Bapparaj clears misconception about Razzak

Bapparaj, eldest son of the film star Razzak, arrived at FDC to attend a programme organised in honour of the departed actor. Addressing the gathering, he broke down in tears repeatedly, emotions often preventing him to speak.

He spoke about certain misconceptions about Rajlaxmi Complex in Uttara, saying, “There is a general misunderstanding that he built the Rajlaxmi shopping complex though he was supposed to have set up a cinema hall there. That is not true. He did not purchase the land with approval for a cinema hall. It was allocated for a shopping complex and that is what he constructed there. We wanted to make a cinema hall there later, but RAJUK did not give permission.”

He said the design of the market was a problem. “The building had many pillars and it would not be possible to break those down to make place for a cinema hall. We later wanted to make the cinema hall on the top floor, but didn’t get permission. Another problem was that it was located next to a school. Those are the basic facts.”

Bapparaj said, “There was a misconception about this and I have cleared this up now. Razzak sahib didn’t undertake any underhand means to build the market. He did so honestly. If he was dishonest, he would have had a couple of more markets in Uttara.”

If fact, his honesty forced him to sell off a section of his house. Bapparaj explained, “We had a huge house and when we faced business losses, we owed only Tk 4 crore (Tk 40 million) to the bank. People filch millions of taka from the banks and get away with it. Yet Razzak sahib was depicted as a defaulter. We sold our house and repaid the loan. If we were dishonest, we could have got away with that money. We could have built more houses, used developers to make flats. The flats that are there now are not ours, we have sold them. We have no flats there.”