Not a biography of the legendary actor Salman Shah, and not about the mystery surrounding his death. Instead, the film “Love ’96” has been made about the frenzy, emotion and fan mania that swept the country around this actor in the 1990s. Directed by young filmmaker Ivan Mallick, the film is set to release in theaters nationwide on September 4.
The filmmaker said the movie would be released two days before the 30th anniversary of Salman Shah’s death. The popular actor died on September 6, 1996, at just 24 years old. “Love ’96” attempts to bring to the screen the period of deep grief and emotion that gripped fans after his death.
The film received an uncut certificate from the Bangladesh Film Certification Board on May 10. Director Ivan Mallick said: “Since the film received an uncut certificate from the certification board and has been praised, there’s nothing controversial in it. There is only the emotion and frenzy of Salman Shah’s fans, and an attempt to look back at that time in the 1990s.”
The film’s story brings back that familiar period of the 1990s — watching favorite programs on battery-powered black-and-white televisions, pooling money to rent a VCR for an all-night movie marathon, collecting view cards, listening to music on cassette players, or waiting for a favorite program on the radio. The story unfolds against the backdrop of these memories, now lost to time.
It was during that period that Salman Shah burst onto the Bangla film scene like a comet. Through his acting, style, personality and romantic screen presence, he quickly became audiences’ favorite hero. His sudden death left the entire country in mourning. Unable to bear the grief of losing their beloved star, some fans even chose to take their own lives.
“Love ’96” is built around the emotion of that era, the frenzy of Salman Shah’s fans, and centers on the life story of one obsessive fan.
Produced by Md Jashim Uddin under the Raisa Films banner, the film marks the big-screen debut of new pair Aryan Khan and Purnota. The cast also includes Shiba Sanu, Sanjida Mila, Tamal Mahbub, Rebeka Rauf, Arman Khan, Priya, DJ Sohel, Rubel Rana and Simanto Khandaker.
Ivan Mallick said: “We selected two completely new faces through auditions. The Directors’ Guild also cooperated with the audition process. ‘Love ’96’ is a fully commercial romantic action film. Audiences will get non-stop tension and excitement. I believe every Salman Shah fan who watches this film will find some feeling of their own reflected in it.”
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report