Entertainment Desk:
Members of the Bengali film industry in Kolkata are deeply concerned over the turmoil in Bangladesh and hope peace would return soon.

Tollywood actor Jeet, who has featured in several Bangladeshi films,  expressed his distress on X, describing the unfolding scenes as “shattering to say the least.”  He offered his prayers for the people of Bangladesh and expressed hope that they can emerge from this challenging period.

“My prayers for the people of Bangladesh, so that they come out from the present phase…The incidents coming to our knowledge are heart-rending. We don’t want to be witness to such scenes any more,” Jeet said, emphasising the need to save lives and protect them at all costs.

Another Bengali superstar Dev, whose friend and Bangladeshi producer Salim Khan and his actor-son Shanto were beaten to death in Chandpur on Monday, said “I had been to Bangladesh several times and was floored by the hospitality of the people there.” Salim Khan had co-produced Dev-starrer unreleased film ‘Commando.’

“The news of deaths and violence are upsetting. I hope this phase will end and Bangladesh will be back on tracks soon,” he told reporters in Delhi.

Actor Kaushani Mukhopadhyay, who starred opposite Shanto in the Bangladeshi film ‘Piya Re,’ said “I can’t believe Shanto is no more. Shanto was very respectful and had ambitions to make a significant impact in the industry,” she added.

Meanwhile, the Visva-Bharati university in West Bengal’s Santiniketan shifted the annual tree plantation programme to mark the death anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore on 7 August will not be held at the Bangladesh Bhavan this year.

“Due to specific reasons, the ‘Briksha Ropan’ was shifted to Jagadish Kanon from the Bangladesh Bhavan compound,” the executive council of the university said in a notice.