Director Farooki's "Doob: No Bed of Roses" stalled

An order by the Information Ministry has stalled the process of release of "Doob: No Bed of Roses", a Bangladesh drama biopic film written and directed by Mostofa Sarwar Farooki.

This happened before the film could be put up to the Censor Board, Farooki told bdnews24.com.

The film has been produced by Abdul Aziz and Irrfan Khan under the banner of Jaaz Multimedia and Irrfan Khan Films.

It stars Bollywood's star Irrfan Khan, Nusrat Imrose Tisha, Rokeya Prachy and Parno Mittra.

The story builds up around the members of two families discovering the finer fabric of love when the headman of a family dies.

The theme of the film is that death doesn't always take things away, sometimes it gives back.

On Friday, Farooki told Glitz : Following the policy guidelines for joint productions, I submitted the film for preview to the special committee on 12 Feb.  on 15 Feb, the committee cleared the film and agreed to provide a no-objection certificate . But the very next day, the Information Ministry halted the no-objection certificate."

Farooki said this meant the film could not be placed before the Censor Board until the next government order is received. " We hope the government will withdraw the decision to stall the clearance."

Bangladesh's leading  writer Humayun Ahmed's wife Meher Afroz Shaon had previously brought to the government's notice that a part of the film closely resembles a period in the life of her late husband.

"We hope the film will in no way undermine the reputation of a legendary writer like Humayun Ahmed," she told bdnews24.com.

Many believe the information ministry slammed the brakes on the film immediately after Shaun went public .

But the information ministry's order does not provide any explicit reason for stalling the no-objection certificate for " Doob: No Bed of Roses".

Farooki said he will meeting authorities on Sunday to clear the air and get the film's release back on track.

“We wish to know why the approval was stalled,” he said.

“Whoever misled the government has embarrassed the people of Bangladesh. They do not understand the producer is Irrfan Khan. For the past five years we have tried to show our cinema in a positive light on the world stage. Now this is getting us negative headlines . We hope the government understands and removes this hurdle so that we can go to the censor board.”

Farooki also remains firm on his stance regarding Shaon’s objections. The story is not a biopic or a depiction of a period in the writer’s life, he told bdnews24.com, He insists 'Doob' is an original creation.

Farooki plans for a simultaneous initial release of the film in three countries.