DAYS of GLORY
Continued from issue 45…..
Drama serials of 25 minutes - that too started from Bangladesh Television. Till today, there are many 25-minute drama serials. Unfortunately, there are no mega serials on BTV even though it had aired 25-minute drama serials so long ago. The main reason for this is that BTV has to accommodate many people – it is a national mass media. That is why there were no drama serials more than 13 to 26 episodes. But, if we look at foreign channels, we see 'Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Kabhi Bahu thi' crossing 1,300 episodes. Channel i has the credit to air mega serial everyday on the subcontinent: 'Joar Bhata', written and produced by Abdullah Al Mamun.
The kinds of mega serials that are popular in satellite channel screens had been aired on a BTV long time ago. Aired from Bangladesh Television (formerly known as Dhaka Television), the story of the drama serial 'Shokal Shondha' was centered on a family. Various aspects of the family members' life and struggle was the theme of the serial. Still, the hit drama serials that we find on satellite televisions have very similar kinds of stories. The only new element added into them is modernity. English mega series called 'Dallas' and later 'Dynasty' were also aired. The characters of those serials were modern, cunning and full of complexity. Probably, todays Hindi serials have similar kinds of characters.
A serial called 'Fugitive' used to be aired on BTV. A doctor didn't kill his wife but the police thought he did. The doctor knows that a one-armed man did the crime. In every episode, the doctor keeps searching for the one-armed man. In each episode behind the search for the criminal, there was a humane side to the story. Today, many mega serials such as 'Fugitive' are being aired everyday on different TV channels. Dhaka television used to air a Bangla feature film once a week. Still, in Bangladesh, we don't have any proper device to transfer film into video. Yet, not only films, programmes on film-music and film-dialogues are aired all the time. Nowadays, satellite channels are not only airing programmes on films but also are channels dedicated only to films.
We hear about the concept of films being premiered on TV screens. 'Shankhanil Karagare', a film not only was premiered on TV but all its cast, crew, producer and director were from TV. Humayun Ahmed was the writer of the film. It was directed by Mustafizur Rahman, who later became the Director General of BTV. It must be mentioned that Mustafizur Rahman was the first producer who shot outdoors, using a 16mm camera.
This must be clear to the readers that the programmes that are hugely popular and the satellite channels that are so proud of had already been showed on BTV long time ago. Unfortunately, those old programmes were not restored or not remade. That is why we are unable to proudly write on our history books about those glorious programmes of BTV. If those programmes were archived properly, today we could've proudly said that all the success on all Bangladeshi TV channels we see today is the continuation of BTV's achievements.
To be continued…
The writer is Managing Director, Channel i
Translated by Zia Nazmul Islam
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