Directors reminisce the golden times of Eid Television
As the biggest festival all around the year, Eid is considered to be the primary focus for the entertainment industry in Bangladesh. Even a decade ago, the majority of people looked forward to the television projects for their entertainment during the celebration.
All of the satellite channels have dedicated their timings to keep up with the week-long festivity. Some of the celebrated directors who have been investing their talents and working hard for many years to provide art as a form of entertainment, have shared their personal nostalgia about television.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. We caught up with directors like Ashfaque Nipun, Mizanur Rahman Aryan, Mabrur Rashid Bannah, Kajal Arefin Ome and Vicky Zahed who began their career with directing television projects, reminiscing about their favourite shows, artistes and directors who they would look upto during Eid.
Ashfaque Nipun
Celebrated director Ashfaque Nipun has some memorable television projects under his belt. "Mukim Brothers", "Miss Shiuly", "Ei Shohore", and "Victim" are amongst crowd favourites. The "Mohanagar '' famed director went back to his childhood and shared some of his favourite TV watches with us. "I would wait eagerly to the programmes particularly designed for Eid," shares the "Agontuk" director, "As a child, we got only one channel, BTV, until private channels were introduced. The projects that were produced at that time had a maximum effort as there weren't too many shows."
He recalls watching the musical show, titled BTV Band show, that exclusively aired for Eid. "This was one of the shows that I enjoyed a lot," said Nipun. "Chhayachhondo was another musical programme that contained movie songs, sometimes exclusive ones as a film's promotion."
Nipun would leave all other work to watch Anondomela. "I would only do that when the show was hosted by either Hanif Sanket or Anisul Huq," he added.
Amidst decade-old work, Nipun liked Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, Animesh Aich and Gias Uddin Selim' works. "Some of the works such as 'Kobi', 'Keram' among others by Farooki bhai will always be on my favourites list. Also, Animesh had his own signature, and I would definitely mention Gias Uddin Selim's name, as I believe he was in his best form at that time."
Mizanur Rahman Aryan
Mizanur Rahman Aryan has won the hearts of the masses with his "Boro Chhele", after which he continued to make some remarkable television projects like "Batch 27", "Buker Ba Pashe", and "Life Insurance". He managed to change the scene on the OTT platform, with content like "Networker Baire" and "Unish20".
"I used to mark the date and timing of the television projects that I liked," shared the director, who will be soon gearing up for his first silver screen project. "Humayun Ahmed, Gias Uddin Selim, and Amitabh Reza were my most favourites at that time."
"Even if my house tutor would come on that particular day when the show I am looking forward to will be aired, I would somehow manage not to be on the study table and request him to come another day," recalls the director.
As a viewer, he enjoyed watching Afzal Hossain and Suborna Mustafa pair on the screen. "Apart from the classical pair, I loved the performances of the artistes like Asaduzzaman Noor, Humayun Faridee, Aupee Karim, Mahfuz Ahmed, and Shila Ahmed," adds the director.
He mentioned that he admired the works of Shihab Shaheen, Redoan Rony, and Iftekhar Ahmed Fahmi. "Ashfaque Nipun, Syed Ahmed Shawki are the filmmakers during my contemporary time whose works I really like," he shared.
Other than fiction, Aryan would wait for magazine shows like Shuvechchha and Ityadi, which had Eid special arrangements.
Two of Aryan's projects will be aired this Eid— "Shohore Onek Rowd" featuring Sabila Nur, Khairul Basar and Tania Ahmed among others, and "Gunguniye", featuring Tasnia Farin and Farhan Ahmed Jovan.
Kajal Arefin Ome
"Bachelor Point" famed director Kajal Arefin Ome is selective about watching television projects. "When I began watching tele-fictions, I used to watch projects by Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, Redoan Rony and Iftekhar Ahmed Fahmi," said the "Apon" director. "I liked Mosharraf Karim's performance, while watching many shows I had one observation -- that artistes' performances vary as they work under different directors. From then I used to watch only a few of the director's works who had their signature style and maintained their standard."
Ome mentioned that Redoan Rony's "Hello" (2016) featuring Mosharraf Karim, Sumaiya Shimu, Mishu Sabbir was one of his most favourite television works.
A decade ago, trailers of the television projects would air week long before, and Ome also marked his probable list to must watch them on time. "I remember after watching it on television, I used to buy CDs for binge watch which would release after two months."
The director admires Mizanur Rahman Aryan, Ashfaque Nipun, and Shihab Shaheen's works as well.
This Eid, Ome will be making his debut in OTT with the web series "Hotel Relax". The show features Purnima, and it will stream on Bongo during Eid-ul-Fitr. "Bidesh", another fiction featuring the "Bachelor Point" team, will be available on the Club11 YouTube channel.
Vicky Zahed
Vicky Zahed proved himself as a filmmaker with his projects like "Punorjonmo" series, "Chirokal Aaj", "Redrum", and at the latest "The Silence". The director will be releasing his Eid special project " Shobdo Prem" on Channel I . The director also posted first look of his upcoming web-project "Adanob" on his Facebook.
Vicky began his career with television, and shared that Mahfuz Ahmed used to be his most favourite actor.
"My relatives would send me the schedule of Mahfuz Ahmed's projects that would air on channels, knowing how much of a fanboy I was," said Vicky. "I would always wish for Mahfuz bhai to win an award in Meril Prothom Alo awards."
Vicky describes himself as a dedicated audience of Bangla content, and that he would wait for his favourite filmmaker's projects, especially during Eid.
"Eid always brought a different vibe compared to other times of the year," he adds, "Having said that, I would always wait for the works of powerhouse directors such as Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, Masud Hasan Ujjal, Animesh Aich."
According to Vicky, about a decade ago was a good time for television. "Watching Humayun Ahmed's works was a treat for me," he asserted, "For last one and a half decade, the television industry had a huge gap in terms of producing good works," believes the director, "As for contemporary filmmakers I really like Shihab Shaheen as I see him as the only directors who is very senior, yet his works are very advanced, I really admire him for being so progressive." Some more of his favourites are Ashfaque Nipun and Syed Ahmed Shawk— they have become sporadic in television– but are doing great on the OTTs."
Mabrur Rashid Bannah
Mabrur Rashid Bannah created his signature style with directing tele-fictions ranging from "Alien O Rumpar Golpo", a sci-fi romantic story, to the family dramas like "Asroy, or comedy projects like "Lady Killer". He was fond of Bangla content, from the classics of BTV to the emerging private channels.
"Eid was very special, especially for television projects," said Bannah, "I would watch Humayun Ahmed, Amzad Hossain and Abdullah Al Mamun's works with my entire family, and all of the characters and their projects would have were amazing."
According to him, the industry lacks actors like Humayun Faridee, Abul Khair and Golam Mustafa. "Humayun Faridee's acting and his directorial projects both were treats for me," he said. "I loved watching Tauquir Ahmed and Bipasha Hayat's pair, and apart from them, I admired Shomi Kaiser, Afsana Mimi, Tanven Sweety, Zahid Hasan, Azizul Hakim and Shahiduzzaman Selim." Bannah would later binge watch Afzal Hossain and Suborna Mustafa's works, when they were available on YouTube channels.
The director will be presenting three projects this Eid-ul-Fitr. "I will be back with an absolutely romantic story this time with one of the three projects, as my audiences have been asking for it. It will feature Farhan Ahmed Jovan and Tania Brishti."
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