During the Sheikh Hasina government, many films did not get the clearance for release by the Bangladesh Film Censor Board. Internationally-acclaimed filmmaker Mostofa Sarwar Farooki’s “Shonibar Bikel” (Saturday Afternoon) is one of them. After a five-year struggle with the censor board, the film is expected to be released in the county’s theatres in November.

The film got censor clearance after the film’s producer Abdul Aziz appealed. However, the board made several amendments. However, the makers want to keep the scenes. The film’s authority will submit the movie to the censor again. There will be no more barriers to release when the censor board’s final clearance comes.

Jazz Multimedia chairman Abdul Aziz said to the media, “We don’t want to release the film now in the current situation of the country. If everything goes well, the audience can watch “Shonibar Bikel” in the country’s theatre in November.”

The film stars Zahid Hasan, Nusrat Imrose Tisha, Mamunur Rashid, Iresh Zaker, Intekhab Dinar, Nader Chowdhury and Gousul Alam Shaon, Parambrata Chatterjee (India) and Eyad Hourani (Palestinian).

Earlier, the film got clearance from the censor board in January last year. However, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting took a U-turn and the film stuck again.