Prothom Alo also spoke to Censor Board Secretary Mohammad Ali Sarkar. Then he said, even after two rounds of viewing, there are still some observations about some of the dialogues of the movie. Apart from that, the board members expressed their observations about the entire movie. Let’s see what happens. As the movie suggests, it is based on (fabricated) the terrorist attack and hostage taking that took place at the Holy Artisan Bakery.
Mustafa Saryar Faruqi did not want to comment on the board’s decision before receiving the official letter. But Farooqui said about his movie, ‘It is not about the incident of Holi Artisan in any way. The events of Holy Artisan have nothing in common with the characters in our story. However, the sacrifices and heroics of the characters of Holy Artisan are there somewhere. We are inspired by this bravery and sacrifice. Actually I wanted to tell a different story.’
In 2019, the 15-member censor board unanimously declared the film unfit for screening. “Saturday Afternoon” was selected in the competition section of the Moscow International Film Festival amid various incidents regarding the censor clearance. The film also had its world premiere at the festival in April 2019. Later, the film was screened at festivals in various countries including Australia, Paris, Korea.
The film will actually brighten the country’s image and the country’s religious tolerance will touch everyone’s hearts – this is what the Hollywood Reporter wrote about ‘Saturday Afternoon’ in 2019.
