers and social media before and after the release of the film. Did I say that I am the only investor of this movie? I have always said that I am the only investor for shooting in Bangladesh.” On February 27 last year, Morteza attended a programme of the film 'Din: The Day' and 'Netri The Leader' at a city hotel where he told Ananta he had spent much more money on shooting than the budget he fixed. “I announced the budget amount as Morteza said in all my interviews.” Ananta said, "I am not supposed to pay any shooting expenses abroad except shooting expenses in Bangladesh, our traveling cost and the air ticket.” Read: Iranian director reveals everything Ananta Jalil has been saying about their film “So how can he say in his post that I did not pay him as per the contract?” “Then Morteza did not spend any money on shooting in so many countries as he said that is what I am supposed to pay.” Anata also said the Dolby certificate is not required for film release in Iran as their post-production is already quite advanced. “Till the release of the movie, Morteza and I never had a bad relationship. I hope not in the future. I believe that one day Murtaza will unmask those on whose interests he has done it.” Morteza recently accused Ananta Jalil of violating the conditions of the film's agreement through a post on his Instagram profile; and as promised during his initial criticism of Ananta Jalil, the filmmaker has now come forward with a post on his Instagram account to "reveal" the budget of "Din - The Day," which is USD $500,000. This comes to about BDT 4 crore when converted in taka, which is nowhere near the more than Tk 100 crore budget earlier claimed by Ananta Jalil throughout the promotional activities of the film. According to the claim of the Iranian filmmaker, Ananta was required to invest the entire amount for the movie in accordance with the previously signed contract between the parties. As a result, Ananta would receive 85 per cent of the movie's earnings as an investor while Morteza would gain 15 per cent as the producer. Following that, Ananta only compensated him with USD 24,000 instead of the promised USD 200,000. According to the Iranian director, Ananta would always cite COVID and "business loss" as his excuses whenever Morteza requested further payments. The filmmaker, showcasing all the documents, asked in the post, "How can Ananta make the claim that the budget of the film is around USD 10 million when he didn't even pay the contractually obligated amount of USD 500,000, as per our 2018 contract, to our Iranian team?"

The much-talked-about Ananta Jalil-starrer film "Din - The Day" director and Iranian filmmaker Morteza Atashzamzam on Monday revealed the actual budget of the movie, as opposed to Ananta Jalil’s previously mentioned budget of more than 100 crore tk - and the actual amount is not even close to the aforementioned budget. Morteza recently accused Ananta Jalil of violating the conditions of the movie's agreement through a post on his Instagram profile; and as promised during his initial criticism of Ananta Jalil, the filmmaker has now come forward with a post on his Instagram account to "reveal" the budget of "Din - The Day," which is USD $500,000.  This comes to about BDT 4 crore when converted in taka, which is nowhere near the more than Tk 100 crore budget earlier claimed by Ananta Jalil throughout the promotional activities of the film. Read Ananta Jalil brushes off 'Din: The Day' director's allegations According to the claim of the Iranian filmmaker, Ananta was required to invest the entire amount for the movie in accordance with the previously signed contract between the parties. As a result, Ananta would receive 85 percent of the movie's earnings as an investor while Morteza would gain 15 percent as the producer. Sharing the pictures of the agreement signed which stated that Ananta Jalil would pay for the budget of USD 500,000 in total six instalments as the first party, Morteza stated that the film was supposed to be released within 8 months of the contract signing, which was signed on October 18, 2018. Morteza stated that the actor's irresponsibility increased the film's overall shooting costs, and he allegedly stopped filming because Ananta failed to pay the team in a timely manner. However, the filmmaker began filming after speaking to a few well-wishers and receiving a guarantee from Ananta that all outstanding debts would be paid. Read: Legal notice seeks complete ban on screening Hawa Following that, Ananta only compensated him with USD 24,000 instead of the promised USD 200,000. According to the Iranian director, Ananta would always cite COVID and "business loss" as his excuses whenever Morteza requested further payments. The filmmaker, showcasing all the documents, asked in the post, "How can Ananta make the claim that the budget of the movie "Din - The Day" is around USD 10 million when he didn't even pay the contractually obligated amount of USD 500,000, as per our 2018 contract, to our Iranian team?" The script for the movie has been constantly changed because, according to the director, both the parties could not agree on it. He said, the contract of the film clearly mentioned that the film will be made with the financing of Ananta Jalil as this type of film is not appreciated by the people of Iran, and also his name is clearly registered as the investor and actor of the film while Morteza’s name is registered as the producer and director. Read Ananta Jalil broke our contract: 'Din: The Day' director “Ananta frequently and unprofessionally ruined my interpretation of the story under the justification that he knew the Bangladeshi audience and their demand better than I did, and I had to believe him as 85 percent of the film is made in the Bangladeshi context.” A breach of contract has been specifically pointed out by the director, as he mentioned that the storyline was shifted from IS and terrorism of the extremists to the drug smugglings and mafia curtails; and the setting of the film was shifted from Lebanon and Syria to Afghanistan and Turkey. “We allegedly found that he even shot a portion of the film in Turkey while addressing himself as the producer and director, and also filmed Turkish dance with women in such a way that was a clear violation of our contract, which made me realise that he does not respect the laws of neither of the countries (Bangladesh and Iran). This also made me realise that directing this film is the biggest mistake of my life,” Morteza stated. Read Rayhan Rafi’s new film ‘Nisshash’ to be released on Chorki In response to all these allegations, Ananta Jalil, producer of the film "Din - The Day," did not issue any official statement as of this reporting but verbally told the media that he is suspecting a deep conspiracy against him. “The Iranian director cannot write in Bangla, so it is clear that someone is misleading him from the country and I will share my response after talking to him.”

