e_Paper, Sunday, July 23, 2017

Showtime
Films coming out this Eid
• Showtime Desk
With one and a half months
remaining till the next Eid, hall
owners, producers along with the
actors are super busy with their
Eid releases. Rangbaaz, Ohongkar,
Mone Rekho, Ontor Jala, Pashan are
on the list of the films expected to
come out this Eid. Posters of some
of these ‘expected-to-be-released’
films have already been unveiled.
However, complications are
arising regarding two of the films,
the Indo-Bangla joint venture
film, Noor Jahan and the domestic
Pashan. In case of Noor Jahan, the
recent stance of the information
ministry has left the future of the
film in uncertainty, as the ministry
is working on creating a new policy
for cross border collaboration
films, in light of the recent rapid
production of films through
Bangladesh-India joint ventures,
and postponed activities related
to joint production films until the
new policy is made into law. This
means that there is no chance of
Noor Jahan getting released until a
new preview committee is formed
before Eid, which is highly unlikely
to happen.
Pashan, on the other hand, is
likely to hit roadblocks with the
“Cholochitro Pradarashak Samiti”
and that’s because of one of the
cast of the film, Misha Sowdagar,
ran into trouble with hall owners
after he had heated exchanges
with them on the matter of jointproduction
films. Consequently,
the hall owners union took a bold
step against Sowdagar by banning
the screening of all films in which
the actor will appear, making the
release of Pashan quite uncertain.
Both Pashan and Noor Jahan are
Jaaz Multimedia productions.
“I am looking forward to
releasing both the films this Eid.
There’s still time and the
preview committee could
be formed any time
before Eid,” Aziz
said about the
release of Noor
Jahan. About
Pashan, on
the other
hand, Jaaz
Multimedia
said, “I’ll
be able to
release the
film only if
Misha breaks
the ice with
the owners
union before
Eid. Otherwise, it is
impossible to release the
film.”
The release of Rangbaaz and
Ohongkar has been confirmed by
the directors of the films. They
have already started to book halls
nationwide for their films. “We’ve
already confirmed 83 halls. We are
looking forward to a number of
150 halls to release our film,” said
Sahadat Hossain, the director of
Ohongkar.
The much talked about,
Rangbaaz, which was scheduled
to be released during the previous
Eid, got caught up in a wrangle
with the Parichalak Samiti and
was stalled. But the film is finally
coming out this Eid, confirmed
producer Mozammel Haque.
According to the producer, nearly
80 halls are already booked for the
film and the number may rise up
to 150.
Both Rangbaaz and Ohongkar
feature the buzz making duo
Shakib Khan and Bubly. Bubly,
who made her debut on the silver
screen with two films during the
Eid-ul-Adha last year, is coming
out after a hiatus and that too in
two of Shakib Khan films.
“Rangbaaz was supposed to
come out last Eid. But for some
reason it didn’t happen and that’s
why it going to come out this Eid.
However, even if the films weren’t
originally meant to come to the
theatres at the same time, their
simultaneous release is actually
going to be a good thing for me,”
said Bubly.
Dhaka’s Mahi and Kolkata’s
Bonny starrer Mone Rekho will also
be released this Eid, confirmed
Wazed Ali, the director of the film.
“We are working with a view to
release the film this Eid. We’ve
already sent the posters to the
distributor office,” he said.
Although, Porimoni and
Jayed Khan starrer Ontor Jala is
speculated to be released this Eid,
director Malek Afsari refused to
confirm the release as of yet. •
• Showtime Desk
Celebrity actor Ben Affleck
might soon be hanging
up his Batman cape and
mask as Warner Bros is
reportedly plotting a future
for the Batman movie
franchise without Affleck.
The news came at a time
when the actor is on the
heels of dropping out of the
upcoming Netflix project,
Triple Frontier.
According to the
Hollywood Reporter,
Warner Bros has plans to
“gracefully” usher the movie
superstar out of the DC
movie universe as it moves
forward with a planned
trilogy of Batman movies by
director Matt Reeves.
Affleck, who is currently
45 years old, would quickly
be approaching 50 by the
time The Batman comes out
in 2019 or later, which is
being considered as a major
reason for the potential
change, sources confirm.
It is to be noted that
23
SUNDAY, JULY 23, 2017
Affleck’s Batman no
more?
critics immediately slammed
Warner Bros. choice when
Affleck was announced as
the next Bruce Wayne. Even
then the detractors cited the
actor’s age as one of their
reasons for disapproving
Affleck’s casting in the role.
According to the
Hollywood Reporter, there
would be an in-continuity
reason for the change in
Batman actors, which
probably means that the
Affleck’s Bruce Wayne would
either retire or be killed off.
Ben Affleck, who was
set to direct a planned
standalone Batman movie
for Warner Bros, has decided
not to helm the project a few
months ago.
However, Ben Affleck
will star as Batman in
Justice League, which will
be released on November
17, 2017. So far, Affleck has
played the Dark Knight
in last year’s Batman v
Superman: Dawn of Justice
and a cameo in Suicide
Squad.•
DT