Table Of ContentRoutledge Contemporary South Asia Series
IDENTITY, NATIONHOOD
AND BANGLADESH
INDEPENDENT CINEMA
Fahmidul Haq and Brian Shoesmith
Identity, Nationhood and
Bangladesh Independent Cinema
This book analyses how independent filmmakers from Bangladesh have represented
national identity in their films. The focus of this book is on independent and art-house
filmmakers and how cinema plays a vital role in constructing national and cultural identity.
The authors examine post-2000 films that predominantly deal with issues of national
identity and demonstrate how they tackle questions of national identity. Bangladesh is
seemingly a homogenous country consisting 98% of Bengali and 90% of Muslim. This
majority group has two dominant identities – Bengaliness (the ethno-linguistic identity) and
Muslimness (the religious identity). Bengaliness is perceived as secular-modern whereas
Muslimness is perceived as traditional and conservative. However, Bangladeshi independent
and art-house filmmakers portray the nationhood of the country with an enthusiasm and
liveliness that exceeds these two categories. In addition to these categories, the authors
add two more dimensions to the approach to discuss identity: Popular Religion and
Transformation. The study argues that these identity categories are represented in the films
and that they both reproduce and challenge dominant discourses of nationalism.
Providing a new addition to the discourse of contemporary national identity, the book
will be of interest to researchers studying international film and media studies, independent
cinema studies, Asian cinema, and South Asian culture, politics and identity politics.
Fahmidul Haq is visiting professor at Bard College, New York, USA, and he has taught
Mass Communication and Journalism at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh for nearly
two decades. He is also a former visiting research professor at University of Notre Dame,
USA. His areas of interest include South Asian Cinema, Critical Media Studies and New
Media Culture. His publications on South Asian film and media both in English and
Bengali include Cinema of Bangladesh: A Brief History (2020). A human rights defender
and public intellectual, Haq’s online activism evolves around culture and politics of
Bangladesh.
Brian Shoesmith was an honorary professor in Communications and Arts at Edith Cowan
University, Perth, Australia. He was also Dean of Academic Development at the
University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) for nearly a decade. He is the co-author
of Media Theories and Approaches: A Global Perspective (2008) and co-editor of
Bangladesh’s Changing Mediascape (2013). He was a Founding Editor of Continuum:
Journal of Media and Cultural Studies (Taylor and Francis). Dr. Shoesmith passed away
on January 30th, 2020.
Routledge Contemporary South Asia Series
The Geopolitics of Energy in South Asia
Energy Security of Bangladesh
Chowdhury Ishrak Ahmed Siddiky
Transdisciplinary Ethnography in India
Women in the Field
Edited by Rosa Maria Perez and Lina Fruzzetti
Nationalism in India
Texts and Contexts
Edited by Debajyoti Biswas and John Charles Ryan
Gender Responsive Budgeting in South Asia
Experience of Bangladeshi Local Government
Pranab Kumar Panday and Shuvra Chowdhury
Gendered Modernity and Indian Cinema
The Women in Satyajit Ray’s Films
Devapriya Sanyal
Reading Jhumpa Lahiri
Women, Domesticity and the Indian American Diaspora
Nilanjana Chatterjee
Indian Literatures in Diaspora
Sireesha Telugu
Identity, Nationhood and Bangladesh Independent Cinema
Fahmidul Haq and Brian Shoesmith
Media Discourse in Contemporary India
A Study of Select News Channels
Sudeshna Devi
For the full list of titles in the series please visit: https://www.routledge.com/
Routledge-Contemporary-South-Asia-Series/book-series/RCSA
Identity, Nationhood and
Bangladesh Independent
Cinema
Fahmidul Haq and Brian Shoesmith
First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
business
© 2023 Fahmidul Haq and Brian Shoesmith (this might be Fahmidul
Haq and Vivien Shoesmith as Brian has passed away and Routledge
signed the contract with his wife Vivien Shoesmith)
The right of Fahmidul Haq and Brian Shoesmith to be identified as
authors of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections
77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or
other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-1-032-22082-6 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-22084-0 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-27109-3 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003271093
Typeset in Times New Roman
by MPS Limited, Dehradun
In memories of
Brian Shoesmith
The co-author who expired in the last stage of the book project
Contents
List of Figures viii
List of Tables ix
Acknowledgements x
Introduction 1
1 Nationhood, Identity and Independent Cinema 7
2 Identity Approaches of Bengali Muslims 30
3 The Making of Independent Cinema in Bangladesh 56
4 Textual Analysis: Foundational Films 87
5 Textual Analysis: Transitional Films 112
6 Textual Analysis: Contemporary Films 137
7 Representing Identity through Cinema 160
Conclusion 190
Index 197
Figures
4.1 Rabi Das (Jayanta Chattopadhyay), Banasreebala (Naila
Azad Nupur) and Subal (Mamunur Rashid) in the green
room of the Jatra stage 90
4.2 Majid (Raisul Islam Asad) in the shrine 97
4.3 Yakub (Riaz) and Rehana (Sohana Saba) in a moment of
despair 104
5.1 Asma (Rimjhim) with a clay bird at her hand 114
5.2 Meher (Jaya Bachchan) in prayer 124
5.3 Amin Patwary (Kazi Shahir Huda Rumi) in front of a halal
television 130
6.1 Ruhul (Fazlul Haque) comes back home from the city 140
6.2 Mithu (Noor Imran) enters Rima’s (Sheena Chouhan)
house and blackmails her 145
6.3 Roya (Shahana Goswami) in a dream sequence with
garments workers 151
6.4 Kamal (Kamal Mani Chakma) with his bicycle 155
Tables
0.1 Selected films and their categories 4
3.1 Lists of selected early independent short films 61
3.2 Lists of selected films of the second phase (1993–1999)
of the independent cinema movement 62
3.3 Format, length and funding details of selected feature films
(2000–2010) 69
3.4 Selected global films 74
3.5 Selected documentaries 77
