Bangladesh film directors distance themselves from peer Anonno after arrest

Bangladesh Film Directors Association has distanced itself from director Anonno Mamun, who has been arrested along with actor Shahin Mridha on charges of belittling the police in the movie 'Nabab LLB'.

Many have protested against their arrest under the Pornography Control Act on Thursday night for using "obscene" language in the movie's dialogue.But Mushfiqur Rahman Gulzar, president of the directors' association, said on Sunday they do not support Mamun, who was detained in Malaysia in 2017 on human trafficking charges, for what he has done in the movie.

"As directors, we are ashamed of the activities of Anonno Mamun. We do not support (obscene language in movies)," he said."A movie can be based on politics or it can be critical of someone, but the language he (Mamun) has used is not only deplorable, but should also be renounced," he added.

But, some other film organisers see the arrest of Mamun as an attack on artistic licence.One of them, Belayet Hossain Mamun, wrote on Facebook: "I have been writing for quite some time that we don't have freedom in filmmaking in Bangladesh, but people in the industry have paid no heed. Now the time has come to take my words seriously, because people have begun going to jail."

A week after "Nabab LLB" was released by Celebrity Production on over-the-top or OTT platform iTheatre on Dec 16, an inspector of the police's cybercrime unit started a case against Anonno Mamun and Shahin, who played the role of a police officer in the film.A rape victim faced "disgusting and perverted" questions by the police officer in the film, which belittled the force, the plaintiff said in the case.Belayet Mamun defended the scene saying that the misdeeds of a professional portrayed in a movie never indict all the people in the profession.