Jaya's Debi wins Best Film, Best Cinematography and Best Actress in a Leading Role
The inaugural edition of Bharat Bangladesh Film Awards (BBFA), presented by TM Films, and organized by Film Federation of India (FFI), was held in grand style at International Convention City, Bashundhara on Monday evening. The red carpet for the event was graced by A-list celebrities from both Bangladesh's Dhallywood, and West Bengal's Tollywood.
Celebrities and dignitaries
Among the Bangladeshi actors, there were MA Alamgir, Sara Begum Kabari, Anwara Begum, Arifa Parvin Moushumi, Jaya Ahsan, Nusraat Faria Mazhar, Pori Moni, Eamin Haque Bobby, Bidya Sinha Saha Mim, Puja Cherry Roy, Sarah Alam, Omar Sani, Siam Ahmed, Taskeen Rahman, Mamnun Hasan Emon, and Nirab Hossain. Shakib Khan could not attend the event due to illness.
Tollywood celebrities from across the border also showed up in great numbers. There were Prosenjit Chatterjee, Ranjit Mallick, Jeetendra Madnani, Rituparna Sengupta, Paoli Dam, Abir Chatterjee, Parambrata Chatterjee, Kanchan Mullick, Sudipta Chakraborty, and Tanusree Chakraborty.
The event began with the singing of national anthems of Bangladesh, and India. Then there was screening of a short documentary on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Right after this an introductory video on FFI was played, followed by opening remarks given by the organization's President Firdausul Hasan.
Next, the Chairperson of TM Films Farzana Munny gave a speech, preceded by an audio-visual (AV) on her newly founded production house.
Then came the speech of the chief guest for the evening, Minister of Information Dr Hasan Mahmud. He said: "We speak in the same language. We listen to the same birds. However, a border created through historical events divide us. However, our language, culture and environment are still the same. Collaboration in arts and culture between the two film industries will strengthen our relationship. It is the reason why this event is being held.
"Films tell the story of life, makes us cry, laugh; films open the door to clear thinking. I believe that through this event, a new chapter in our relationship will begin," he added.
Among other notable guests of the event, there were Bashundhara Group's Chairman Ahmed Akbar Sobhan, Bangladesh Pratidin's Editor Naem Nizam, ATN Bangla's Chairman Dr Mahfuzur Rahman, BBFA Co-ordinator Tapan Ray, Indian Bangla film-maker Goutam Ghose, and West Bengal's Minister of Information Technology & Electronics Bratya Basu.
AVs corresponding to each main sponsor was played before the award ceremony.
Jaya Ahsan won Best Actress in Leading Role award for Debi and Parambrata Chatterjee won the Best Screenplay award | Courtesy
Maiden BBFA award-winners
The Jury of BBFA 2019 for Bangladeshi films were actor Alamgir, Kaler Kantho's Editor Imdadul Haq Milan, Khorshed Alam Khosru, and Hashibur Reza Kallol. For the Indian Bangla films the Jury were Goutam Ghose, Bratya Basu, Gautam Bhattacharya, Anjan Bose, and Tanusree Chakraborty. All the jury members were presented with crests by Ahmed Akbar Sobhan, and Information Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud.
The film awards began with the recognition of some long-serving legendary persons. For their immeasurable contribution to films, Bangladeshi actor Anwara Begum and Indian Bangla actor Ranjit Mallick were each presented BBFA Lifetime Achievement awards, by Goutam Ghose and Prosenjit.
Best Actress in a Leading Role for Bangladesh was won by Jaya Ahsan for Debi. Jaya also received the award for the Most Popular Actress in Bangladesh. The same award for West Bengal was given to Rituparna Sengupta, while the Best Actress in a Leading Role award went to Paoli Dam.
Best Actor in a Leading role was won by Siam Ahmed for Bangladesh, and Prosenjit for West Bengal. Shakib Khan and Jeetendra won the Most Popular Actor award for their respective industries.
Best Supporting Actor for Bangladesh was Emon, and for West Bengal it was Arjun Chakraborty.
Debi also picked up the awards for Best Film, and Best Cinematography. The latter award was received by Jaya Ahsan, as the actual winner Kamrul Hasan Khosru was not present at the event. Another actor of Debi, Sabnam Faria, was also nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, but the award eventually went to Zakia Bari Momo. Actor Sarah Alam, who made her debut with Bengali Beauty also received a nomination in this category.
The Best Supporting Actress award for West Bengal was won by Sudipta Chakraborty. Special Jury award winners for Bangladesh were Taskeen Rahman, and Bidya Sinha Saha Mim. The same award for India went to Rudranil Ghosh, Abir Chatterjee, and Nabani.
Best Director award was won by Nasiruddin Yousuff for Alpha, and Srijit Mukherji for Ek Je Chhilo Raja. Srijit also won the Best Cinematography award for West Bengal.
The Best Playback-singer Female award went to Somnur Monir Konal for Bangladesh, and Nikhita Gandhi for West Bengal.
West Bengal actor Parambrata Chatterjee surprisingly won the Best Screenplay-writer award, but he also received nominations for acting. The corresponding award for Bangladesh went to Ferari Farhad.
Regarding her win, Jaya Ahsan told the Dhaka Tribune Showtime: "This is a very special feeling, as Debi is the first film produced by me. A lot of effort went behind its success by my super-amazing team. I am definitely on cloud nine, after receiving these acknowledgements for Debi."
Nusraat Faria Mazhar, Jeetendra Madnani and Paoli Dam also graced the red carpet of BBFA 2019 | Courtesy
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