Jaaz Multimedia released the official first look poster of the controversial film ‘Doob: No Bed of Roses’ on their Facebook page which attracted criticism on the social network about the role of Meher Afroz Shaon in trying to ban it.

Mostofa Sarwar Farooki’s film became the epicenter of attention in November when an Indian newspaper reported that it was based on iconic Bangladeshi novelist Humayun Ahmed’s life.

Humayun Ahmed’s wife Meher Afroz Shaon expressed deep concern in her reaction then. She even organised a press conference recently.

Users left some negative comments about the film and role of the Shaon.

A student of BGMEA University of Fashion & Technology (BUFT) Sabit Mollik said ‘The role of Shaon in effort to ban the film is irrational. Humayun’s family has more members besides Shaon. The activity of Shaon is very doubtful while all members are silent.’

Another user Sajib Imam who follows the page of Jazz Multimedia, commented: ‘If the allegation about the distortion of the character of Humayun Ahmed is true, most of the audiences will criticize about the film and refuse to watch the film. Shoan is taking the story of the film personally.’

A student of BSc Statistics at Jagannath University Aronno Arman Omar said, ‘I am a fan of Humayun, Farooqi, and Irfan Sir. So, I started feeling excited about the film. Shaon’s influence over the matters of Humayun is not a new thing. She did it before. Humayun Sir is not an asset of any person. He is the asset of the state. So, the government will take action if the story is found fabricated in the film on the allegation. Shaon should not take it personally.’  

The India-Bangladesh joint venture is produced by Abdul Aziz of Jaaz Multimedia and Ashok Mumar Dhanlika of Eskay Movies, with Irrfan Khan as co-producer.

The Mostafa Sarwar Farooki-directed venture recently came into the spotlight amid much controversy after its suspension from Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (BFDC), only a day after having been cleared by the censor board and issued a no-objection certificate (NOC) from BFDC on February 16 this year. The film was scheduled to be released in February.

The Irrfan Khan-starrer also includes Nusrat Imrose Tisha, Rokeya Prachy and Parno Mittra as part of the main cast.

The story builds up around the members of two families discovering the finer fabric of love when the headman of a family dies. The theme of the film is that death does not always take things away, sometimes it gives back.

The film’s script was reviewed and cleared by the BFDC committee for reviewing scripts of joint venture films last year on March 8, after which the film went into production. The completed film was submitted to the committee again for review, which was screened by the committee on 12 February, and a no-objection certificate was issued on 15 February.

However, Shaon wrote to the Bangladesh Film Censor Board (BFCB) on 13 February, raising concerns about the film being made based on some incidents on Humayun Ahmed’s life which could portray him in a bad light, asking the censor board to review it for such instances and take action.