Many have speculated that director Akram Khan’s latest Khacha will be sent to the 90th Academy awards, more commonly known as the Oscars, to compete in the foreign language film category from Bangladesh. The official confirmation came from the Bangladesh’s Oscar Committee on Thursday.
The committee stated this at an official press conference, at a hotel in the capital. They told the press that they have decided to send the film Khacha, starring Jaya Ahsan.
Bangladesh Federation of Film Society, Bangladesh’s Oscar Committee’s chairman Habibur Rahman Khan, Professor Abdur Selim, film director Mushfiqur Rahman Gulzar, Akram Khan, director of the film Khacha, the film’s production company Impress Telefilm’s managing director Faridur Reza Sagar, Actor Azad Abul Kalam and many other media personalities were present at the press conference.
Read More: ‘Khacha’ hits theatres across the country
Habibur Rahman Khan told the press that two films were submitted for Oscar evaluation. One is Jahangir Alam Sumon’s Shona Bondhu and the other was Akram Khan’s Khacha. And Khacha was officially selected to represent Bangladesh by the 9 member Oscar committee, organised by the Federation of Film Societies.
After the press conference, Akram Khan, director of the film Khacha thanked the Bangladesh government for funding the film, and Impress Telefilms in helping him produce and finish the film. He also said that this is a statement to the world that Bangladesh is producing quality films which are unconventional and meet the international standards. But he also said that it would have been more of an honour to him if his film was selected among many other films. So he requested his fellow filmmakers to submit more of their films for the international arena in future.
Based on author Hasan Azizul Haque’s short story Khacha, the screenplay for the film was co-written by actor Azad Abul Kalam and the film’s director Akram Khan. The film was shot at locations like Narail, Dohar and Natore. Khacha stars Mamunur Rashid, Azad Abul Kalam, Chadni, Shahed Ali and others. The film’s storyline is based on the British colonial period.
The 90th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), will honour the best films of 2017 and will take place on March 4, 2018, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Like last year, this year’s event will be hosted again by comedian Jimmy Kimmel. The “best foreign language film” is one of the 24 categories that’ll be awarded that night. Khacha will be representing Bangladesh and competing in that category for final nominations with films from all over the world.
On a diferrent note the lead cast of the film Khacha, Jaya Ahsan is selected as one of the judges of ‘24 Ghonta Mohapujo’ which is a show on Kolkata’s ‘24 Ghonta’ channel. The reality show will compare the puja mondops around Kolkata on this Durga Puja and name one as the best mondop.