Nuhash wants to adapt Misir Ali for the screen

Jon Kabir, a well-known musician in the country, recently started a new show on YouTube called 'I started a Podcast.' The show interviews famous individuals who are experts in their respective fields who share their work and talk about the impact of music in their lives. 

The show started on December 24 and has already featured famous names like Mahboob Rahman, Shomi Kaiser, Ayman Sadiq, Bobby Hajjaj and Rubaba Dowla. Today, I will mainly talk about episode 4 of the podcast where Jon Kabir interviewed Nuhash Humayun, a promising contemporary filmmaker, which was released on January 22.

Nuhash is the eldest son of the late Humayun Ahmed, one of the most successful writers the country has ever seen. He entered the limelight with his debut TV drama - "Hotel Albatross," which was very well received. Later he created "The Background Artist," which was among the 11 stories that made up "Sincerely Yours, Dhaka," a collaboration project of 11 filmmakers. Apart from that, he has been busy filming several short films and music videos. 

After the introductory part, the interview quickly turned towards deep thoughts and the future plans Nuhash had. He said that for him, the year 2020 was one of reflection, which helped him realise what he wanted to do in the future. 

Specifically, it got him thinking about creating or playing a role as a storyteller to do something good for the world as he thought that the power of storytelling is greater than we often realise. When asked about the impact of music, Nuhash said it helps him think and plays a big part in his life. He said, "It's nice to have a background score to your life."

He also added that he likes to work on his music first before even starting shooting for that scene. Background score is a significant factor for a scene and getting the music to first match with the maker's imagination gives the scene a special touch.

Nuhash is quite well known for making music videos. Yet, he confessed that he had to reject many proposals, not because of the music's quality but because he could not visualise or connect to the music, which is essential for a creator.

Talking about family, Nuhash shared that he always had the support of his family in doing whatever he wanted to do, but started noticing outside pressure when he started making TV dramas or films publicly. He mentioned the weight of expectations from his fans as well as that of his father's fans. This created a comparison between his work and his father's. But his father always supported his projects and motivated him to work on his own terms. Nuhash wants to create content that is relevant to modern times. He also mentioned that while we regard his father's work as classics now, when he first started it was considered revolutionary for that time. That is exactly what Nuhash wants to do for his own generation.

Jon asked a pretty interesting question about what book Nuhash would choose to adapt on the silver screen. Nuhash expressed his interest in adapting Misir Ali's stories into a TV series and taking it to the next level. It is hard to adapt Humayun Ahmed's work but he wants to give it a fair shot and see what happens. He pointed out that the contents of the books of Misir Ali are quite dark. As someone who has read all the stories of Misir Ali, I have to admit that it explores a lot of dark themes that the Bangladeshi film culture may find hard to digest. However, with the help of the OTT platforms, this can be a dream come true for most Misir Ali fans out there, including myself. 

When asked more about the adaptation, Nuhash said he wants the intensity of the darkness to match that of Hannibal (A famous US TV show) and wants Trent Reznor in the background score, who is famous for making scores for David Fincher's movies. This has only increased our interest and is something to look forward to, until it happens.  

The conversation went on to become more light-hearted, and it was hard not to be immersed. We got to know more about the guy who is behind the camera. Nuhash shared some of his favourite movies and shows of 2020 (It turns out that Nuhash is a big MCU fan) and shared some of his childhood memories while reminiscing about them. 

At the end of the interview, Jon asked if there was an unachievable dream that Nuhash has. In reply, Nuhash said he had this eye-opening experience back in 2019 that made him realise that he wanted to make films that could be appreciated globally and by his countrymen. It is essential for him that his creations or his stories be seen and heard both nationally and internationally. This is the dream he has and wants to achieve.     

I do not usually enjoy watching a lot of interviews, but this one felt really spontaneous and something that you can enjoy. It felt amazing to hear two people talk about their passions, music, films, arts, etc. It is definitely worth listening to or watching in your spare time.