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Mostofa Sarwar Farooki

Mostofa Sarwar Farooki
মোস্তফা সরোয়ার ফারুকী
Farooki in 2016
Adviser of Cultural Affairs
Assumed office
10 November 2024
Chief AdviserMuhammad Yunus
Preceded byAsif Nazrul
Personal details
Born (1973-05-02) 2 May 1973 (age 51)
Dhaka, Bangladesh
SpouseNusrat Imrose Tisha (m. 2010)
Children1
OccupationFilm Maker, producer, and screenwriter

Mostofa Sarwar Farooki (Bengali: মোস্তফা সরোয়ার ফারুকী) is a Bangladeshi film director, producer and screenwriter who works in Bengali films.[1][2] His films Third Person Singular Number, Television, No Bed Of Roses were critically acclaimed across the world and received numerous international and national awards.[3][4] On November 10, 2024, he was appointed as the Adviser to the Ministry of Cultural Affairs in the interim government of Bangladesh.[5][6]

Early life

Farooki was born 2 May 1973 in the Nakhalpara neighborhood of Dhaka, Bangladesh. He attended Tejgaon Government Boys' High School.[7]

Career

Farooki has set a new trend in terms of presentation[8] 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 Dubai International Film Festival's Muhr AsiaAfrica Awards. In 2014 it was also in competition for APSA and both the Singapore and Kerala International Film Festivals. He finished his sixth feature film Doob: No Bed of Roses starring international star Irrfan Khan, Nusrat Imrose Tisha, Parno Mittra, Rokeya Prachy and others.[9][10] It was an official project of Film Bazar India 2013. It won Dubai Film Market Award and Kommersant Jury Prize at Moscow International Film Festival 2017.[11]

He is all set to release his upcoming ambitious project, a one-shot film, Saturday Afternoon starring Nusrat Imrose Tisha, Parambrata Chatterjee, Zahid Hasan, Eyad Hourani, Mamunur Rashid, a Bangladesh-Germany-Russia co-production inspired by the Dhaka terror attack incident of 1 July 2016 at the Holey Artisan Bakery, Gulshan. The film had its world premiere at the main competition section of 41st Moscow International Film Festival 2019 and won the Russian Federation of Film Critics Jury Prize and Komersant Prize. It is the first of three films of his identity trilogy, the second one being No Land's Man starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and the third, Memoria will be based on the Rohingya refugees.[citation needed]

Farooki was appointed as an international jury of Asia Pacific Screen Awards 2015,[12] Busan International Film Festival 2017[13] and Kolkata International Film Festival 2017 and Dhaka International Film Festival 2020. He was also an invited guest and speaker at many other prestigious film festivals. In 2019, he received the Fazlul Haq Memorial Award 2018 and was also honoured by Kaler Kantho newspaper on their anniversary.

Farooki also makes commercials for local and international brands like Djuice, Citycell, Banglalink, Ekhanei.com, Crown Cement, Grameenphone, Close-Up, Robi etc. His most popular commercial was for Meril Soap bar starring Tisha.[14]

In ministerial role

Farooki was appointed an adviser to the interim government of Bangladesh on 10 November 2024.[15] He is responsible for the Ministry of Cultural Affairs.[16] Protests took place in various parts of the country, including Dhaka University and Jahangirnagar University, following his appointment as an Adviser, due to perceptions of his close ties to the Sheikh Hasina administration.[17]

Cinematic style

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.

Brisbane's Asia Pacific Screen Awards says of his work, "His films often deal with the way individuals free themselves from the limitations placed on them by their identity, economic circumstances and belief systems. To counter the deprivation they face in real life, his characters often seem to create a fantasy world around them, lending elements of magical realism to Farooki's signature style."[18] "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".

Personal life

Tisha and Farooki in 2015

Farooki is married to the actress Nusrat Imrose Tisha since 16 July 2010.[19][20] Together they have a daughter.[21]

Filmography

Year Films Notes References
2003 Bachelor
  • Official Selection - New Jersey Independent South Asian Cine Fest
  • Official Selection - Third Eye IFF Mumbai
  • Official Selection -Asiatica filmmediale, Rome
  • Winner, Best Actress at Bangladesh National Film Award 2004
2007 Made in Bangladesh Winner, Special Mention (Best Film) - Dhaka International Film Festival 2008
2009 Third Person Singular Number [22]
2010 Ok, Cut
2012 Television
2013 Ant Story
2017 Doob: No Bed of Roses
2019 Shonibar Bikel
2021 No Land's Man
TBA A Burning Question
2023 Something Like an Autobiography [36]

