SHUVO and MAMO Heats up the Silver Screen

Cover Story

Come April 10th, audiences will be treated to a new film by Shihab Shaheen titled “Chuye Dile Mon”, presented by Fair And Lovely. The film is produced by Asiatic's Dhonichitro. With casting such as Arefin Shuvo, Zakia Bari Mamo, Iresh Zaker and others, this movie seems to have all the elements you'd need for a bona fide success

S.M. Intisab Shahriyar

Zakia Bari Mamo came to the media spotlight through the Lux Superstar Beauty pageant. Ever since then she has been the star of television. Despite that, she had done a few films with relative success. 
Arefin Shuvo on the other hand is an actor who's fully dedicated to the film industry, appearing nowhere else. He has already appeared in a number of hit Bengali films, with this new film being the latest addition to his list. It's safe to say that Shuvo has potential and will go far in the industry what with his physique and attitude especially when we are going through a shortage of heroes in the Bangladeshi film industry. 
This film will also be the first time we'll see the main stars Shuvo and Mamo as an onscreen couple.
The film is quite simply a love story between the characters portrayed by Shuvo and Mamo. It tells the story of their love from their very childhood, but grows apart as they mature. Later on in life, they realize what they mean to each other and how they find their way back.
The artists involved with the soundtrack for the film are also quite established members of the music scene of Bangladesh such as Habib, Tahsan, Kona, etc. so it comes as no surprise that two of songs from the soundtrack are already hits with the public.
This film marks the debut for Asiatic's Dhonichitro. Asiatic JWT, as everyone already knows, is a massive company with ties to almost every sector of the media through their numerous sister concerns, of which Dhonichitro is one. Also, Sara Zaker is charged with being the producer of the film, so we can all rest assured that it has the proper creative muscle needed for a film's success. So for a company like them to join the film making business and concentrating only on making films is a big thing and we see this as a positive move and we hope that their efforts pay off and end the current issues in the industry right now.
The success of their film depends entirely upon the audience. Many think it's very easy to make successful films but the truth of the matter is that it simply isn't. Film making requires a lot of trial and error to see what works and what doesn't with the audience. If every film had the right formula, then every film would be an instant hit. We also have another problem; namely ourselves. We Bengalis have a tendency to fixate on the negative and aren't accountable for our actions. Until this mindset changes, the industry will have to endure the hardships.

We want the Bengali film industry to survive of course because if we lose this, we lose our very identity. We all hope to see our industry return to its former glory days. And thankfully, there are many signs that show that it is finally heading in the right direction. Actors, actresses and models now try out different mediums, something that didn't happen too much before. Not only that but they also try their hands at producing or directing and that's a very positive thing as this would mean better quality productions. And we hope that their actions serve as examples for others who wish to work in the industry.

Another thing to consider is to improve the clarity of the trading policy between the two Bengals because we now live in a time of economic despair and if the two Bengals could work together, many of the costs of productions can be shared.
The film is slated to be released next Friday, so head on down to your nearest theater and catch the film and find out if this chemistry and indeed this film managed to catch on as a success. Until that time, we at Star Showbiz, wish it all the best.

SHIMLA The Item Girl

GRAPE VINE

We have all seen the beautiful Shimla in various different mainstream movies so far but we may now see her in a new way entirely. The popular actress has apparently just finished working for an item song for an upcoming film called Naior, directed by Rashid Palash. Interestingly though, this isn't technically the first time she filmed for an item song. She had filmed for an item song before but the film was never completed. So this will be the first time we'll get to see the popular actress in an item song.

LIVING WITH THE STARS RISE OF THE PRODUCTION HOUSES

Showbiz Desk

The topic of current quality standards of Bangladeshi films has already been discussed previously. However, one topic remains out of the discussion, and that's not fair because it's just as important as any of the others we have discussed before. This neglected matter is theaters. Theaters are an integral part of any film culture, because that's where the audience gets to see the films made by the industry, so it serves as the medium through which the filmmakers connect with the audience.

The movie business is built up of business being conducted through theater earnings so it's hard to underplay its importance. Nowadays, due to falling movie standards, the conditions of many of the theaters in the capital are in really bad shape. What's more alarming is that due to poor business, many of the theaters are being repurposed for other businesses. If this trend continues, it won't matter if we do make good movies because there will be no place to show it. There was a time when going to the theater was a regular activity for almost every household.

This trend needs to be brought back and that means existing theaters need to do proper renovation such as proper seats, cleanliness, etc. Another thing to improve is the devices used to project films. We live in an age of HD quality audio and video, and by comparisons, the theaters here show very poor quality videos and sound, so these need to be improved as well. And finally of course, we need more films of higher quality in terms of story and acting. Many of the glorious film production houses of old are now defunct and instead, we see that a couple of films are made simply to launder money. Salvation may finally be at hand with the introduction of the production house Dhonichitro films by Asiatic JWT. This production house concentrates on professional filmmaking and we couldn't be more pleased and we hope that this trend continues and more production houses form to create professional level films and hopefully bring about an end to the current slump of the industry.