Mukh O Mukhosh

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'Mukh O Mukhosh / The Face and the Mask
Screenshot
Directed by	Abdul Jabbar Khan
Produced by	Abdul Jabbar Khan
Written by	Abdul Jabbar Khan (play titled Dakat)
Starring	Purnima, Saifuddin, Benoy Biswas, Jabbar, Inam Ahmed, Zahrat Azra, Kazi Khaleque
Music by	Samar Das
Distributed by	Iqbal Films
Release date(s)	1956
Language	Bengali language
Budget	Rs. 64,000
IMDb profile

Mukh O Mukhosh (Bengali: মুখ ও মুখোশ) (The Face and the Mask) (1956) was the first Bengali language feature film to be made in Bangladesh (then East Pakistan). It was produced by Iqbal Films and directed by Abdul Jabbar Khan. The movie was released in East Pakistan on 3 August 1956. It was released in Dhaka, Chittagong, Narayanganj, and Khulna. The movie was a great success as viewers thronged to watch the first movie to be made in the region. It earned a total of Rs. 48,000 during its initial run.^[1]

[edit] Background

The story of the movie was based on Abdul Jabbar Khan's play, Dakaat (Robbers).^[1] Khan started working on the movie from 1953. At that time, the film industry in erstwhile East Pakistan was virtually non-existent, and local film theatres screened movies from Kolkata, or Lahore. Jabbar Khan was reportedly incensed by the remarks of a West Pakistani movie producer, F. Dossani, who claimed the local climate was not suitable for movie production.^[2] Khan worked on the movie for two years. Local actors, who had no prior experience of acting in films, performed for the movie for free.^[1] In the absence of any local film production studios, the negatives of the film had to be taken to Lahore for developing. ^[2]