The
first instalment of Star Arts & Entertainment's new initiative,
Across the Table, bringing artistes face to face with their fans, was
held at The Daily Star Centre in Dhaka on January 9 with one of today's
most accomplished film directors of the country, Mostofa Sarwar Farooki.
Ten readers were selected through lottery from the numerous responses
to the programme announcement, and they engaged in a lively discussion
with Farooki over a wide range of issues. Excerpts from the discussion:
Mahfuz Anam, Editor and Publisher, The Daily Star:
Films are a magnificent media for artistic expression, social messages
and transformation, and I consider myself a big fan of you. I warmly
welcome you to The Daily Star and thank you for accepting our
invitation.
Sadya Afreen Mallick, Editor, Star Arts & Entertainment:
We have anot
her regular feature called DS Cafe where our readers ask
questions to celebrities over the phone, but we thought why don't we
bring our readers face to face with their favourite personalities? We
are elated that Farooki, who has gained international acclaim for his
work, is among us.
Mamun Rashid, IR postgraduate, Chittagong University: What is more important for a film -- a good script, or good direction?
Farooki: What
do you think is more important when cooking? Good ingredients or
skills? You cannot have a good result without either of them. However,
in one aspect I'd keep direction a little ahead, because you can bring
home the best ingredients and still cook a very bad meal. Story is
important but if two directors belonging to very different levels of
skill are given the same story, they will make two completely different
films.
Mahfuz Anam: When you see a story, can you
visualise the whole picture in your head? As for writers, they start
with a plot, but as they write, the plot develops and evolves. Does this
happen to you?
Farooki: Yes, that happens to me a lot.
When I and writer Anisul Hoque are inspired by a story or a character,
we sit in discussion. And when the final product comes out, it is
nothing like the original story. When I go to shoot, the location makes
me think differently and I always like to make corrections until it is
completed.
Mamun Rashid: Can we expect an action thriller from you in near future?
Farooki: I
want to make films of different genres. It's a huge positive that the
international film fraternity has noticed our work, and praised it, but
it will be of no use if in the next five years, we cannot produce good
films of various genres. In our country, there are two supposed schools
of film: one is Bollywood inspired, and the other is the Satyajit Ray or
Indian art house inspired. Making films within these confinements makes
one thing difficult; it creates an identity crisis. We now have access
to global films and resources from all over the world at our fingertips.
If you're making an action film, you should watch films by 10 different
directors, and take your choice of elements from them to make a film in
your own style. People will criticise it at first. There was a time
when Kim Ki-duk's films were not appreciated.
Masfiqur Rahman, BSc in ETE, North South University:
In your films, social issues and reality come out very strikingly. Do
you want to bring about changes in the society through films?
Farooki: As
a part of the society, I do think about these issues. Social activists
analyse them, motivate people and take action, but it is difficult as a
filmmaker, because it is an art. One very common question about films
these days is “what is the message of the film?” I like to think of
messages as undergarments -- they have to remain under the main fabric
of the film. Only Superman can wear it over his clothes. My primary
target is to make a film; yes, there is an underlying portrayal of how I
see the society, but I wouldn't want to bring it too far forward.
Mizanur Rahman, Dhaka-based filmmaker: If I want to shoot a film with a Red One (special camera), would I be able to process and project the film here?
Farooki: It
really does not make a huge difference. If you're spending a lot of
money to shoot with a Red One, but you're shooting uncompressed, it
won't be much different from working with a Canon 5D DSLR camera. There
are new technologies coming to the market everyday, and not all of them
will be available here right away. But I always believe in cutting my
coat according to my cloth. Creativity should never have to wait for
technology or budget or anything else.
Mizanur Rahman: When casting, should I get theatre artistes for the roles, or should I get people who have never acted before?
Farooki: There
are advantages and disadvantages of casting a theatre artiste. The
advantage is that he/she will not have camera fright. But theatre acting
has a stylised approach, because from a long distance, the audience
cannot follow the subtle body language, so the acting is always a little
“larger than life”. The risk of casting non-actors is that it can turn
out to be a disaster, but he/she can also produce something that no one
has seen before. Personally, I would cast a complete newcomer, and try
to get out something new from him/her.
Ahsan Habib Russell, Student, Dhaka University: What is your core advice for someone who wants to be a filmmaker?
Farooki: If
someone asks me what my advice is for someone who wants to learn
swimming, I'd say jump into the water. If you want to make films, start
making them. Make rubbish films at first, you'll make mistakes, but
gradually you'll learn and improve. And if you are not making good
films, it means you tried but it did not work, then you move on.
Tasnim Ahmed Konok, Student, Leather Engineering, Dhaka University: What are the rules that you believe need to be followed to make a good film?
Farooki: The
most important rule is -- don't follow any rule. Do whatever you need
to do to tell the story you want to tell, break any rule that you have
to for that. And never stop questioning yourself. The day you start
feeling content with yourself is the day you stop developing. One more
thing: never compromise. To improvise and to compromise are two
different things. Omitting parts of your script because it is not
working is compromising. If you are omitting something, think of how you
can fill up that void. That's improvising
Shazzad Hussain, Student, Dhaka University: When
a movie comes out, everyone asks who are in it; very few people ask who
wrote it, or directed it. The problem must have been worse when you
started filmmaking. What were the factors that gave you strength? For
someone who writes good scripts, how can he/she pitch stories to
directors like you, Amitabh Reza or Mezbaur Rahman Sumon?
Farooki: My
biggest support was the youth of Bangladesh. We started making films at
a very right time, when a generation with a new outlook was growing up.
We grew up together.
The answer to the second question is: you can email me, or contact me through Facebook.
Devapriyo Mithun, Student, Engineering: In your films, how do you maintain the ratio of logic and emotion?
Farooki:
It is a very subjective question. It's different for every film,
depending on what the story is. It is a whimsical decision, and I
sometimes wonder why I did that?
RK Rony, Student, Pathshala (South Asian Media Institute): What is your understanding of the term “film”? Do you think it is possible to make a film for everyone in the society?
Farooki: I
don't believe that one story can touch the lives of all classes of the
audience. It's absurd. And as for your first question: a film is a
non-verbal, visual dialogue between the director and the audience.
Non-verbal because although there are dialogues in the film, the
filmmaker and the audience are not talking directly.
Rubaiyat Habib Onin, HSC graduate: Going
to a film school is very expensive, especially the top schools in the
world. Those who cannot avail that chance, what is your suggestion for
them to learn the art?
Farooki: Yes, filmmaking is one of
the most expensive subjects of study. But there is a lot of material on
the internet, you could go through them. Watch a lot of movies of
different genres and countries. Start shooting, start editing; editing
softwares are easy to find now. You'll learn best in the process of
filmmaking. I never went to a film school.
Nafis Shahriyar, Department of English, Dhaka University:
How does a director approach a script written by someone else? Which
aspects do the director look into first? Surrealism is not a genre that
is practiced much in Bangladesh; do you have any plan to work in that
genre?
Farooki: Filmmaking, or poetry, is the translation
of the personality of the artiste. So, impose your personality in the
film. The scriptwriter leaves his mark on the script; leave yours on the
film. In my films, I sometimes put elusive elements and treatments in
certain scenes. But a whole film on it? No plan at the moment.