Popular actor-director Meher Afroz Shaon has said she only wrote to the Bangladesh Film Censor Board against some objectionable and controversial parts of the film Doob and that she has no problem if the film is released after removing or modifying those controversial sections. Shaon, the wife of late legendary writer Humayun Ahmed, told this to journalists at a press conference organised yesterday afternoon at her Dhanmondi residence, Dakhin Hawa, in the capital to clear her stance on the movie. Directed by Mostafa Sarwar Farooki, the film Doob has given rise to controversy as it is considered by many to be a biopic of the late writer. The lead role of the film has been played by Bollywood sensation Irrfan Khan, which also stars famous performers Nusrat Imrose Tisha, Parno Mitra and Rokeya Prachi. While many news reports on the film have hinted the story to be based on the life of Humayun, Director Farooki denies that Doob is based on the life of the late writer.
At the briefing, Shaon said she does not approve of certain controversial parts of Humayun Ahmed’s life, as depicted in the film, and claimed that those were not authentic.
“Humayun Ahmed is a noted writer of Bengali literature. Now, he is no longer with us. But it does not mean that fictitious story would be made based on his life,” she said in her written statement that she read out at the briefing. “I sent a letter to the censor board on February 13. I requested in the letter that if there is any offensive content in the film, then the film should be released after changing or modifying those parts in an appropriate manner”, Shaon told journalists. Shaon also asked if it would be ethical to make any film with the deceptive information on Humayun Ahmed, which lacked authenticity and were only carried by some tabloid newspapers.
The future generation will learn only the deceptive information if this type of film is allowed to be made, she said. Shaon said, “I came to know about the background of the film ‘Doob’ from the Indian newspaper Anandabazar last year where they said the film was based on the life of Humayun Ahmed and some of his family members, including myself. Then, I came to know from media reports that the film has portrayed a number of controversial and untrue incidents of Humayun Ahmed’s life.” “Various media outlets reported that the lead actor Irrfan Khan watched numerous videos of Humayun Ahmed before the shooting of the film to learn the conversation style of Humayun Ahmed. Parno Mitra, another lead artiste in the film, once mentioned in a Facebook status that her character’s real name is Meher Afroz Shaon. This part was later edited out from the status,” Shaon said.
Sources said, while the film begins with a disclaimer that the film has no resemblance to any real life characters alive or dead, Irrfan Khan plays a filmmaker named Javed Hasan in Doob, who leaves his wife and marries an actress who was his daughter’s classmate in school, which closely resembles the real life of late writer Humayun. Earlier on Friday, Ministry of Information halted the process of the release of ‘Doob’ after receiving a letter from Meher Afroz Shaon. Director of the film Mostafa Sarwar Farooki made the revelation through a Facebook post on Friday night. Bangladesh Film Development Corporation’s (BFDC) Joint Venture Preview Committee approved the script of the movie on March 8, 2016, after which the film went into production. Once the shooting was complete, the film was previewed by the BFDC on February 12, 2017 and received a No Objection Certificate on February 15. However, just a day later, the BFDC sent a letter to those concerned with the release of the movie that the NOC for their movie has been cancelled mandated by a letter from the Ministry of Information.