Nazim Ud Daula: The former marketer redefining thriller movie scripts

Movie directors don't just produce stories out of thin air and then tell actors to do this and that. Sure, directors 'direct' a movie or show, but it has to be based on something. That something is what we famously call the screenplay or the script. 

Screenwriting is a form of art. It is  the art of writing a story that a director can visualise and implement on the screen. 

Not only does a screenplay have to be simple enough to be read, for the actors and director alike, but it also has to convey the screenwriter's message. Harder still, it has to do justice to an already existing source material, i.e. a novel or a book, when it is being adapted for the screen.

Nazim Ud Daula is a rising screenwriter whose name is behind many recent action and/or thriller movies or web series. His latest screenplay was for the recently released movie 'MR-9: Do or Die', directed by Bangladeshi American director Asif Akbar. 

Afran Nisho-starrer 'Surongo' was also written for the screen by Nazim. He also wrote for 'Damal', 'Operation Sundarbans', 'Shaan' and several others. 

There are many people who have somehow stumbled upon the cinema lane, and once they saw the beauty of it, they stayed, pivoting from other career paths. Nazim too had no idea that he would soon become a renowned screenwriter when he completed his graduation in Marketing in 2016. He even taught Marketing in a private university for a few semesters in the same year. 

How his career path changed is an interesting bit.

"I wasn't particularly happy with teaching," said Nazim. "But I knew this wasn't my goal in life. As a hobby, I used to pen columns in different newspapers back in the day." 

With this he discovered a newfound love for writing, but his morale was low. He was almost new in the professional world. It felt, to him, rather bold, given his circumstances. Unsure about the future, he joined the digital marketing agency 'Analyzen Bangladesh Ltd,' switching a couple more jobs in between. 

"I stayed in Analyzen the longest – five years. In Analyzen, employees can choose to be called by a fictional superhero name to eliminate the boss-subordinate role. I instantly chose Masud Rana," Nazim said. 

In Analyzen, Nazim was able to bring his Marketing degree and creative flair together. After a year in the client service department, the company offered him to become the Creative Supervisor of their newly opened Creative wing. 

In the background, Nazim had already authored a few thrillers, titled 'Reincarnation' (2014), 'Blood Stone' (2015), etc. By the time he became the Creative Supervisor in 2019, he had already written five books!

For him, profession and passion were coming together. "It was going great. I was working with creative advertising. I felt within my comfort zone," he added.

Suddenly, life changed when he got a call from Jaaz Multimedia's owner Abdul Aziz in September, 2018. 

"He took notice of my 2017 thriller Mahajatra. 'You write thriller well and I find a Masud Rana vibe in your writing,' Nazim quoted Aziz. Yes, I'm a huge Masud Rana fan," Nazim said excitedly.

Jaaz Multimedia was preparing to make 'MR-9: Do or Die' based on the first Masud Rana book 'Dhongsho Pahar' and Nazim was asked to write the screenplay for it. He did not yet know how to write a screenplay. He took on the task and learnt how to write screenplays in a three-month online course. 

"I rewrote the 1960s story in my own way, to contextualise it to our times. None of that could work in 2023. The detective's methods and the technology they used back then have all changed by now. So, I had to reimagine it. Then I wrote the screenplay," Nazim said. Jaaz Multimedia loved Nazim's rendition.

About 16 drafts of the 'MR-9' had to be made. Nazim then showed it to Qazi Anwar Hussain, the original author of the Masud Rana series, who appreciated it deeply for the new air Nazim breathed into it.

Thus began Nazim's career as a screenwriter.

"Unfortunately, due to technical complications, M R-9 couldn't be kept true to my vision. That happens a lot when there are a lot of moving parts in a movie. Foreign locations and Hollywood actors were a little handful for the crew to handle," he said, with a little disappointment. 

This was also the case with Raihan Rafi's 'Damal', a sport-based movie where the script could not be followed as much as it should have; again for technical complications.

But Raihan Rafi's 'Surongo', in Nazim's own words, has so far been the saving grace to his repertoire. The movie remained true to the screenplay up to 95%, according to him, as also he was present during the entire shooting. 

"One can be taught to write a screenplay in no time, but one has to know how to tell a proper story to be able to write a proper screenplay," Nazim concluded. He advocates becoming a writer first and then a screenwriter.