Bangladeshi war film Meherjaan rekindles old enmities1 min read
Reading Time: < 1 minuteWhen Bangladeshi film Meherjaan was released in January this year, it was a great moment for the director Rubaiyat Hossain. It was her debut and in making it she had joined a handful of female film directors in Bangladesh.
The feature film is about a Bangladeshi woman’s love affair with a Pakistani Baloch soldier during Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence. Little did she realise that her first venture would be mired in controversy.
Following fierce criticism in the media and on the internet, the film was withdrawn from cinema halls by its distributors just a week after its release.
Rubaiyat Hossain denies that she is overlooking genocide committed during the war. Critics allege that it has distorted history and ignored the horrors of the war. But the director disagrees.
