India, Bangladesh to produce mega film on 1971 War of Liberation

NEW DELHI: A mega film on the historic Bangladesh War of Liberation, honours for the deceased Indian soldiers and possible waiver of the ban on theatrical release of Indian films are some of the proposals that will be examined by India and Bangladesh in the coming months.

India and Bangladesh on Thursday agreed to work on a proposal for jointly producing a mega film depicting Bangladesh’s struggle for independence which will also highlight the sacrifices made by Indian soldiers.

In a statement the government said that information and broadcasting minister Manish Tewari and his Bangladeshi counterpart Hasanul Haq Inu had extensive discussions in which both agreed to consider a collaboration for production of a mega film depicting the War of Liberation.

“In this context, it was agreed to work towards a roadmap to finalize the proposal shortly. In this context, the Information Minister of Bangladesh also requested that the government of India could consider providing the names of the soldiers who had laid down their lives during the War of Liberation,” a statement released here said.

The visiting minister also reiterated that they would like to recognize their contribution made during this historical event. About 8,000 Indian soldiers were killed in the war.

The Indian side also brought up the archaic law that bans theatrical release of Indian films in Bangladesh. Officials said that the Bangladeshi minister assured India that the law will be reviewed.

The ministers also agreed to explore the possibility of setting up of a joint working group on the critical sectors. The Bangladeshi minister also requested Tewari to facilitate the down linking of Bangladeshi TV channels through the private distribution network.

Both ministers also agreed to intensify collaboration between Prasar Bharati and Bangladesh State Television in view of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the two entities in 2011, the statement said.

The MoU had focused on mutual cooperation in the broadcast of television programmes between the two broadcasters, it added. Both countries may also consider exchange of programmes and also explore the possibility of executive TV co-production. Both ministers also agreed to facilitate the exchange of archival material.

Source: timesofindia