Parambrata starrer ‘Shonibar Bikel’ to compete at Moscow International Film Awards

Mostafa Sarwar Farooki’s ‘Shonibar Bikel’ which stars Parambrata Chatterjee in a key role has made the headlines ever since the plot of the film was announced and subsequently created a lot of controversy. It’s loosely based on a 2016 cafe terrorist attack in Dhaka that left 22 people dead. However, the Bangladesh Censor Board has banned ‘Shonibar Bikel’ claiming it would damage Bangladesh’s reputation.
Despite the ban is Bangladesh, here’s a good news for Mostafa Farooki as the thriller has been selected for the main competition category at the 41st edition of the Moscow International Film Festival which is scheduled to run from April 18 to 25 in Moscow, Russia.
The title of this thriller translates to ‘Saturday Afternoon’ and inspired by the July 2016 attack on an upmarket cafe by militants that killed 22 hostages, including 18 foreigners.
Banning the film, the Bangladesh Censor Board had claimed the film being a Bangladesh-German co-production could incite religious fervor in a Muslim-majority nation like Bangladesh. It’s jointly produced by Jaaz Multimedia and Chabial from Bangladesh and Tandem Productions from Germany.
Beside Parambrata, ‘Shonibar Bikel’ also stars Zahid Hasan and Nusrat Imrose Tisha in the lead along with Palestinian actor Eyad Hourani, Iresh Zaker, Mamunur Rashid, Nader Chowdhury, Intekhab Dinar, Gousul Alam Shaon and others from Bangladesh.