Farooki’s Doob wins Kommersant Weekend Prize in Moscow

Filmmaker Mostofa Sarwar Farooki’s “Doob: No Bed of Roses” has won the Kommersant Weekend Prize at the 39th Moscow International Film Festival.

Doob, a Bangladesh-India joint production, found its place among the best jury films.

It is also competing in the category of the best films of the festival, which will be announced later.

After receiving the award, Farooki spoke to bdnews24.com after he returned to his hotel. “I just came back with the award. I never imagined that such prize was waiting for me. This is a huge honour for me and the country.”

He expressed sadness that Bangladeshis are yet to watch the movie. “Making this movie was literally no bed of roses for me. It was tough. I overcame so many obstacles and now it’s being praised on the international stage.”

“The movie’s release has been stalled in Bangladesh in a completely illogical and illegal manner. The film has been made following all rules of the censor board.

“We hope the government will understand this and the Bangladeshi audience will get to watch Doob soon,” said Farooki.

Bangladesh Film Censor Board has stalled the no-objection certificate for the film after filmmaker and actor Meher Afroz Shaon said Doob depicted her late husband, famous writer Humayun Ahmed in an 'objectionable' way.

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

In Moscow, Doob was screened at the October cinema hall on Wednesday amid accolades from the Russian audience.

Russian film critic Andrei Plakhov handed over the Kommersant Weekend Prize to Farooki at the same venue on Thursday.

The film festival kicked off on June 22. Doob and 10 other films from different countries are competing for the best film prize.

Doob stars Bollywood star Irrfan Khan, Kolkata’s Parno Mittra, Bangladesh’s Nusrat Imrose Tisha and Rokeya Prachy.