death threats to the director and actors over a transgender character

At the center of the controversy is a film about a young orphan painter raised in an ashram. He rejects the courtship of a wealthy woman because she feels like a woman in a man's body. Attacks and controversy on social networks. Homosexuality and gender have always been sensitive topics in Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority nation.

Dhaka () – Death threats were made against the director, the actors and even the technicians who worked on the series; The production company Ekanna Media was forced to hastily remove the product from the YouTube platform where it was distributed and, as of April 16, it is no longer available. However, the insults and attacks do not stop, with thousands of messages retweeted on social networks, fueling a climate of tension and fear that is causing anxiety about possible attacks or violent acts.

At the center of the controversy is the popular film “Rupantar” (Transformation, in the local language), directed by Rafat Mozumder Rinku and based on a script by Neehar Ahmed, starring the famous small screen actor Farhan Ahmed Jovan. Broadcast on the occasion of Eid, the holiday that celebrates the end of Ramadan (the Islamic holy month of fasting and prayer), it immediately sparked controversy due to the presence of a transsexual character played by Jovan himself.

In recent weeks, there has been an unprecedented production of entertainment-related activities, especially due to the proximity of Eid and the Bengali New Year (Pahela Baisakh, 1431), marked by the release of numerous films, plays and songs. Despite the festive atmosphere, a strong controversy broke out around Rupantar: the film, which immediately went viral, sparked hundreds of posts and messages, many of them critical of the work. At the same time, calls arose for a boycott against the protagonist Jovan and the main sponsor of the production.

The story centers on a young painter who loses his parents in a train accident when he was still a child, leaving him without a family and receiving hospitality and education in a children's ashram. Despite the fame acquired as an artist, he is forced to face a series of complications when the daughter of a wealthy family falls in love with his work and his person, proposing marriage to him. He reveals that such a union is impossible due to a hormonal disorder whereby he has the physique of a man, but he psychologically identifies with a woman. This is the crux of the movie “Rupantar.”

Many viewers in Bangladesh – a Muslim-majority country where homosexuality, LGBT and transsexuality are sensitive, if not taboo, topics – have expressed their fear that the work promotes “transsexual culture”, which has left the director uneasy. actors. Director Rinku explained: “My intention was simply to tell the story of a person who struggles with hormonal complications, a physical disorder. I did not portray any relationship [romántica] successful within the work, but I tried to portray the growing loneliness that the protagonist has to face. It's heartbreaking to see the extent to which history has been misinterpreted.” The leading actor also weighed in on the controversy, rejecting criticism and expressing his dismay at the personal attacks he received. “The play,” Jovan said, “is subject to scrutiny and criticism, but it is disheartening to see how so many people address me personally. It is unacceptable”.

Meanwhile, controversy breaks out on social networks with opposing positions and opinions about the meaning of Rupantar and the intentions of the scriptwriters. Some maintain that it was created to promote transgender ideology, while others claim that the director has misrepresented the topic and the problems related to it, showing a lack of understanding and knowledge of the topic. Meanwhile, Walton, one of the country's largest private commercial organizations, has distanced itself from work that features advertisements and products related to the brand and the company.