Dhaka's movie buffs will toast the romantic action thriller M:I-2, end result of a team effort of Tom Cruise and John Woo, two of the most compelling figures in the world cinema, in May.

" For the first time the city's cinema-goers will see Tom Cruise in action on big screen," said M. Iftekharuddin, managing director of Modhumita Movies Ltd, the biggest importer of foreign films in the country. He expressed grave concern about the rampant piracy that virtually destabilized the entertainment industry in Bangladesh. " We can no longer in a position to import good movies because of the piracy menace. Cheap and X-rated movies are smuggled into the country almost unabated and are running in our cinemas day in and day out. When I import a film I have to pay duty and the price for procuring a Hollywood movie is quite high. How can you expect me to bring in latest blockbusters from the world movie capital. I'm handicapped despite my all good intentions," lamented Iftekharuddin.

He also said that, " If it continues like that I'm sorry to say I might have to stop importing movies for good."

Even though the premier cinema hall of the country, Modhumita, struggling to survive they are still desperately trying live up to the expectations of the movie-goers by importing quality movies. Thanks to Modhumita we were able to see the mega-movie Titanic and X-Files, among others, in Dhaka.

Still they have an impressive list of movies to hit the screen in the coming months. After M:I-2, the battles of the ancient Roman arena take the city's audience in a sweeping story of courage and revenge in Gladiator.

The first movie to enchant Dhaka's movie audience M:I-2 is a big screen version of the Mission: Impossible TV series, which ran on CBS Television in the late 1960s and early 1970s. A fan of the TV series, Tom Cruise, stars in M:I-2, dreamt of translating the TV serial into a movie. His dream came true with the release of the movie in 1996 with a worldwide box-office success.

Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner are the producers of the film, which is written by Robert Towne based on the television series created by Bruce Geller.

Master of the action genre John Woo is the director of this blockbuster. Born in Guangzhou, China in 1946, Woo moved to Hong Kong with his family at the age of four. He was educated at Matteo Ricci College and, at the age of 19 began making experimental films. In Hong Kong he spent two decades at the centre of a thriving film industry directing nearly 30 feature films.

Woo made his US feature film debut with Hard Target, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. He had his first Hollywood hit Broken Arrow, starring John Travolta and Christian Slater. His third Hollywood film Face/Off, starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage, broke box-office records for the Hong Kong director and was praised by critics worldwide.

The soundtrack for M:I-2 includes Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer's score, which incorporates the instantly recognizable Mission: Impossible signature tune, and songs by some of the most exciting recording artists working today.

In this super action thriller special agent Ethan Hunt ( Tom Cruise) plunges into an international crisis of terrifying magnitude. With computer genius Luther Stickell ( Ving Rhames) at his side and a beautiful thief on his maid, Hunt races across Australia and Spain on what seems like an impossible missionto stop a villain before ha can fulfill his own destructive mission.

Dhaka's cinema audience will be counting down from the day one of May for the big day to come and take them to an all-action mission impossible ride.

Ziaul Karim (The Daily Star - Bangladesh)