Globally, people are generally mesmerised by Bollywood, and a few smart film lovers have realised that there are some great films in Malayalam, Tamil, Marathi and other regional languages. Even smarter ones have realised that there are also great films in South Asia—from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Afghanistan. Ladies and Gentlemen, a superb Bangladeshi web series directed by Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, internationally acclaimed Bangladeshi director, just dropped on the streamer Zee5 Global on July 9. An emotionally strong, eight-episode (half-hour ) series on the #MeToo issue and the fight for justice, it has Mahmudul Islam as co-director. This Zee5 Original is available in 190 countries, including India, Bangladesh, USA, UK, Canada and Australia—and is free in Bangladesh. Zee 5 has been pioneering programming from South Asia, including Bangladesh and Pakistan, notably Churails, the kickass Pakistani feminist web series.

Farooki is Bangladesh’s most feted filmmaker globally. His body of about 22 works includes the delightful ‘dramedy’ film Television, which closed the Busan Film Festival and won the Jury Grand Prize at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, Australia; Doob—No Bed of Roses starring Irrfan Khan; Saturday Afternoon that won two jury awards at the Moscow Film Festival; and No Land’s Man, a forthcoming international co-production in English, starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui, and co-produced by Oscar winner AR Rahman.