Controversial Bengali Short Film Taken Down, Actor and Director Apologize On Social Media

Recently, “Boishommo (Discrimination)”, a controversial Bengali film had been secretly published on the YouTube channel of Hurricane Productions and it went viral on the Internet. Recently, the director and the actor publicly apologized for delivering adverse messages through their storyline. The Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of Police had given a deadline of 24 hours to the director and the lead actor of the short film “Boishommo (Discrimination)” to delete it from social media platforms.

Self-proclaimed filmmaker and scriptwriter Hayat Mahmud and actor Sabbir Hossain had been called to the headquarters of the cyber crime wing of the CTTC on January 17. Sabbir and Hayat could face multiple charges for promoting cyber bullying in case they fail to abide by the request made by the police.

Najmul Islam, the CTTC Additional Deputy Commissioner have asked Hayat and others to delete ‘Boishommo’ from all social media platforms as soon as possible.  They would take adequate action against the people who would try uploading or sharing that stuff in future. ‘Boishommo’ became viral on the internet, as it had been published on the YouTube channel of Hurricane Productions earlier.

Later, the content had been removed from the channel following its widespread criticism against the misogynist content. However, the video still could be observed on some social media pages until date. The short film has been reported for its sexist content. In addition, the film also provoked others to film other women who publicly smoke and upload it to social media. The film has received many negative reviews from journalists, rights activists and others. Few complaints also have been submitted that questioned about the special provisions and the point of equal rights and opportunities for women in the constitution.