Premiere of digital film “Bathan” today

A scene from “Bathan”.

The premiere of digital film "Bathan" will be held today at the National Theatre Hall, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy at 7pm. Ashish Khandakar directs the film.
Set against the backdrop of the Swadeshi Movement, the film depicts the lifestyle of a gypsy community of northern Bangladesh. Members of the community gradually forsake a nomadic life and seek to enter society by running a buffalo and duck farm.
The central figure of the film is gypsy Shahinur, who is forced into the sex trade after her husband abandons her. Both the stepbrothers Chantu and Baroba want to marry Shahinur. But time takes its toll and pushes them in different directions.
Though the period of the film is the last era of the East India Company, the story is not related to the movement. Ashish Khandakar, who works on environmental theatre, highlights the socio-cultural changes of the gypsy community in his film. "In the film, I want to depict the relationship between nature and human beings," says Ashish Khandakar.
The film has taken the crew to the scenic locations of greater Dinajpur including Panchbibi, Patharghata and Joypurhat.
Produced by Three Sixty Entertainment Ltd., the film features Runa Khan, Golam Sarwar, Faysal Abdullah, Shaheer Huda Rumi and Shamima Akhtar Mukta as the protagonists.