Jaaz announces shift to web content production

Staff Correspondent

The Covid-19 pandemic has reshaped the entertainment industry causing a reduction in the number of cinema halls and losses in film business accordingly. Film production and distribution house Jaaz Multimedia on Saturday announced that they will not make films for big screen anymore, rather will venture into web content production to follow the path of OTT.

Behind their decision, Jaaz Multimedia proprietor Abdul Aziz blamed the financial loss due to the falling number of cinema halls which has even more decreased amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Currently, Jaaz has three big-budget films unreleased due to the situation caused by the pandemic. Budget of each of the films is estimated at over Tk 2-3 crore. Given the circumstances, it won’t be possible to get the investment back from making business at the existing number of cinema halls, Abdul Aziz stated in a Facebook post.

“Jaaz will protect its reputation in their new venture of web series production,” he mentioned.

Talking to The Business Post, Alim Ullah Khokon, CEO at Jaaz Multimedia, said that half amount of the government announced stimulus package of Tk 1,000 crore should be allocated for film production, rather than spending the entire amount for hall renovation.

Expressing dissatisfaction over the changes made in the policy for joint-venture films and also the selection process in government fund for films, Khokon said that the government should protect the interest of film producers for sake of the industry. “Producers are key drivers of the industry and they have to count the loss, not the artistes or directors,” he added.

However, the Jaaz CEO further said that they are now working on creating their own OTT platform which will be introduced once the first web projects are finished.

Meanwhile, Jaaz Multimedia announced the titles of their first four web series as – ‘Anutap’, ‘Paap’, ‘Barood’ and ‘Khoj’. Of these, ‘Anutap’ will be directed by Sanjay Samaddar. However, the cast and crew of the projects are still awaited.

Since its inception in 2011, Jaaz Multimedia produced 50 movies so far and secured its position as one of the top film production houses in the country. The house introduced stars like Mahiya Mahi, Nusraat Faria, Ziaul Roshan and Puja Cherry in Dhallywood.