Cinema
অরুণোদয়ের অগ্নিসাক্ষী
Subhash Dutta · 1972
Synopsis
A famous actor, a hero on screen, does not dare to take up arms in 1971: he spends the war in Calcutta, haunted by what he saw while crossing the border, the burned villages, the people killed, the women raped by the Pakistani army. He promises himself that he will serve the country if it becomes free. After the victory, he returns and revisits the villages he crossed, where women who were victims of the war and their children have no place left, and he decides to take them in his care.
Context
Written and directed by Subhash Dutta, who also played a role in it, the film was produced by Ramla Saha, with music by Satya Saha. Bobita plays Romena, Uzzal plays Asad, and Anwar Hossain plays a character who bears his own name. The film was released on 8 November 1972; it carried an explicit message, to restore dignity to dishonoured women and to welcome the children born of the war.
Who it is for
A war film without major combat scenes, focused on its character's distress; it is worth knowing what the word birangona means in Bangladesh.
Prizes and reception
It is cited among the very first films of the war of liberation, and among the best of its director for its style.