Bishaash

Bishaash (Bengali: বিশ্বাস; Belief) is a Bangladeshi supernatural television series produced by BBC World Service Trust which was first broadcast on Bangladesh Television from 16 October 2010 until 18 March 2011.

Bishaash
Promotional poster
GenreSupernatural drama, adventure, fantasy, detective, mystery
Written by
  • Ilora Choudhury (3 episodes)
  • Selim Gias Uddin (23 episodes)
  • Jo Ho (6 episodes)
  • Farhana Islam (2 episodes)
  • Waris Islam (7 episodes)
  • Aditya Kabir (1 episode)
  • Rayhan Rahman (4 episodes)
  • Ben Teasdale (4 episodes)
Directed by
  • Waris Islam (9 episodes)
  • Sameer Ahmed (6 episodes)
  • Indra Bhose (5 episodes)
  • Selim Gias Uddin (4 episodes)
Starring
  • Shama Rahman
  • Babu Md. Shaidul Islam Molla
  • Arabi Rahman
  • Rahmat Ali
Narrated byAsaduzzaman Noor
Theme music composerStephen Murphy
Country of originBangladesh
Original language(s)Bengali
English
No. of series1
No. of episodes24 (list of episodes)
Production
Producer(s)Mary Hare
Rishi Sankar
Production location(s)Dhaka, Bangladesh
London, United Kingdom
CinematographyRoger Bonnici (8 episodes)
Rashed Zaman (1 episode)
Editor(s)Iqbal Kabir Joel (10 episodes)
Donny Boocock (5 episodes)
Georgis Bashar (3 episodes)
Running time25 minutes
Production company(s)BBC World Service Trust
Release
Original networkBangladesh Television
(Bangladesh)
Zee Café
(United Kingdom)
First shown in16 October 2010 (2010-10-16) – 18 March 2011 (2011-03-18)
(Bangladesh)
Original release6 March (2011-03-06) –
14 July 2011 (2011-07-14)
(United Kingdom)
Chronology
Related showsBBC Janala Mojay Mojay Shekha
External links
Production website

The series stars Shama Rahman, Sayed Babu, Arabi Rahman and Rahmat Ali. It is about a British Bangladeshi woman named Zara who relocates to Bangladesh after she inherits a stake in a mysterious supernatural detective agency in Dhaka.

Plot summary

Zara Rahman (Shama Rahman), a young, head-strong, inquisitive woman discovers she has inherited co-ownership of an antique shop in Dhaka after the death of her grandfather. She moves to Bangladesh. She finds out the shop also houses a supernatural detective agency. She meets young supernatural investigator Abir Zaman (Babu Md. Shaidul Islam Molla) and is thrown into his world of supernatural mystery, magic and adventure.

Overview

Bishaash is south Asia's first supernatural detective series.[1][2][3][4] and the first serial drama shot between Bangladesh and London, England.[5] There are 24 paired episodes, each lasting 25 minutes.[6]

The series features dialogue in Bengali and English.[1][7] Initially, the dialogue in the series is in Bangla with English subtitles. However, episode by episode, more and more English dialogue is introduced.[8]

The series was part of Mott MacDonald's £50 million nine-year programme since 2007 aimed at teaching many of the poorest people in Bangladesh what project director John Shotton describes as "vocational English". One of their project partners is broadcaster BBC World Service.[8] The series was made by the BBC World Service Trust.[1]

The programme was an initiative of English in Action, funded by the Department for International Development.[1] by 2017.[9]

The storylines have a supernatural twist[8] which includes themes of family tradition, love, evil,[2][3] and danger.[8]

Production

Writers, directors and producers were recruited from the UK.[8] Production staff includes staff from the UK as well as Bangladesh.[10] Location manager Charlie Thompson recruited a local team from the domestic industry with basic industry experience or basic skill sets in the right areas and trained them to meet the required standards, broaden their skill bases and enable them to use them in the international arena. Half a dozen locals went through a formal training programme organised by Thompson that included seminars and on-the-job learning.[11]

Bishaash is set in Dhaka, Bangladesh and Brick Lane, London.[8] It was filmed in a variety of locations in and around Dhaka and a village was built in the forest region of Gazipur.[11] It was shot on XDCAM and was edited in Bangladesh using Final Cut Pro.[12]

Cast and characters

Main
  • Shama Rahman as Zara Rahman: Head-strong, inquisitive woman who relocates to Bangladesh when she inherits a stake in a detective agency.
  • Babu Md. Shaidul Islam Molla (Sayed Babu) as Abir Zaman: Supernatural investigator and Zara's love interest.
  • Arabi Rahman as Laboni Zaman: Technology and research expert, and Abir's cousin.
  • Rahmat Ali as Ferdous Zaman: Antique shop co-owner, and Abir and Laboni's uncle.