A legal notice has been served to ban screenings of the film Hawa, for violating the Wildlife Conservation and Safety Act. Supreme Court lawyer Khandaker Hasan Shahriar sent the notice to the Censor Board on Monday.  It was sent to the Chairman and Vice Chairman of Bangladesh Film Censor Board and Information Secretary Mokbul Hossain.   According to the notice, legal action will be taken if a satisfactory response isn't forthcoming within seven days of receiving the notice. Read: Wind of 'Hawa' blows full The notice demanded the license of the film be revoked, and to ban its screening worldwide, not just locally. Besides, it said the Censor Board should be reconstituted to include members of the Wildlife Crime Prevention Unit, lawyers and environmentalists. In addition, before giving the Censor Board's clearance to any movie in the future, it must be ensured that a film does not violate any section of the Wildlife Conservation and Safety Act-2012. Read Rayhan Rafi’s new film ‘Nisshash’ to be released on Chorki According to the notice, in the movie which was released on July 29, a bird named Shalik is seen kept captive inside a cage on a trawler. At one point the bird is killed and eaten. Besides, there are several scenes in the movie which are clear violations of the Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act, 2012.  As a result, people will be encouraged to hunt, cage and kill birds. Read Iranian director reveals everything Ananta Jalil has been saying about their film was untrue. Literally everything. No permission was taken from the Forest Department to promote this scene, added the notice. Earlier on 17 August, four officers of the Wildlife Crime Prevention Unit filed a case after seeing the Hawa movie.

Poran-famed director Rayhan Rafi’s new web film ‘Nisshash’ is soon going to be released on OTT-platform Chorki. A teaser of the film was released on Chorki’s official facebook page on August 20, where upcoming actress Tasnia Farin has been seen playing the lead role. Talking about the film, Rafi said that the making, style and genre of Nisshash are totally different from his other works. Read: Ananta Jalil broke our contract: 'Din: The Day' director “I’m lucky that one of my films is going to be released on such an OTT platform as Chorki. Thousands of people across the world stream Chorki, which means my film is going to be exposed to a lot of people at the same time,” said Rafi. Replying to a question, the director said that he is a person who lives among movies. “My life is a movie itself. I’m always busy with something related to films. I haven’t even taken a one week break since starting working on films. Maybe that’s why I’ve been able to deliver so much work within such a short time,” added Rafi. Read Legal notice seeks complete ban on screening Hawa The director also said that he wants to give the audience something worth watching. “We had to build a huge set as around 50-60 artists have worked in the film Nisshash. I tried my best so that the audience doesn’t say that they’ve wasted their money on something unworthy. I hope the teaser of the film has given the audience an idea of what is to come,” said Rayhan Rafi.

Iranian filmmaker Morteza Atashzamzam, director of the Bangladesh-Iran joint production "Din: The Day," has decided to sue Ananta Jalil, the lead actor of the movie, citing a breach of contract. "Ananta Jalil broke our agreement and contract, he did not fulfil his responsibilities and promises as we agreed," Morteza wrote in an Instagram post Thursday. He claimed Ananta breached the contract by distorting his creation and also shared an animation of the film's poster on an Instagram reel with the word "fake."  Read: Azmeri Haque Badhon: Starring the Title Role of 'Rehana Maryam Noor' Film Premiered in 74th Cannes "The name of the movie was supposed to be "Day" (rooz) but nothing happened as we planned. I was the main and major producer but he continued the production in his way, with his content and form and shapes," he wrote. The Iranian filmmaker said he would sue Ananta and register a complaint against him at the court in Tehran, Iran, and have it followed up by an international lawyer at the court in Bangladesh.   Morteza added that he would also reveal the original contract in public and the main budget of the film. "It's time for Ananta Jalil to pay back his debt to the Iranian team. The legal prosecution will reveal the whole truth in due time."