Entertainment Desk

On Sunday, the Ministry of Cultural Affairs issued a gazette notification revealing the new 15-member 'Bangladesh Film Censor Board' committee, by the order of the President.

Following the ouster of the previous regime by the student-led mass uprising, there were significant talks regarding the Censor Board reformation. Strong demands were raised by film industry professionals for a reorganized committee, demanding the removal of previous members and the formation of a new, more efficient board.

The newly formed Censor Board will be now headed by the Senior Secretary/Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting as the Chairman, and the existing Vice Chairman of the Bangladesh Film Censor Board will be the Member Secretary.

However, there are surprisingly new faces in the newly formed Censor Board, including the ‘Mohanagar’-famed renowned filmmaker Ashfaque Nipun, actress-puppeteer and activist Quazi Nawshaba Ahmed, popular writer Mohammad Nazimuddin, renowned filmmaker Khijir Hayat Khan, filmmaker-film researcher and academician Zakir Hossain Raju, author-screenwriter and filmmaker Tasmiah Afrin Mou, and film producer-writer-director Rafiqul Anowar Russell, among others.

Eminent filmmaker and President of the Bangladesh Film Directors' Association Kazi Hayat will serve as a member of the censor board. At the same time, the Senior Secretary/Secretary of the Law and Justice Division, the Press Secretary from the Chief Advisor's Office, the Additional Secretary (Film) from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, a representative from the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Managing Director of the Bangladesh Film Development Corporation will also be the new board members.