Screening of ‘Lalsalu’, ‘Chitra Nodir Pare’ stopped on Bangladesh Biman, what has been known

Biman Bangladesh Airlines has informed the concerned distributor organisation of the decision not to screen Tanvir Mokammel’s ‘Lalsalu’ and ‘Chitra Nodir Pare’ anymore, which had been shown on Bangladesh Biman flights for a long time. Although questions have been raised on social media over the matter, the authorities have said that the two films have been removed for the time being as part of regular content change.

Both ‘Lalsalu’ and ‘Chitra Nodir Pare’ have won awards in multiple categories at the National Film Awards. Tanvir Mokammel-directed ‘Lalsalu’ was released in 2001. Raisul Islam Asad, Ali Zaker, Tauquir Ahmed, Mehbooba Mahnoor Chandni, Amirul Haque Chowdhury, Chitralekha Guha, Rawshan Jamil and Munira Yusuf Memi among many others acted in it.

On the other hand, Momtazuddin Ahmed, Afsana Mimi, Tauquir Ahmed, Rawshan Jamil and Sumita Devi among many others acted in ‘Chitra Nodir Pare’, which was released in 1998.

‘Black and White’ has been doing the work of supplying films on Bangladesh Biman flights. Proprietor of the organisation Kazi Riton said that several films of Tanvir Mokammel have been shown on Bangladesh Biman through them for a long time. However, they were informed about two months ago that ‘Lalsalu’ and ‘Chitra Nodir Pare’ would no longer be screened.

Kazi Riton told the media on Tuesday afternoon, “We have been informed that the two films have been shown for more than ten years. Therefore, a decision has been taken not to show them for the time being. They will be shown again later.”

In this regard, Bangladesh Biman authorities have said that the content of in-flight entertainment or the internal entertainment system of the aircraft is changed regularly. Generally, Biman Bangladesh Airlines changes the list of films, TV shows and audio on a quarterly basis.

Mohiuddin Ahmed, general manager of the public relations department of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, said in a written statement that the content list has to be changed due to licence agreements, storage limitations and passenger satisfaction.

He said that Biman Bangladesh Airlines is not the owner of the films or shows that are screened. These contents are shown by taking the right of screening for a specific period through content service providers from media brokers. When the tenure of the licensing agreement ends, the concerned content has to be removed.

Besides, as there is storage limitation on the internal server of the aircraft, old content has to be removed to add new content. The authorities have said that keeping the entertainment list updated for passengers is also one of the reasons for regular change.