Directors dump Taslima Nasreen films

Controversial Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen on Thursday claimed that three Bengali directors who had planned films on her life and novels have pulled out, a day after the official launch of her new book at the Kolkata Book Fair was forced to be cancelled.

“The contracts were signed. But the directors have suddenly fallen silent,” Taslima said from New Delhi on a proposed biopic on her life and films on two novels Shodh (Revenge) and Nimontron (Invitation).

“I do not know what has happened to them. Who has asked them not to make the films?” she asked, hinting that the directors may have come under pressure. The author did not say who may have put pressure on the directors. The new book’s publishers, meanwhile, claimed that the seventh part of Taslima’s autobiography Nirbasan (Exile) is selling at a brisk pace.

Its official release was forced to be cancelled by the Fair organisers on Wednesday following protests from fundamentalists. It was subsequently brought out in protest outside the venue fixed for the release after organisers cited security concerns.

“We have ordered a reprint. The first print of 1,000 copies is sold out. We are overwhelmed with the response,” publisher Shibani Mukherji of People’s Book Society said. “Women, in particular, are making a beeline to our stall,” the publisher said, insisting contents of the memoirs had nothing controversial.