KOLKATA: Shooting of Shyam Benegal’s Bengali feature film titled ‘Bangabandhu’ has been postponed in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
“Corona came in the way,” said Benegal on Wednesday, adding that more time is needed to complete the preparation of shooting the biopic of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Pre-production work for the film has already begun. Work on designing the sets had started some time back. According to Bangladesh’s line producer Esha Yousuf, shooting was supposed to begin on March 18.
On being asked if the shooting of the film has been postponed due to coronavirus precautions, she said, “Yes, we have postponed the first schedule of shooting. Now, we are shooting the whole thing together from September. We can’t risk our cast and crew.”
The first schedule — which was supposed to film the “young life” of Bangladesh’s Father of the Nation — was planned to be shot at Tetia village in Narayanganj. “We were supposed to shoot for 28 days there. Besides, we had three to four days of studio shoot in Dhaka. In total, it’s a team of around 300 cast and crew from different countries, including Bangladesh and India. Some of our equipment were coming from South Africa and the operators are from Canada and the UK,” she added.
When TOI got in touch with Benegal, he said, “Yes, it is true that coronavirus came in the way. But we also needed a certain amount of time to complete the preparation. It is a big film and there is a lot of work to be done. Sets have to be built. The Tungipara house and that period have to created,” the director said.
Shooting of this “co-production between the governments of India and Bangladesh” has now been shifted to September. “The film will be made in Bengali. It is a story of a Bengali nationalist. The nation is built on the basis of the culture of language. Bangladesh is not the other nation of the subcontinent. They are based on religion,” Benegal added.
On being asked if there is any truth to the rumours about Bangladeshi actors Arifin Shuvoo and Nusrat Faria been cast in the roles of Bangabandhu and Sheikh Hasina respectively, Benegal said, “All this while, we were busy with tests and auditions. We concluded all of that on Tuesday. Do not go by rumours. We will make a proper announcement in a day or two.”
“Corona came in the way,” said Benegal on Wednesday, adding that more time is needed to complete the preparation of shooting the biopic of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Pre-production work for the film has already begun. Work on designing the sets had started some time back. According to Bangladesh’s line producer Esha Yousuf, shooting was supposed to begin on March 18.
On being asked if the shooting of the film has been postponed due to coronavirus precautions, she said, “Yes, we have postponed the first schedule of shooting. Now, we are shooting the whole thing together from September. We can’t risk our cast and crew.”
The first schedule — which was supposed to film the “young life” of Bangladesh’s Father of the Nation — was planned to be shot at Tetia village in Narayanganj. “We were supposed to shoot for 28 days there. Besides, we had three to four days of studio shoot in Dhaka. In total, it’s a team of around 300 cast and crew from different countries, including Bangladesh and India. Some of our equipment were coming from South Africa and the operators are from Canada and the UK,” she added.
When TOI got in touch with Benegal, he said, “Yes, it is true that coronavirus came in the way. But we also needed a certain amount of time to complete the preparation. It is a big film and there is a lot of work to be done. Sets have to be built. The Tungipara house and that period have to created,” the director said.
Shooting of this “co-production between the governments of India and Bangladesh” has now been shifted to September. “The film will be made in Bengali. It is a story of a Bengali nationalist. The nation is built on the basis of the culture of language. Bangladesh is not the other nation of the subcontinent. They are based on religion,” Benegal added.
On being asked if there is any truth to the rumours about Bangladeshi actors Arifin Shuvoo and Nusrat Faria been cast in the roles of Bangabandhu and Sheikh Hasina respectively, Benegal said, “All this while, we were busy with tests and auditions. We concluded all of that on Tuesday. Do not go by rumours. We will make a proper announcement in a day or two.”
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