Zahir Raihan and Alamgir Kabir, two leading filmmakers of the country, have presented the nation with movies based on the War of Independence.
Now when the nation is going to celebrate the 41st Independence Day, we recall the contribution of the two legendary filmmakers to keeping the memory of the war alive through their works.
Besides organising the War of Independence through the activities of Bangladesh Buddhijibi Mukti Sangram Parisad, a platform of the Bengali intellectuals during the war, both of the filmmakers made some unique documentaries during the war.
‘While Zahir Raihan was the pioneer in utilising movie as a medium to gather support for the War of Independence, Alamgir Kabir continued to keep the spirit alive,’ film director Manjare Hasin Murad told New Age.
Stop Genocide, made by Zahir Raihan, is considered as the one of the top ranked documentaries made ever on war. The film proved to be a powerful medium to gather international support for the liberation of the country.
‘Stop Genocide is the first alternative movie of our country. It also moved the government to fund three other documentaries to gather worldwide support against Pakistan,’ said Murad.
In June 1971, the provisional government assigned Zahir Raihan to produce three more short films Liberation Fighters (directed by Alamgir Kabir), Innocent Millions (directed by Babul Choudhury), and A State is Born (directed by Zahir Raihan).
A leftist activist and writer, Zahir Raihan made his politically conscious movie even before the war had started. His timeless full-length movie Jiban Theke Neya, released in 1970, reflects the anti-Pakistani movements of late 1960s. This is the first ever film which called for independence though in a symbolic way.
‘Jiban Theke Neya is the only film released before the independence which portrays the nationalist movements of ‘60s’, said Manjare Hasin Murad.
Adding filmmaker Morshedul Islam told New Age, ‘This is the film that moved the nation, and the strength of film as a medium of communication was proved for the first time in this soil.’
Zahir Raihan himself had little more than six months to live. In January 1972, a few weeks after the surrender of the Pakistani forces, he went out to search for his novelist elder brother and mentor Shahidullah Kaiser. Subsequently he was disappeared.
Alamgir Kabir, also a political activist, journalist and cultural activist, was involved in leftist movement. The Ayub government had arrested and sent him to prison. Then he started his professional life as a journalist. He also became popular as a serious film critic.
With the start of the war of liberation in 1971, he joined Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra as chief of its English section.
He assisted Zahir Raihan in making Stop Genocide and also gave voice in the documentary. Later he came up as a director in the documentary Liberation Fighters.
‘To me he is a courageous fighter, a leader of the film society movement, a powerful film critic and a great director,’ said Morshedul.
After the liberation of Bangladesh, Alamgir Kabir made a number of feature films of high standard. Among those Dhire Bahe Meghna, released in 1973, is a war-based feature film.
He used some real footages of the war depicting the brutality of Pakistani army, genocide, miseries of the native people during war and others.
‘Alamgir Kabir beautifully blended documentary and fiction in this film,’ said Manjare Hasin Murad.
‘He also made three other documentaries based on war after the liberation,’ he added.
But his life was cut short by a road accident on January 20, 1989.
News Source: The New Age