Special film festival at BFDC in memory of Gazi Mazharul Anwar

The Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (BFDC) has taken the initiative to organise a film festival in memory of renowned lyricist, film director and producer Gazi Mazharul Anwar. The special festival will be held formally in February next year, in his birth month.

BFDC Managing Director Masuma Rahman Tani said the new plan follows the huge success of the three-day open film festival held last September to mark the 30th death anniversary of celebrated actor Salman Shah.

Gazi Mazharul Anwar's birthday falls on 22 February. As Ramadan is likely to fall around that time, the festival has been scheduled for early February, in his birth month.

Explaining the purpose of the event, Masuma Rahman Tani said that after the overwhelming response to the Salman Shah event, this is an effort to pay due honour to Gazi Mazharul Anwar, a personality who regarded cinema as his own home.

Alongside screenings of the films he made, his timeless songs will be performed anew at the festival. The main aim is to bring the vast work of this legendary figure to the present generation.

His daughter, singer Dithi Anwar, has also joined BFDC in this initiative. The family will cooperate in organising the festival, it was learnt.

Gazi Mazharul Anwar made a unique contribution to Bangla cinema and to timeless patriotic songs. He began his musical journey in the 1960s by writing songs for the then Radio Pakistan.

He became directly involved with cinema by writing the song 'Akasher Hate Achhe Ekrash Neel' for eminent filmmaker Subhash Dutta's film 'Ayna O Aboshishto'. In a long career, he wrote more than 20,000 songs, creating a rare record in the country's music world.

Beyond his identity as a lyricist, he was a successful film story writer, screenwriter, director and producer. Under his own production house 'Desh Chitrakatha', he made several acclaimed films including 'Shasti', 'Swadhin', 'Shorto', 'Somor', 'Ulka', 'Amma', 'Poradhin', 'Artonad', 'Pashaner Prem' and 'Ei Je Duniya'.

The celebrated film personality was born on 22 February 1943 in Daudkandi, Cumilla, and died on 4 September 2022.

BFDC said the detailed programme of the festival will be announced later. There are plans to keep the festival open to film lovers and the new generation of viewers.