''Prem Puran'' ( bn, প্রেম পুরাণ; also known in English as ''Myth of Love: A Known Story'') is a 2019 Bangladeshi drama

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

scripted ''Scripted'' is the debut studio album by American rock band Icon for Hire. It was released on Tooth & Nail Records on August 23, 2011, and went on to break the label's new artist record for albums sold during the first week of release. Backgr ...

and

directed Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

by Zahid Gogon under the Film Mistry's banner. The film stars Monoj Kumar Pramanik as a government education officer and Samia Othoi as Shanu, who leaves the luxury of the big city for her extremely Idealist lover. Before its release, the film has participated in several international film festivals. ''Prem Puran'' was released on February 12, 2021, on Lagvelki OTT platform. The film has gained several accolades from various film festivals.

Plot

Shimul (Manoj Kumar Pramanik) is now a middle-aged man, has traveled to a remote town of

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

for his official work as well as he paid a visit to his old friend Shanu (Samia Othoi), who left behind her luxurious life in a big city and had moved in that small township after having eloped with her now-husband, Tajul (Ashok Bepari). Tajul is an extremely

idealistic In philosophy, the term idealism identifies and describes metaphysical perspectives which assert that reality is indistinguishable and inseparable from perception and understanding; that reality is a mental construct closely connected to ide ...

person who believes in

morality Morality () is the differentiation of intentions, decisions and actions between those that are distinguished as proper (right) and those that are improper (wrong). Morality can be a body of standards or principles derived from a code of cond ...

above all as a teacher and doesn’t care that he has to live in extreme poverty to maintain that. Apparently, Shimul finds out that both of them have been working hard to run the family in a conscientious way. To keep each other's idealistic life intact, both of them are doing secret side jobs to run their family.

Cast

Credits adapted from ''The Business Standard''.

Production

Screenplay ''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993. Background After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, fe ...

of ''Prem Puran'' is loosely based on

The Gift of the Magi "The Gift of the Magi" is a short story by O. Henry first published in 1905. The story tells of a young husband and wife and how they deal with the challenge of buying secret Christmas gifts for each other with very little money. As a sentimenta ...

Raincoat A raincoat is a waterproof or water-resistant garment worn on the upper body to shield the wearer from rain. The term rain jacket is sometimes used to refer to raincoats with long sleeves that are waist-length. A rain jacket may be combined with ...

, "Bhanga Chora" by Zahir Raihan and some true stories of an

Adamjee Jute Mills Adamjee Jute Mill was a jute mill in Bangladesh. It was established in Narayanganj in 1950 by the Adamjee Group. It was the second jute mill in East Pakistan (present day Bangladesh) after Bawa Jute Mill which was first Jute Mill in East Pakist ...

worker leader Shahid Tajul Islam, who died in 1986. Gogon has worked on the script for one year, before going for

principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

. The film was produced by Film Mistry with partial crowd funding. Half of the film was completed in 2016, and halted due to lack of funding. Rest of the film was finished after getting crowd funds. Most of principal photography has took places in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

Kushtia Kushtia ( bn, কুষ্টিয়া) is a city in the Khulna Division of southwestern Bangladesh. Kushtia is the second largest municipality in Bangladesh and the eleventh largest city in the country. The second largest city in Khulna div ...

Paksey Paksey ( bn, পাকশী, Pakshee) is a town situated on the banks of the Padma River in Ishwardi Upazila–the westernmost Upazila of Pabna District in Rajshahi Division, Bangladesh. Paksey is home to the Hardinge Bridge–a steel railway ...

paper mills and railway junction at

Pabna Pabna ( bn, পাবনা) is a city of Pabna District, Bangladesh and the administrative capital of the eponymous Pabna District. It is on the north bank of the Padma River and has a population of about . Etymology * According to the histo ...

Release

Before its official release, the film has participated in several international film festivals. Lagvelki, an OTT platform from Bangladesh acquired distribution rights to the film and released it on February 12.

Critical response

At release, ''Prem Puran'' has gained a modest review. Fatin Hamama from The Dhaka Apologue commented that the film was "Yet Another Intolerable Romanticisation of the Middle Class" and also wrote, " there’s this lingering feeling that this film used the representation of the lower-middle-class as an aesthetic rather than what it really is."

Accolades

Samia Othoi won the award for the best actress in the Mumbai International Short Film festival and the Chittagong Short Film festival in 2020. The film was a finalist in International Moving Film Festival 2019, a semifinalist in Jaipur Film World 2020, earned Official Selection from Goa Short Film Festival in 2019, Lift-Off Global Networks 2019, Kaaryat International Film Festival of India 2019, Chittagong Short Film Festival 2020, and Kuala Lumpur International Film Festival 2020.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, tt10822272 Bengali-language Bangladeshi films 2010s Bengali-language films 2019 drama films 2019 short films 2019 films