Everything he made was a hit. Young filmmaker Raihan Rafi has been busy with theater and OTT stories for the past few years. It was that producer who was caught in the censor board’s net for the first time. His web movie ‘Unsolved’ got stuck.
On April 24, the final verdict from the Bangladesh Film Censor Board was announced that the film cannot be shown in front of the audience. However, there is an appeal within 30 days.
After being stuck in the Censor Board for almost two months, the film industry was shocked after receiving such a negative decision. Most of them expressed their anger and said that from now on they have to make movies with flowers, birds and vines. Otherwise, it will get stuck in the sensor net.
Raihan Rafi, the producer of ‘Unsolved’, reacted angrily to the matter. Against such a decision of the Censor Board, he commented, ‘The matter is, we are all angels, living in heaven! There is no murder, no disappearance, no rape.’
In Rafi’s words, ‘The movie has matched reality, so it cannot be released! The movie must be unreal! The thing is, a journalist couple can’t be killed in a movie? Even after referring to the fictional story, if there is a similarity to an incident, then it is like, Who is in Tagore’s house? I don’t eat bananas type.’
The question of this producer, ‘So if a girl goes missing and is killed in the movie, will it be matched with Tanu of Comilla? If the body of a teenager is found in the river in the movie, will it be matched with the Tukki murder of Narayanganj?’
The maker claims that the movie ‘Unsolved’ has not proved any real incident.
Rafi said, ‘No murder can be shown in the movie, no rape can be shown, no kidnapping can be shown, no disappearance can be shown. We are all angels, living in heaven. There are no murders, no disappearances, no rapes. This is how the cinema of our country has to swim hand and foot.
April 24 Deputy Director of Censor Board. In the letter signed by Moinuddin, there were four significant reasons behind the ‘unresolved’ clearance. They are-
1. The film contains brutal murder scenes.
2. Fictional story, screenplay and dialogue content are similar to reality.
3. Such stories have actually happened and cases related to the incident are pending in the High Court.
4. The plot/content of the film is similar to the pending case and may give wrong message and hamper the investigation.
Besides, the members of the Censor Board also opined that the film is not suitable for showing in public as the elements described in clauses I, V, VII of 1 of the Code for Censorship of Films in Bangladesh, 1985 exist in the film. Therefore, according to rule 16(5) of the Bangladesh Censorship Act, the censor application of the said film was rejected.
However, the producers-directors have an opportunity to file an appeal with the government to consider the screening of the film within 30 (thirty) days of receipt of this decision letter.
Shahidul Alam Sacchu is the producer of the film on behalf of Fazlul Haque Institute of Media Studies. It is produced for Impress Telefilms subsidiary OTT platform iScreen.
Censors have not yet come into effect for OTT content. However, the Bangladesh Film Censor Board wants to see Rayhan Rafi’s ‘Unsolved’ in their own interest! The film was submitted in the first week of last March. Then the maker confidently said that his film will get clearance. Because he did not create any content, which will damage the image of the country.
No, Rafi’s confidence did not materialize. The film got stuck due to sensor complications. The release date of the film has been delayed several times by releasing the teaser-trailer.
Riaz, the project director and protagonist of iScreen, expressed regret about the matter. He said, “I could not release the much awaited movie even after announcing it last Eid. We sincerely apologize for this. Subject to getting the censor certificate, I intend to release the movie very soon. Because we respect the prevailing laws and constitution of Bangladesh.
The film has Imtiaz Barshan and Tanjika Amin in lead roles. There are also a few other actors, but their faces are covered with black cloths in the posters and teasers. Through this, the creator wants to deepen the mystery of the story. But now with the release of the film there is a new mystery-complexity-uncertainty. So will everything remain unsettled like this – the question is for those concerned.A scene from the movie
