‘Hawa’ director sued for breaching Wildlife Act

A case has been filed against renowned director and musician Mejbaur Rahman Sumon for violating the Wildlife (Preservation and Security) Act, 2012 in his debut feature film ‘Hawa.’

Nargis Sultana, an inspector of the Wildlife Crime Control Unit, told several media outlets that she filed the case with the Metropolitan Session Judge’s Court on Wednesday.

In the recently released super hit film ‘Hawa,’ a Common Myna (locally known as Shalik) bird is shown captivated in a cage. At one point in the film, the bird was killed and then eaten.

The same film’s behind-the-scenes promo features a stingray fish being picked up from the sea.

Sumon, the director of the film, claimed no animal was harmed in his film. He told the press that dummies and VFX were used for the shooting.

The film’s executive producer Shimul Chandra Biswas told The Business Post on Thursday, “We are preparing a legal response. And we will share it with the press very soon.”

‘Hawa’ depicts the story of a deep-sea fishing trawler caught up in a mysterious chain of events. It had mostly been praised both by the critics and the audience.

‘Hawa’ was released on July 29 with 23 theatres and 66 house-full shows across the country.

It broke all box office records in the recent past with almost a week-worth of tickets booked and sold out online three days before the film’s release. Bangladesh’s biggest multiplex chain Star Cineplex’s website crashed when they began pre-sales on July 26.

The film also broke the record of being the first Bangladeshi film which took over slots for the recently released Marvel Studios’ film ‘Thor: Love and Thunder.’

Bangladeshi multiplexes had to cut down their screenings of the Hollywood blockbuster to accommodate ‘Hawa.’

The film also broke the record of being the first Bangladeshi film which had the largest overseas release with more than 100 theatres across the US.

The star-studded film was shot by “Monpura” famed cinematographer Kamrul Hasan Khasru and stars Chanchal Chowdhury, Nazifa Tushi, Sariful Islam Razz, Sumon Anowar, Shohel Mondol, Nasir Uddin Khan, Abdul Jabbar Chowdhury, Mahmud Hasan and Bablu Bose, among others.

Jaaz Multimedia is the local distributor of the film.