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Romuz
- What
inspired you to become a filmmaker and how did you
manage to enter into the industry?
Ruhul -
I was extremely fortunate. It is partly to do with my
background where I’m from. I grew up in one of the
most beautiful part of Bangladesh. It is a small town
in North East of Bangladesh, surrounded by lash green
hills and beautiful tea gardens reflect a stunning
beauty of nature. Culturally the place was very
vibrant with wonderful minority communities such as,
Manipuri, Nepali and the trivial people of the tea
gardens who kept the landscape alive with their music
and colourful festivals. My parents always enjoyed
watching old Bengali films. So, I grew up watching
films and overwhelmed by their passionate discussion.
From my early childhood I became fascinated by films
and infect at the age of seven.I decided to become a
filmmaker and wanted to capture the beautiful life of
those beautiful people. One day I discovered the power
of the magical lamp, I mean the projector throwing
waves of light and creating images on the screen. That
was a magical moment for me.
I became obsessed to learn and became a magician of
cinema. I would say I have a natural instinct towards
creatively. The seed of the film was sown in an early
age. I became attracted and deeply fell in love with
that magic. When I came to England in the begging of
80s my search continued to learn filmmaking. While I
was at school I joined a local film workshop and I
made my first short film. Later I joined film industry
as an assistant. Within short time I made my first
documentary “FLAMAE IN MY HEART” for Channel 4 TV.
In 1986 I made my first feature film “A KIND OF
ENGLISH”. Then I joined National film and Television
School and done some short courses. Since then I made
about 13 films including documentary and feature films
for British Television.
Romuz
- You
are a British filmmaker. Your experience is to do with
Britain.What
motivated you to do a film in Bangladesh? Can you tell
us about your latest venture “Hason Raja”?
Ruhul - You are right; my entire experience is to do with the East
End of London. I hardly know anything about
Bangladesh. But I’m shaped by my childhood
experience.
That always reminds me of my decent and colourful
past. I still hallucinate about that beautiful land
and its people like painting. I still hear the
beautiful haunting music of trivial flute. I’m aware
of the richness of our folk heritage and abundant
literary wealth.
Lot of people in our community never had a chance to
experience that beautiful side of Bangladesh. The
story of Hason Raja is set around 150 years ago. It
depicts an era of golden Bengal, which was rich with
cultural activities. This film is a vehicle to enter
into our rich folk heritage. I’m sure this film will
provide an insight into a rich culture, which is
vanishing rapidly. The songs and mysticism of Hason
Raja is direct and simple.
It burns with passion and intensity. He drew Buddhist,
Hindu and Sufi philosophies and images he filled his
songs with powerful longing for spiritual union.
This open-ness gives his work a spatial meaning for
today, with harmony so threatened by communal
division.
Romuz
– Why
this project is taking such a long time?
Ruhul
– I do not have any simple explanation for
this. All I can say, the funding institutes and the
effluents are not showing any interest. I’m left
with on option but to run after poor individuals
around the community. I’m knocking on every door
with a hope that there must be somebody who will pose
for a moment and think differently.
Romuz
- You
been traveling between India and Bangladesh and have
gathered well-known artists and Technicians from both
places.What
are your opinions or experiences with the industry of
that part of the world?
Ruhul
- I would say it is a unique experience to
gather all those talented artists and technicians from
India and Bangladesh. Wherever and whoever I went to
meet they came with a helping hand. This tremendous
respect and support proves how seriously they have
taken our film.
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