Rockstar Parambrata in search of the treasure trove of Bengal's folk music in ‘Aajob Karkhana’

Bangladeshi filmmaker Shabnam Ferdousi’s debut feature film ‘Aajob Karkhana’, featuring Parambrata Chattopadhyay in the lead, has made it to the 27^thKolkata International Film Festival which kicked off on April 25. Incidentally, this is the only Bangladeshi film in this year’s KIFF. The film will be screened in the Asia Select (NETPAC Award) segment today at Nandan 2 and on April 28 at Nazrul Tirtha.
Alongside Parambrata, ‘Aajob Karkhana’ also stars Dilruba Hossain Doyel, Shabnaz Sadia Emi, Khalid Hasan Rumi and others from Bangladesh. It received the Bangladesh national film grant in the 2016-17 fiscal year.

The musical features five songs, four of which are based on Helal Hafiz’s poems. Popular bands Vikings, Seven Minutes and singer Labik Kamal Gaurob have lent voices to the songs. The film follows a Bangladeshi rock star who discovers a new purpose in life after he interacts with Baul musicians. The film was earlier screened at the Bangladeshi Panorama section of the 20th Dhaka International Film Festival.
“We shot this film three years ago and because of the pandemic the post-production works were stuck in limbo but finally we have completed it. The film is currently traveling to several prestigious film festivals. I can assure that people will get to rediscover the unique treasure of Bengali folk songs in Aajob Karkaha,” shared Parambrata urging all to see ‘Aajob Karkana at the Kolkata International Film Festival.

Shabnam Ferdousi is an influential documentary filmmaker who has more than forty documentaries in her filmography and won the Bangladesh National Film Award in 2016. ‘Aajob Karkhana’ is her first foray into feature films.