The first Bharat-Bangladesh Film Awards (BBFA) was held at Dhaka’s International Convention City Bashundhara on October 21. The event was jointly organised by Film Federation of India (FFI) and Bangladesh’s Bashundhara Group, in association with TM Films, a film production company owned by popular Bangladeshi musician Kaushik Hossain Taposh and famous beautician and businessperson Farzana Munny. The award ceremony, hosted by actor Shahriar Nazim Joy and comedian Mir Afsar Ali, honoured film personalities and featured performances by artistes from Bangladesh and India. 

Anwara Begum receives the lifetime achievement award from filmmaker Goutam Ghose.

Jaya Ahsan and Parambrata Chatterjee.

More than two hundred film stars from the two countries attended the event. A total of 24 awards in popular, technical and regional categories were conferred to films and film professionals for Bangla films, released from June 2018 to June 2019, in Bangladesh and India.

Actors Alamgir and Sarah Begum Kobori, novelist and television personality Imdadul Haq Milan, Film Producers’ Association president Khorshed Alam Khasru and film producer Hasibur Reza Kallol were members of the jury board from Bangladesh, while filmmaker Goutam Ghose, actor-director Bratya Basu, actor Tanushree Chakraborty were the jury members from India. They selected the films nominated for the awards.

Ranjit Mallick receives the lifetime achievement award from actor Prosenjit Chatterjee.

Bangladesh Minister of Information Dr Hasan Mahmud was the chief guest of the event. Chairman of Bashundhara Group Ahmed Akbar Sobhan, Editor of Bangladesh Protidin Naem Nizam, Chairman and Managing Director of ATN Bangla Dr Mahfuzur Rahman, President of FFI Firdausul Hasan and Coordinator of BBFA Tapan Roy were also present.

“This award ceremony is a form of cultural exchange between Bangladesh and India,” said Dr Hasan Mahmud. “We need more such events in both the countries to celebrate our cinema and make the film industries of both the countries more viable.” Following is a list of winners in the key categories.

Lifetime Achievement Award (Bangladesh): Anwara Begum

Lifetime Achievement Award (India):

Ranjit Mallick

Best Film (Bangladesh): Debi

Best Film (India): Nargarkirtan

Best Director (Bangladesh):

Nassiruddin Yousuff Bachchu

Best Director (India): Srijit Mukherji

Popular Film of the Year (Bangladesh):Password

Popular Film of the Year (India): Byomkesh Gotro

Popular Actor of the Year (Bangladesh):

Shakib Khan

Popular Actor of the Year (India): Jeet

Popular Actress of the Year (Bangladesh):

Jaya Ahsan

Popular Actress of the Year (India):

Rituparna Sengupta

Best Lead Actor (Bangladesh): Siam Ahmed

Best Lead Actor (India): Prosenjit Chatterjee

Best Lead Actress (Bangladesh): Jaya Ahsan

Best Lead Actress (India): Paoli Dam

Best Supporting Actor (Bangladesh): Emon

Best Supporting Actor (India): Arjun Chakraborty

Best Supporting Actress (Bangladesh):

Zakia Bari Mamo

Best Supporting Actress (India):

Sudipta Chakraborty

Best Music Director (Bangladesh): Hridoy Khan

Best Music Director (India): Bickram Ghosh

Best Playback Singer – Male (Bangladesh): Imran

Best Playback Singer – Male (India):

Anirban Bhattacharya

Best Playback Singer – Female (Bangladesh): Somnur Monir Konal and Oyshee

Best Playback Singer – Female (India):

Nikita Nandi

Best Scriptwriter (Bangladesh): Ferari Farhad

Best Scriptwriter (India): Parambrata Chatterjee

Best Cinematographer (Bangladesh):

Kamrul Hasan Khosru

Best Cinematographer (India): Srijit Mukherji

Best Film Editor (Bangladesh):

Touhid Hossain Chowdhury

Best Film Editor (India): Sanglap Bhowmik