Nine Months To Freedom: The Story of Bangladesh

1972 72’ col English d S. Sukhdev pc Films Division collaboration by Sohrab Boga, Tapan Bose, Jag Mohan, Gopal Maharesh, Bina Puri, Abdullah Khan, B.I. Maisuriya, Subrata Bannerjee, Harisadhan Dasgupta, Pratap Sharma, N.V.K. Murthy, Pyare Shivpuri

Sukhdev’s biggest documentary is a partisan chronicle of the history of Pakistan to the point where Bangladesh, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, demanded its freedom. Then it narrates the events after 25 March 1971, when Yahya Khan sent in the raping and rampaging Pakistani army, the heroic struggle of Bangladesh’s Mukti Bahini and finally the Indian Army’s defeat of Pakistan and the liberation of Bangladesh. The highlights of the film are its refutation of a clip from Pakistan TV with a strong voice-over, and the interview with an enraged Andre Malraux saying he wants to pick up a rifle and join the war against Yahya Khan’s army. Large parts of the story are told using a montage of stills, including newspaper headlines. In addition to footage from BBC TV and Pakistan TV, the film uses sequences of the massacre in Bangladesh (including the opening shot of a dog ripping apart a human corpse).

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