The Bangladesh government has banned popular Bangladesh director Mostofa Sarwar Farroki’s upcoming film Doob: No Bed of Roses, which is reportedly based on late Bangladeshi writer and filmmaker Humayun Ahmed’s life. The Information Ministry had asked Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (BFDC) to revoke the No Objection Certificate issued to the film on February 15, reported Variety.

BFDC Managing Director Tapan Kumar Ghosh, however, said BFDC had approved the script of the film on March 8 last year. It also previewed the movie on February 12 before issuing the No Objection Certificate, reports scroll.in.

The bilingual film is directed by the acclaimed Bangladeshi filmmaker Farooki and produced by Kolkata’s Eskay Movies and Bangladesh’s Jazz Multimedia.

Irrfan’s production company IK will be co-producing the film, which is a ‘family story’.

‘The film is about a filmmaker who leaves his wife and marries an actress who was his daughter’s classmate in school. Late author and filmmaker Humayun Ahmed had also divorced his wife after 27 years of marriage and then married an actress who was 33 years younger to him. Produced jointly by Bangladesh’s Jaaz Multimedia, India’s Eskay Movies and Khan’s IK Company, the film is the story of a death that connects two families’, reports scroll.in.

‘Farooki, who has always denied that the film is a biopic, condemned the ban and said that he will take the matter to court.’ ‘Yes, my film handles a so-called taboo subject but it doesn’t show anything explicit and hence doesn’t violate any censor code. This goes against the freedom of expression,’ he told Variety.

He, however, clarified that the ban was a temporary one. ‘Our film has not been permanently banned! It is indefinitely blocked due to the unjust suspension of NoC! However, we believe this suspension will be lifted and we shall overcome!,’ he wrote on Facebook.

Co-producer Khan also expressed his surprise at the move. ‘This is a humane story that deals with complex male and female relationships in a subtle and balanced way,’ he told Variety.

Apart from Irrfan, the film also features Bangladeshi actress Nusrat Imroz Tisha.

The film was shot in one schedule of 35 days in Bangladesh and North Bengal.