Dhaka, Jan. 21 -- The appeal committee of the Bangladesh Film Censor Board has rejected the board's earlier objection to issuing a clearance certificate for Mostofa Sarwar Farooki's highly-anticipated movie, "Shonibar Bikel", paving the way to screen the film nationwide after four years in limbo.

The censor board blocked the theatrical release of the film, loosely translated as "Saturday Afternoon", in 2019, when the acclaimed Bangladeshi director submitted it for scrutiny, citing the film may "incite religious tension in the Muslim-majority nation".

The committee did not agree with the objections raised by the censor board at a hearing on Saturday and subsequently issued the necessary clearance, Daily Bhorer Kagoj Editor Shyamal Dutta,...