Walk through the sprawling Tejgaon compound of the Bangladesh Film Development Corporation today, and the silence tells its own story. Once, the corridors of Bangladeshi cinema were buzzing day and night with actors, technicians and film crews. BFDC was the heart of the industry. Now, it is a quiet reminder of an industry that has fallen far behind.
Equipment Stuck in Time
When it was founded in 1957, BFDC was built to accommodate shooting, editing, sound and post-production. That promise has largely gone by the board. Of the five sound studios on the premises, only one is in use and staff are still working on editing software and systems bought more than a decade ago. Of eight Sony cameras bought back in 2016, three are still working; the rest are deemed beyond repair. The BFDC’s own managing director has acknowledged that there has been no meaningful investment in modernisation for sixteen years, a gap that has pushed most filmmakers towards private studios or facilities abroad. Therefore, a significant number of Bangladeshi films now have their colour correction and other post-production work done entirely abroad.
A Modernisation Scheme Tied Up For Years
The government’s answer was the BFDC Complex, a 12-storey redevelopment with a budget of roughly Tk 250 crore and approved in 2018. The project had originally been slated for completion in December 2021. Construction didn’t even begin until 2022, and a recent progress review showed only about half the work is complete, well short of the latest deadline of June 2026. Now officials concede the complex may not be ready until 2027. The irony is not lost on anyone: three existing floors were razed to make way for the new building, further reducing BFDC’s already slim rental income in the very years it needed that revenue the most.
A Stressed Workforce and Institution
The financial burden is greater than the old cameras. The number of employees at BFDC has fallen from 360 in 2009 to less than 200 today, and the corporation has had to face problems paying salaries on time on repeated occasions, at points having over two hundred workers, including gardeners and security guards, unpaid for months. Security is now a problem because only a few unarmed guards patrol the entire compound. Filmmakers who once considered BFDC their natural home say that bureaucratic delays and higher costs make them avoid it altogether, often finishing projects elsewhere in half the time.
Indicators that a recovery is near
Efforts are being made to reverse the slide. The Information and Broadcasting Adviser has spoken of converting BFDC into a full composite film city. Rental fees on shooting floors and equipment have been temporarily lowered to bring back productions. There are few signs of life here again, as high-profile shoots such as Raihan Rafi’s “Tandob” with Shakib Khan and Jaya Ahsan have recently used the premises. But industry voices warn that new cameras or a finished building will not, on their own, solve the deeper problem of vision and leadership at the BFDC.
Implication for Dhallywood
The state of BFDC is a reflection of the crisis that Bangladesh’s film industry is facing. The number of films produced annually has fallen to some 40 to 50 now from over 100 a year in its heydays. The number of cinema halls has fallen to less than 250 from 1,200. Until the state-run studio, once the heart of the industry, is truly rebuilt, Dhallywood’s revival will likely continue to happen in spite of BFDC, not because of it.
Summary
Bangladesh Film Development Corporation’s ageing Tejgaon studios, now short-staffed and running on decade-old equipment, reflect a wider infrastructure crisis dragging down Dhallywood, even as a delayed modernisation project inches toward completion.
