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Mujib - The Making of a Nation

Mujib - The Making of a Nation is an India-Bangladesh Co-Production on the life of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of the nation of Bangladesh, under Audio Visual Co-Production Agreement between the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India & the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of People’s Republic of Bangladesh.

Co-Produced by National Film Development Corporation & Bangladesh Film Development Corporation. Directed by Shyam Benegal

Synopsis:
Opening with the triumphant note of Bangabandhu’s return to take charge as the leader of the new nation of Bangladesh, we go into flashback mode to significant moments in his life as he grows from a young impressionable student to manhood , whose apprenticeship includes one with Shaheed Huseyn Suhrawardy.
Enthusiastically participating in the hurly burly of politics of pre-independent India, through the trauma of partition, the creation of the two nations of India and Pakistan and eventually his unrelenting fight to create the nation of Bangladesh free from the clutches of Pakistan.
A battle fought on many levels – culture, politics, language and ideology. The creation of Bangladesh is the pinnacle of Bangabandhu’s achievement.
Yet, like in classical Greek drama, this triumph ends in personal tragedy; Mujib along with fourteen members of his family are martyred – sacrifice paid in blood for creating a free nation for his people.

  • Shyam Benegal
    Director
  • Atul Tiwari
    Writer
  • Shama Zaidi
    Writer
  • NFDC Limited, India
    Producer
  • Bangladesh Film Development Corporation
    Producer
  • Arifin Shuvoo
    Key Cast
    "Sheikh Mujibur Rahman"
  • Nusrat Imrose Tisha
    Key Cast
    "Renu"
  • Nusraat Faria
    Key Cast
    "Sheikh Hasina"
  • Riaz Ahamad
    Key Cast
    "Tajuddin Ahmed"
  • Fazlur Rahman Babu
    Key Cast
    "Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad"
  • Chanchal Chowdhury
    Key Cast
    "Lutfar Rahman"
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Genres:
    Biography
  • Runtime:
    3 hours 3 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    March 23, 2023
  • Country of Origin:
    India
  • Country of Filming:
    Bangladesh, India
  • Language:
    Bengali
  • Shooting Format:
    ARRI Raw
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1:2:39
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Shyam Benegal

One of the pioneers of the new cinema in India, Shyam Benegal has been considered one of the leading filmmakers of the country ever since his first feature film, ANKUR was released. His films have been seen and acclaimed widely in India and at International film festivals for the last three decades. The core subjects of his films have been varied in nature but mainly centered around contemporary Indian experience. Problems of development, social and cultural change appear on many levels as a continuing thread in practically all his films. Apart from fiction features, he has made a number of documentaries on different subjects ranging from cultural anthropology and problems of industrialization, to music and so on. His work on television consists of several popular series based on international stories, short stories by well-known Indian writers and a mammoth 53-part series on the history of India based on Jawaharlal Nehru’s book Discovery of India. He has also made an extra-mural educational series for rural children sponsored by UNICEF.

Shyam Benegal taught mass-communication techniques between 1966 and 1973 and later took an active role in shaping film education as Chairman of the Film Television Institute of India during 1980-83 and 1989-92. As a person deeply committed to social integration in India, Shyam Benegal was part of the National Integration Council (1986-89) and the National Council of Art. The Government of India has conferred on him two of its most prestigious awards - PADMA SHRI (1976) and PADMA BHUSHAN (1991).In 2004, he was awarded the Indira Gandhi National Integration Award. Recipient of DADASAHEB PHALKE AWARD for Lifetime Achievement 2005.Conferred with a D.Litt (Honoris Causa) from Jamia Millia University, 2007.

Shyam Benegal’s career started with a job as a copywriter in advertising from where he graduated to become the Creative & Accounts Group Head before becoming a full-time filmmaker. He has lectured at many institutions
in India and abroad as well as participated in seminars on subjects dealing with Cinema, Television, Information Technology and different aspects of social and cultural change.He has made 26 fiction features for the Cinema, several documentaries and TV series, notably a 53 hour TV series on the History of India.

Practically all his films have won national awards and several of them have been awarded internationally. Shyam Benegal was a Homi Bhabha fellow (1970-72) during which time, he studied Children’s Television with CTW in
New York and worked as Associate Producer with WGBH, Boston. He runs a film production company in Mumbai.

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Director Statement

It is always difficult to make a biographical film of a personality near enough in the past for a large number of people who are still living, to have known him well and many who were influenced and continue to be influenced and affected by his enormous achievement of creating the nation of Bangladesh. Yet for all his achievements, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was not just a conscientious leader of the Nation he created; he was equally a devoted family man, and a loving husband. To make him come alive on the screen without making it an uncritical hagiography was the biggest challenge.

- Shyam Benegal