Shyam Benegal’s Bengali film, Mujib – The Making Of A Nation, was screened at the ongoing Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on 13th September to a thunderous response. People in the auditorium were reportedly crying, clapping and laughing at the right places in the film. Based on a story and screenplay by Atul Tiwari and Shama Zaidi, the film has been produced by the governments of Bangladesh (Bangladesh Film Development Corporation) and India (the National Film Development Corporation).
The film portrays the life of erstwhile Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his political beliefs which led to the creation of Bangladesh. The film depicts his fight for Bangladesh’s independence in 1971, and his struggles as the first head of the country, until his assassination in 1975. It stars Arifin Shuvoo, Nusrat Imrose Tisha, Nusraat Faria, Chanchal Chowdhury, Riaz Ahmed, Fazlur Rahman Babu, Tauquir Ahmed, and, in special appearance, Siam Ahmed. The Bengali dialogues have been penned by Sadhana Ahmed, Gias Uddin Selim, Anam Biswash and Shihab Shaheen. Akashdeep Pandey has cinematographed the film while Aseem Sinha has edited it. Action by Sham Kaushal, art direction by Vishnu Nishad, production design by Nitish Roy, and music by Shantanu Moitra are the other major credits.