Mostofa sarwar farooki biography
Mostofa Sarwar Farooki is a Bangladeshi film director, screenwriter and film producer. Farooki is considered one of the leading figures to bring modernism/realism in Bangladeshi Cinema, those who have bridged the gap between escapism and reality. "Mostofa Sarwar Farooki could be the next South-east Asian filmmaker to break out", The Hollywood Reporter wrote in the review of his film Television. Variety's Jay Weissberg wrote. "Mostofa Sarwar Farooki is a key exemplar of Bangladeshi new wave cinema movement". He is also the pioneer of an avant-grade filmmakers' movement called "Chabial".
He is a young director in Bangladesh who has set a new trend in terms of presentation and direction in the late 1990s. His first two films, which he considers to be an educational effort, were Bachelor (2004) and Mad_e in Bangladesh (2007). His third film Third Person Singular Number (2009) was premiered in Busan International Film Festival (2009). It had its European premier in International Film Festival Rotterdam (2009), It was also in the official competition in Middle East International Film Festival (2009) (Abu Dhabi).
Farooki's body of work address such themes as middle class angst, urban youth romance, deception-hypocrisy and frailty of individual, frustration about the confines of one's culture and conservative Muslim concepts of guilt and redemption.
Mostofa Sarwar Farooki
Winner Grand Jury Prize, Asia Pacific Screen Awards (for the film Television)
(2013)
Winner, Best Film, Critic and Popular, Asiatica Filmmediale, Rome (for the film Television))
(2013)
Winner, NETPAC Award, Kolkata International Film Festival (for the film Television))
(2013)
Winner, Best Film, Jogja International Film Fest, Indonesia (for the film Television)
(2013)
Winner, Jury special mention, Dubai International Film Festival (for the film Television)
(2012)
Mostofa Sarwar Farooki No Bed of Roses, Director
Born and raised in a middle-class family in Nakhalpara, a close-knitted neighbourhood in Dhaka, Mostofa Sarwar Farooki never went to a university. He attributes all his learning to the multicultural community that he grew up in. Cinema was a forbidden territory while growing up. His father called the television a “shaitaaner baksho” [devil’s box]. So, human lives became his favourite textbooks...
In Mostofa's Films Television [2012], an elderly village patriarch who has opposed the idea of images all his life because it is haram [prohibited] finds happiness in his final moments as he watches a live telecast from Mecca. And Ant Story [2013] took you through the life of a salesman who gets his hands on a private video clip of an actress and starts manipulating her for his own pleasure—Both the films venture into forbidden territory, and cinema is omnipresent. This is revealing of the film-maker’s life.
In his new film, Doob [No Bed Of Roses in English], the protagonist is a filmmaker called Javed Hasan, played by Irrfan Khan. The character is allegedly based on the late author and filmmaker Humayun Ahmed, a cultural icon in Bangladesh, known for his writings on urban middle-class life and his use of magical realism. Ahmed had a controversial personal life; he married an actress who was a close friend of his daughter. Although Farooki denies that it’s a biopic, the film was banned by Bangladesh’s Ministry of Information. This venture also marks the filmmaker's big debut for the Indian audiences. I connected with him to know more about the film, about cinema from South East Asia and the way forward. Excerpts.
Modernism/realism are terms used to talk about your work…do you identify with that? If yes, what compels you to switch between a real and a quasi-real world with your creations?
I don’t kn
Mostofa Sarwar Farooki
Adviser of Cultural Affairs
Mostofa Sarwar Farooki (Bengali: মোস্তফা সরোয়ার ফারুকী) is a Bangladeshi film director, producer and screenwriter who works in Bengali films. His films Third Person Singular Number, Television, No Bed Of Roses were critically acclaimed across the world and received numerous international and national awards. On November 10, 2024, he was appointed as the Adviser to the Ministry of Cultural Affairs in the interim government of Bangladesh.
Early life
Farooki was born 2 May 1973 in the Nakhalpara neighborhood of Dhaka, Bangladesh. He attended Tejgaon Government Boys' High School.
Career
Farooki has set a new trend in terms of presentation and direction in the early 2000. His debut film was Bachelor (2003) starring Humayun Faridi, Aupee Karim, Ferdous Ahmed, Shabnur and many others. Then his second film, a political satire Made In Bangladesh (2007) starring Zahid Hasan, Tariq Anam Khan, Shahiduzzaman Selim and others. His third film Third Person Singular Number starring Nusrat Imrose Tisha, Topu, Mosharraf Karim was premiered in Busan International Film Festival (2009). It had its European premier in International Film Festival Rotterdam, It was also in the official competition 2009 Middle East International Film Festival. After that he made a short film named Ok Cut.
His fourth feature Television (2012) starring Chanchal Chowdhury, Nusrat Imrose Tisha, Mosharraf Karim and Kazi Shahir Huda Rumi was the closing film of Busan International Film Festival and won the APSA Grand Jury Prize in 2013, as well as a further five international awards from Dubai, Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival, Rome's Asiatica Film Mediale, and Kolkata International Film Festival. His fifth feature film Ant Story starring Sheena Chohan and Noor Imran Mithu was nominated for the Golden Goblet Awards and the Du