‘Taandob’ will not return to Tangail’s Kalihati upazila

The Islamist groups that had opposed the screening of the film "Taandob" in Tangail's Kalihati upazila yesterday backed down from their stance, agreeing to allow the film to be shown.

However, the organisers said they are no longer interested in continuing the screenings, citing potential financial losses caused by the negative publicity stemming from the protests.

On Tuesday, the screening was abruptly halted under pressure from the religious groups, despite the organisers having had official permission from the district council to run the film for a month.

Yesterday, the upazila administration held a nearly four-hour-long meeting with local religious leaders, politicians, and law enforcers in a bid to reach a resolution.

"At the meeting, they [religious leaders] told us they will no longer oppose the film's screening here," Khairul Islam, upazila nirbahi officer of Kalihati, told The Daily Star.

Contacted, Hazrat Ali, a local madrasa teacher, protester, and vice-president of the union unit of Ulama Imam Parishad, said, "Upon request from the upazila administration, we have agreed that the film screening can be continued obeying all the conditions set by the administration."

Despite this, Kamruzzaman Saiful, head of marketing at Jaaz Multimedia and organiser of the screening, expressed doubts about the audience turnout due to the unrest surrounding the film.

"People will not come to the shows. We are incurring financial losses. We are not interested anymore to continue the shows here [in Kalihati]," he said last night.

Saiful, a resident of Hasra village in the upazila, and his partner Saju Mehedi of Tokai Theatre Group, had rented the Auliabad Community Centre-cum-Multipurpose Hall for Tk 10,000 per day from the Tangail Zilla Parishad, and obtained permission to screen the movie for a month starting from Eid day. They also paid five days' rent in advance.

Opposing the screening, groups under the banner of Parkhi Union Ulama Parishad and Alem Samaj had marched to the community centre demanding a ban. Posters and banners promoting the film were also torn down.

Nevertheless, the film was screened from Eid day till Tuesday night, when the organisers stopped the shows and vacated the venue.

"We have wrapped up everything and left the area," Saiful confirmed.

Earlier on Tuesday, Hazrat Ali had told The Daily Star they protested the screening out of concern that the film could promote obscenity and negatively influence students of the area's many religious institutions.