A Supreme Court advocate in Bangladesh who recently served a legal notice seeking to curb romantic television dramas and films has found his personal viewing habits under public scrutiny. Advocate Md. Mahmudul Hasan Mamun ignited widespread debate after taking formal legal steps against love-centric productions, only for members of the public to discover his own Facebook posts enjoying romantic movies.
Publicly accessible posts on his social media profile reveal that the lawyer shared he was watching the Indian romantic drama Radhe Shyam on 5 August 2025. Just months prior, on 9 May of the same year, he posted about viewing the Hollywood romantic fantasy adventure Stardust. The revelation has sparked amusement and debate across legal and cultural circles, highlighting a sharp contrast between his public legal crusade and his personal entertainment choices.
The controversy surrounds a legal notice issued in the public interest on Thursday, 27 August. Addressed to key state officials—including the Cabinet Secretary, Information and Broadcasting Secretary, Cultural Affairs Secretary, and the Chairman of the Bangladesh Film Censor Board—the notice demands that state authorities halt the production and transmission of entertainment content revolving exclusively around romantic themes.
Advocate Mamun contends that an overreliance on romantic storylines within modern Bangladeshi television and cinema undermines the nation’s cultural equilibrium. His legal notice argues that such media distracts youth, particularly students, from academic goals and career development. The document also takes issue with the portrayal of extramarital relationships and infidelity as normalised behaviour in modern screenplays, claiming these depictions damage family structures, weaken social morality, and foster crime.
In defence of his stance, the advocate cited Articles 21(1), 23, and 39 of the Constitution of Bangladesh. He emphasised that whilst Article 39 protects freedom of expression, it empowers the state to impose reasonable restrictions on grounds of decency and morality, whilst Article 23 places a duty on the state to preserve national culture.
Alongside calling for restrictions on romance-driven narratives, the notice urges the government to issue directives promoting content focused on science, education, national history, the Liberation War, and defence. Authorities have been given a ten-day deadline to detail administrative steps taken in response, failing which the lawyer plans to file a formal writ petition under Article 102 of the Constitution before the High Court.
