Mukh O Mukhosh


Mukh O Mukhosh was the first Bengali language feature film to be made in East Pakistan. It was produced by Iqbal Films and directed by Abdul Jabbar Khan. The film was released in East Pakistan on 3 August 1956. It was released in Dhaka, Chittagong, Narayanganj, and Khulna. The film was a great success as viewers thronged to watch the first film to be made in the region. It earned a total of Rs. 48,000 during its initial run.

Background

The story of the film was based on Abdul Jabbar Khan's play and history, Dakaat. Khan started working on the film in 1953. At that time, the film industry in erstwhile East Pakistan was virtually non-existent, and local film theatres screened films from Kolkata, or Lahore. Jabbar Khan was reportedly incensed by the remarks of a Calcutta film producer, F. Dossani, who claimed the local climate was not suitable for film production. Khan worked on the film for two years. Local actors, who had no prior experience of acting in films, performed in the film without any compensation. In the absence of any local film production studios, the negatives of the film had to be taken to Lahore for development.

Production

Playback singers for the two songs in the film were Abdul Alim and Mahbuba Rahman. However, the song by Abdul Alim is lost, as the film of that part of the film has deteriorated completely. Mahbuba sang the other song in the film - Moner Boney Dola Laage Hashlo Dokhin Hawa. All lyrics were written by M. A. Gafur. Samar Das directed the music of the film.
Q.M. Zaman served as the cameraman. Shyam Babu was the make-up artist.

Cast