Musical on Bangabandhu’s assasination bags international award

The musical film 'Baba', set against the backdrop of the brutal assassination of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, has won an award at the India International Film Festival 2020. 

The film was selected as the best musical film at the India International Film Festival 2020, said director Raymond Salomon. Nafisa Shama was a vocalist in the film's song.

Watch the musical film 'Baba' here 

Raymond studied management at the Australian Film Radio and Television School. He is overjoyed that a film directed by him has won an award at the India International Film Festival. 

"I wanted Bangladeshi artists to work in the international arena," he told the press from Sydney on Tuesday. 

"I have been discussing it with Bangladeshi artists for a decade and a half. Then I taught myself production. I have pursued formal education on production while pursuing a career and education as an immigration lawyer. Now I want to tell the world all the wonderful stories and history of Bangladesh through my films," the director added. 

Raymond said that he chose the topic of Bangabandhu's brutal assassination on August 15 because there is a demand for the story of Bangladesh in the western market. "We need to improve the quality of production," he said.

The six minute and two second long musical film 'Baba' was released on YouTube in August last year. Raymond said 'Baba' was submitted to more than 60 film exhibitions around the world. He has won 10 honours since then. 

Raymond is hopeful that he will be able to bag some more awards in the future.

Abul Hasnat Milton supervised the making of the musical. Raymond, who grew up in Bangladesh, has been living in Australia for 18 years. At one time, he worked as an aviator in the Bangladesh Air Force, which he later left and moved to Australia in 2003.

When asked about the story behind Baba's creation, he said, "There is another humanitarian aspect to Bangabandhu's brutal assassination - the story of surviving children who lost their relatives on August 15. No one has the ability to understand their pain."

The two main characters in the film are Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her younger sister Sheikh Rehana. "Often the question arises in my mind: How are they surviving after losing their relatives to such cruelty? In the musical, I have tried to tell the painful story of a grieving daughter growing up in the absence of a father," Raymond said.