Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu today said that Bengali films provided inspiration to the Bengali nationalist movement in the late ‘60s.
The minister was speaking as the chief discussant at a memorial meeting on legendary film star Abdur Razzak fondly called as “Nayak Raj Razzak” at the Shilpakala Academy here yesterday.
The minister recalled that Abdur Razzak was the doyen of the industry when Bengali films were competing with Pakistani Urdu films.
He also recalled the contribution of Rahman and Shabnam in building up the Bangladesh film industry in the face of competition from Indian movies featuring megastars like Uttam Kumar, Suchitra Sen, Dilip Kumar, Nargis and Dev Ananda.
Razzak, too, had to compete, unevenly, with Pakistani stars like Waheed Murad, Zeba and Mohammad Ali, among others.
“Those were the days of rising Bengali nationalism and anything Bengali was applauded by the masses”, he said.
He also recalled that Bangabandhu had established the Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (BFDC) but it was through Razzak that the potential of the film studios were exploited to the hilt.
He cited similar examples from other fields and said it was through Hemanta Mukherjee, Debabrata Biswas and Rezwana Chowdhury Bannya that Tagore songs touched the heart of the masses. Citing another incident, he said Farida Parvin had brought Lalon’s music to the people.
Leading figures of the film industry including Amzad Hossain spoke on the occasion and recalled memories of Abdur Razzak.
