Dhaka’s history-based ‘Jindabahar’ airing on BTV

‘Jindabahar’, a 52-episode drama serial directed by Mamunur Rashid based on the history of Dhaka in the eighteenth century, goes on air tonight at 9:30pm on BTV.

After the death of Sirajuddaula, the last Nawab of Bengal, his relatives were imprisoned for eight years. The story of the drama serial revolves around the struggles of the Nawab’s relatives in the prison and the history of the old city after the death of the Nawab.

The star-studded drama serial is produced and directed by Fazle Azim Jewel.

“Though research has been done on the misery of Dhaka, no fiction has been made in that way. At one time, the Jinjira Palace was also very vivid and lively. But it was left abandoned later. When the capital was shifted to Murshidabad, Dhaka too got abandoned. What was the situation in Dhaka then? I have tried to reflect these stories in my drama ‘Zindabahar’,” Mamunur Rashid said.

“At one stage, through the establishment of indigo huts and revolution of muslin industry, gradually Dhaka started to become lively again. In fact, we have a very sad history of Dhaka. I wanted to write something about it for a long time. ‘Zinda’ means alive and ‘Bahar’ mean spring. Dhaka is a place of living spring,” he added.

Producer Fazle Azim Jewel said, “The history of Dhaka in 200 or 300 years ago has not been seen in Bengali dramas. Dhaka of that time is much unknown to us. Through this long series, the audience will be able to know how was Dhaka in the eighteenth century. After the death of the last Nawab, his relatives were imprisoned for eight years. We will show the story of these eight years.”

“We used different lighting patterns, modern set designs and VFX technology to show this story from two centuries and a half before. It goes without saying that it is not used in our television dramas before. I have tried to produce this drama cinematically using 4K technology,” he added.

The drama has an ensemble cast of Lutfar Rahman George, Azad Abul Kalam, Ahmed Rubel, Ananta Hira, Shatabdi Wadud, Shah Alam Dulal, Samu Chowdhury, Shamim Visty, Shyamol Zakaria, Rozy Siddiqui, Munira Begum Mimi, Nazneen Chumki, Sharmimala, Nikita Nandini, Alif Chowdhury, Sadman Prottoy, Yusuf Russell, Shakil among many others.

The drama will be aired every Sunday, Monday and Tuesday at 9:30pm.