Recurring
  • Rubel Ahmed as Abdul Ali: Abir's brother who is after the Keystone Journal and intent on getting revenge on the Zamans.
  • Shatabdi Wadud as Sherzad / Alien / Announcer / Drug Dealer
  • Humayan Faridee as Kabir Zaman: Antique shop co-owner, Abir's father, Ferdous' elder brother and the patriarch of the Zaman family.
  • Mirana Zaman as Dadi (Grandmother): The matriarch of the Zaman family.

Guest

Episodes
No(s). in series Title Original airdate
1"Treasure: Part 1"15 October 2010 (2010-10-15)
2"Treasure: Part 2"15 October 2010 (2010-10-15)
3"Treasure: Part 3"22 October 2010 (2010-10-22)
4"Heartland: Part 1"29 October 2010 (2010-10-29)
5"Heartland: Part 2"5 November 2010 (2010-11-05)
6"Love Never Dies"12 November 2010 (2010-11-12)
7"Love Never Dies: Part 2"19 November 2010 (2010-11-19)
8"Twilight: Part 1"26 November 2010 (2010-11-26)
9"Twilight Part 2"3 December 2010 (2010-12-03)
10"In/Compatible: Part 1"10 December 2010 (2010-12-10)
11"In/Compatible: Part 2"17 December 2010 (2010-12-17)
12"Antique Shop"24 December 2010 (2010-12-24)
13"London Calling: Part 1"31 December 2010 (2010-12-31)
14"London Calling: Part 2"8 January 2011 (2011-01-08)
15"Janmo Janmantor: Part 1"15 January 2011 (2011-01-15)
16"Janmo Janmantor: Part 2"22 January 2011 (2011-01-22)
17"Over and Over Again: Part 1"29 January 2011 (2011-01-29)
18"Over and Over Again: Part 2"4 February 2011 (2011-02-04)
19"Out of Control"11 February 2011 (2011-02-11)
20"Lies I Need to Believe"18 February 2011 (2011-02-18)
21"Revelations"26 February 2011 (2011-02-26)
22"The Choice"4 March 2011 (2011-03-04)
23"Family: Part 1"12 March 2011 (2011-03-12)
24"Family: Part 2"18 March 2011 (2011-03-18)

Series overview
Series Episodes Original broadcast (Bangladesh Television) Rebroadcast (Zee Café)
Series premiere Series finale Series premiere Series finale
1 24 16 October 2010 (2010-10-16) 18 March 2011 (2011-03-18) 6 March 2011 (2011-03-06) 14 July 2011 (2011-07-14)

Broadcast
Zee Café promotional poster

Bishaash was broadcast weekly on Bangladesh Television and Bangladesh Television World[7] from 16 October 2010.[13][14] It was followed back-to-back with an episode of BBC Janala Mojay Mojay Shekha.[15] and reached audiences of 20.3 million.[16]

The series was provided without charge to Zee TV[1][17] and was aired weekly from 6 March 2011[10] on Zee Network's Zee Café.[2][3][11][18] The popularity of the series led to a rebroadcast.[19]

gollark: It worked for me, when I submitted my entry, which I definitely did.
gollark: @everyone Be ready. 9 hours ish remain.
gollark: I can send you my spare code.
gollark: Also books.
gollark: How could it be local time? There's no JS.

See also
  • British Bangladeshi

References
  1. Dowell, Ben (28 February 2011). "BBC World Service Trust drama to air on Zee TV". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  2. "Zee Network Europe joins hands with BBC to showcase Asia's first Supernatural Drama". Esselgroup. 7 March 2011. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  3. "Zee Network Europe joins hands with BBC to showcase Asia's first Supernatural Drama". Zee Television (Press release). Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  4. Rahman, Emdad (21 April 2011). "Emdad Rahman discusses paranormal adventures with Shama Rahman". East London News. London. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  5. "The Nine Lives of Shama Rahman". WOW Talks. 15 September 2011. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  6. Goundry, Nick (28 August 2010). "York councillor Christian Vassie composes music for Bangladeshi TV series". The Press. York. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  7. Suraiya, Sameeha (3 April 2011). "A Movement for the Millions". The Daily Star. Bangladesh. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  8. "English in Action". International Development Services. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  9. "The manthan Award South Asia and Asia Pacific". The Manthan award. Archived from the original on 31 March 2014. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  10. "UK airing for Bangladesh drama". Ariel. 8 March 2011. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  11. Goundry, Nick (4 March 2011). "BBC supernatural drama Bishaash trains crew on location in Bangladesh". The Location Guide. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  12. "Bishaash". OutPost Facilities. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  13. "'Bishaash' and 'BBC Janala - Mojay Mojay Shekha' launched". English in Action. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  14. "English lessons on every television". English in Action. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  15. "ZEE Cafe to air BBC produced show 'Bishaash'". BizAsia UK. 28 February 2011. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  16. "TV". BBC Janala. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  17. Laughlin, Andrew (28 February 2011). "BBC World Service drama to air on Zee TV". Digital Spy. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  18. Hawkes, Rebecca (1 March 2011). "Zee takes BBC's Bangladesh drama to UK". Rapid TV News. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  19. Islam, Maz. "BBC Media Action". infoasaid.org. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
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