LOVE ME OR KILL ME by Sarker Protick

The Bangladeshi film industry—based in Dhaka, and so known as ‘Dhallywood’—has been around since 1956. Dhallywood movies have fallen out of favour among the richer classes, who prefer foreign films. The growing influence of Bollywood films in Bangladesh has also had an adverse impact on the local industry. Yet, the Dhallywood industry produces around 100 movies a year, and still gets the support of many ordinary moviegoers.

Growing up in Dhaka, there was no cable TV except the national channel. Bangla film was the height of entertainment for us. Slowly, other films and TV channels took over. We didn’t think Dhallywood movies were cool anymore; they no longer played a part in my life. In the process of making photographs of Dhaka city I visited a film studio in F.D.C and was captivated by the colours, the light and the atmosphere. The events and details were odd, sometimes bizarre. The costumes are flashy, the sets and effects are cheap, and the colours are daring. There seems little contact with real life but I found it full of life.

‘Love Me or Kill Me’ is the title of a Dhallywood film, one that expresses the extreme emotions that define the genre. Love and revenge are the core ingredients of these movies. The stories do not change much: boy meets girl, falls in love, bad guy takes girl away, and hero fights to get her back. There is always similar climax and a happy ending. People love it.