The long road to Bollywood's return to Bangladeshi theatres

Movies imported from India for commercial screening in Bangladeshi theatres have once again generated a round of debate in the country's film industry. There have been many attempts to screen Hindi films since Independence. However, their initiatives did not yield any results due to government restrictions and opposition from certain groups. 

In 2015, Shakib Khan, then president of the Film Artists Association, along with his co-workers, marched on the streets in protest against the commercial screening of Hindi movies in Bangladesh, particularly the screening of 'Wanted', starring Salman Khan. 

Almost all parties involved with the country's film industry were vocal in this regard.

However, despite their discontent, Wanted was imported from India and released in several theatres in the country. The film failed to attract a considerable number of audience, and no other parties tried to import Hindi films ever since due to the objections.  

This year in January however, Action Cut Entertainment, an independent film production house in Bangladesh, applied to the Ministry of Information to import the recent Hindi blockbuster 'Pathaan'. As a result, it reignited the debate of commercial screening of Hindi films in Bangladesh. 

Before the government's green signal on importing Pathaan, 19 organisations of the film industry issued a joint statement and asked the government not to rush to a decision.