Banned Films in Bangladesh

Nabab LLB is a 2020 Bangladesh thriller by Ananyo Mamun
Starring Shakib Khan,Mahiya Mahi,Orchita Sporshia

On 25 December 2020, film director Anonno Mamun and actor Shaheen Mridha have been charged with making a film with pornographic content . Dhaka Metropolitan Police arrested the artists the day before due to a case filed against them under the Pornography Control Act for allegedly insulting the police in the film Nabab LLB .

The film Nabab LLB was released on 16 December 2020 and is set in a fictional courtroom, treating about rape and the treatment of victims.

According to Al Jazeera , the report released by Dhaka Metropolitan Police points to making and acting in a film containing such offensive and obscene dialogue as a reason for the artists' arrest. The report also highlights that the police was poorly represented in the film and that the representation of the police officer using offensive gestures and obscene language during the fictional interrogation in the film could cause negative perceptions about policing among public.

There is a petition calling on the Dhaka Metropolitan Police to drop all charges against Anonno Mamun and Shaheen Mridha has been circulated online. Sign the petition here .

Shonibar Bikel (Saturday Afternoon) is a 2019 Bangladesh / India / Germany thriller by Mostofa Sarwar Farooki.
Starring Parambrata Chatterjee, Ellie Poussot and Selina Black.

A thriller based on a terrorist attack in 2016 claimed by Islamic State in which 22 people were murdered in at the Holey Artisan Cafe.

The film has just been banned in January 2019

The film censor claimed that it would damage the country's reputation, adding that it could also incite religious fervour. The movie has also been banned from being marketed abroad.

Director Mostofa Sarwar Farooki criticised the decision to ban his film saying:

Filmmakers should feel free to take inspiration from any incident that happens around them. They don't tarnish an image. They only interpret events. It's real world actions that can damage an image.

He said they would appeal against the decision in the hope of gaining a theatrical release.

Rana Plaza is a 2015 Bangladesh docu-drama by Nazrul Islam Khan
With Pori Moni and Symon Sadik.

Banned by the Bangladesh film censor, a decision upheld after an appeal.

Summary Review

The film is based on the tragic Rana Plaza collapse. The movie centers on garment factory worker Reshma Begum's 17-day fight to survive under the debris of Rana Plaza, a building that collapsed on April 24, 2013.

Bangladesh: Banned in 2015

The movie revealed a little too much about dire safety and working conditions in Bangladeshi factories and was subject to a series of censorship hurdles.

The movie centers on garment factory worker Reshma Begum's 17-day fight to survive under the debris of Rana Plaza, a building that collapsed on April 24, 2013.

On July 17 2015, the High Court got involved in the censorship process and directed the authorities concerned to delete some scenes from the film saying they were too graphic and may have detrimental effects on public sentiment.

Presumably with the cuts made, the film was cleared by the Bangladesh Film Censor Board for a premiere on September 4. But the High Court again stepped in on August 24, slapped a six-month ban on its release following a plea by the Bangladesh National Garment Workers League chief Sirajul Islam. It also stayed the censor board's clearance of the movie. The petitioner had claimed that the movie has frightening scenes and the names of security forces were used in it, which is a violation of the law.

Further legal hearings followed in September, unbanning and re-banning the film, until the government stepped in November 3 and  blocked the screening of the movie pending an appeal filed with the censor board.

And in the latest step in January 2016, the Appellate Committee of the board refused to grant the film a certificate saying that the committee had found the movie not suitable for public viewing.