Komola Rocket writer astonished, Mosharraf Karim refuses National Film Award

Shahaduz Zaman, author of the popular book Crutch-er Colonel and screenwriter of internationally acclaimed Bangladeshi film Komola Rocket, has recently expressed his astonishment about a specific Bangladesh National Film Awards title. The Bangla Academy Literary Award-winning writer took to Facebook on Friday, and wrote that he was astonished to see that popular Bangladeshi actor Mosharraf Karim was given the Best Actor in a Comic Role for his performance in the Komola Rocket.

Karim also refused to accept the title after the National Film Awards 2018 winners list was published by the Ministry of Information on November 7.

He wrote: “Someone informed me a very odd news about Komola Rocket recently. The Noor Imran Mithu directed film already received best film awards in five international film festivals. This has not been the case for any recent Bangladeshi films.”

“As it was based on my story and screenplay even I have joy about the matter but recently the film has been awarded an innovative title, the Best Actor in a Comic Role award. When I was writing the film’s screenplay, whatever the characteristics of Mosharraf Karim’s character were, it was never a comic one. I am quite astonished and a bit amused to see how a multi layered character of Karim can be judged in such a manner,” he added.

The Dhaka Tribune’s Showtime contacted the writer for a comment. He said: “I have already made my comment on my Facebook page.”

Renowned Bangladeshi actor Mosharraf Karim, currently in Malaysia, also shared his remarks on the matter from his verified Facebook page on Saturday.

He refused to accept the award and wrote: “My request to the honourable jury board members is that it will be very helpful if my name from the Best Actor in a Comic Role award is withdrawn. If not then I am unable to accept this award.”

Showtime also contacted the film’s director Noor Imran Mithu about his comment on the incident. He said: “I am actually not clear about the whole situation yet, as I am out of Dhaka at the moment. The official procedures and paperwork for these are done by the film’s production company, and in my film’s case it is Impress Telefilm. I was in Egypt when they submitted everything at the Ministry of Information. My assistant went to check the paperwork instead of me. So it might have been a mistake. We will hopefully release a formal statement soon.”

“But still, if you have seen Komola Rocket, then you would understand that there is no single protagonist in the film.  I agree with Shahaduz Zaman sir that the role of Mosharraf Karim was never intended to be portrayed as a comic role.”

Mithu was emotional as he spoke further: “We worked very hard for the project, and completed its post-production from Mumbai for the lack of a proper film facility here in Bangladesh. Our screenplay was also good. We were hoping for Best Screenplay or any other technical category award, as it was good enough for Netflix to buy it for their streaming platform. But everything aside, we do not make films for awards and filmmakers like us will keep making good films for the audience.”

The film is available for streaming on Netflix since January and currently the only Bangladeshi production available on the platform.
Moreover, the jury board members for National Film Awards 2018 were Dhaka University professor Shafiul Alam Bhuiyan, film actor Enamul Haque, singer Fakir Alamgir, daily Bhorer Kagoj Editor Shyamol Dutta, composer and music director Matiur Rahman, actor Rawshan Ara Rozina, Bangladesh Film Directors’ Association President Mushfiqur Rahman Gulzar and Bangladesh Cinematographer Society’s Joint Secretary General Tapan Ahmed.