Photo : Humayun Sadhu

Life at school for sure was quite scary for me. The militant style and constant beating at school, always kept me on the leash. I guess this is one of the main reasons why I do not really like talking about my school days. Although, now that I look back, primary school was fun and I do miss my friends there. Rangipara Sarkari Prathamik School was the primary school I attended. I still have contact with a lot of my friends from primary school. My teachers of whom I have the fondest of memories are Mr Bilayet and Nadira apa. It was during school, when I wrote my first story- 'shishutirtho'. I also sent some of my stories to different newspapers for publication during this time.
Despite all, I was a good student at school. I was known as a polite and courteous boy and everyone assumed that I would do something big one day. However, no one thought I would make a name in the world of media! But my dreams never entailed of becoming a good student. I wanted something different. College life on the contrary, passed by, in the blink of an eye- this was when I first tasted freedom. I started letting go off all my past fears and worries and became my own king. Those past anxieties were now replaced with new questions, ideologies and concepts. I started off on my journey to finding the meaning of life. I started reading books and started indulging in things that did not relate to education by any means. Everyone, once again, assumed that I would get a good job. At that point, whatever I believed that I could not do, I ended up doing.
Soon after, I found my love for cinema. All my questions were answered. For once I found peace in something. During college, Saibal Chowdhury from Chittagong Chalachitra Kendra (Chittagong Film Centre) and Javed Ahsan were my mentors. They taught me how to critique a cinema as it appears on the screen. I found my idol Mostofa Sarwar Farooqi there, who taught me everything I know about film making today. I am extremely grateful to him. I finally got my inspiration to unlock my potentials in the world of cinema.
I wanted to do film making but I cannot call myself a filmmaker per se. I entered the world of cinema to become a filmmaker and I have already started working on my first film 'homo-sapiens'. I have made a number of tele-films and my first short film 'Rumorous' was made with the help of Tareque Masud. It was displayed at the British Council auditorium. I already have some of the scripts ready but at this moment, for survival, I am making a drama series called 'Pakhi Paka Pepe Khay'.
My mother, Maryum Begum is my biggest inspiration. My mother is a pious person. Yet she always loves watching Hindi, English and Bengali films. Pianist, Life is Beautiful, Children of Heaven, City of God, and Feluda are some of the films we have watched together. After watching these films, my mother's excitement enlightened me and made me want to make such movies. If the film is well made then anyone would enjoy watching it- is my mother's motto.
As for the new generation, those who want to work in the world of media, they must first want it. Now is their time to achieve anything, they must always remember- if there is a will, there is a way!