Television

Title Notes
Ekanno Borti
69
Choruivati
420
Upsonghar
Tal Patar Shepai
Unmanush
Carrom (Part 1)
Carrom (Part 2)
Balok Balikara
Spartacus 71
Emon Deshti Kothao Khuje Pabe Nako Tumi

Web content

Year Title Platform Notes
2021 Ladies & Gentleman ZEE5 [37]

Chabial

Farooki is the founder of Chabial, a film makers club.[38][39] This group of young film makers used to be Farooki's assistant directors.[40] They then used local cable television networks as a platform to master their hands in story telling and created an audience for the stories they tell. Their works have managed to connect primarily with the youth in urban and suburban parts of the Bangladeshi society for the realism in story topics and realism in execution.[41][42]

References

  1. ^ "Celebrating Mostofa Sawar Farooki's cinematic brilliance on his birthday". The Daily Star. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  2. ^ "Hoping for a revolution in films". theindependentdigital. Archived from the original on 15 March 2012. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  3. ^ "Freedom of storytelling key challenge for films here". New Age. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  4. ^ "Farooki, Tisha's 12 yrs of togetherness". daily-sun. July 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  5. ^ "Three advisers take oath". Prothom Alo. 10 November 2024.
  6. ^ "Major shakeup in portfolio after oath of three new advisers". Prothom Alo. 10 November 2024. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  7. ^ Karim, Elita (2 November 2012). "Farooki's Classroom Secrets". Star Weekend Magazine.
  8. ^ Sattar, Maher (15 June 2014). "Bangladesh films try to shed Bollywood style . HE". Al Jazeera.
  9. ^ a b "Irrfan Khan's 'Doob: No Bed Of Roses' Is All Set For World Premiere At Shanghai Film Festival". India Times. 12 June 2017.
  10. ^ Ramachandran, Naman (29 February 2016). "Irrfan Khan Climbs Into Mostofa Sarwar Farooki's 'No Bed of Roses'". Variety.
  11. ^ "DOOB wins Kommersant Jury Prize at Moscow". The Daily Star. 30 June 2017.
  12. ^ Frater, Patrick (3 October 2015). "Busan's Kim Dong-ho to Head APSA Awards Jury". Variety.
  13. ^ 업체명. "WWW.BIFF.KRㅣ12-21 October, 2017". www.biff.kr.
  14. ^ Pritom, Nusrat Jahan (11 September 2016). "Versatile Maria Nur". Daily Sun. Dhaka.
  15. ^ "Three advisers take oath". Prothom Alo. 10 November 2024.
  16. ^ "Major shakeup in portfolio after oath of three new advisers". Prothom Alo. 10 November 2024. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  17. ^ "Dhaka University students demand axing of Farooki, 'fascist allies' from interim cabinet". DU students call for axing of Advisor Farooki, ‘fascist allies’. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  18. ^ "Jury 2015". Asia Pacific Screen Awards.
  19. ^ "Farooki and Tisha tying the knot". priyo.com. Archived from the original on 4 September 2013. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  20. ^ "Wedding bells for Farooki-Tisha". The Daily Star. 18 July 2010. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  21. ^ "Tisha and Farooki blessed with a baby girl". Prothom Alo. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  22. ^ Ershad Kamol (16 March 2009). "Mostofa Sarwar Farooki talks his style". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  23. ^ Ramachandran, Naman (21 September 2013). "Bangladesh Turns on "Television" for Oscar Race". Variety.
  24. ^ "Farooki's Television wins NETPAC award at Kolkata Film Festival". Risingbd.com. Archived from the original on 25 December 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  25. ^ "Eclectic mix of contenders for the Golden Goblet Award". Shanghai Daily. 9 June 2014.
  26. ^ "Pipra Bidya in Golden Goblet contention". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 31 May 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  27. ^ "Farooki's Doob wins Kommersant Weekend Prize in Moscow". bdnews24.com.
  28. ^ a b "'Doob' to participate in two more int'l film festivals". The Independent. Dhaka.
  29. ^ "'Doob' selected for El Gouna Film Festival". The Daily Star. 10 September 2017.
  30. ^ "Cinema of the world". 10 November 2017.
  31. ^ a b c "Parambrata's 'Shonibar Bikel' screened in London and Munich". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 19 July 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  32. ^ "Farooki's 'Shonibar Bikel' selected for Sydney Film Festival 2019". Dhaka Tribune. 10 May 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  33. ^ Frater, Patrick (12 December 2014). "Jafar Panahi, Mostofa Sarwar Farooki Among APSA-MPA Award Winners". Variety.
  34. ^ "MPA APSA Fund awards $25,000". ScreenDaily.com. 12 December 2014.
  35. ^ Ramachandran, Naman (24 November 2014). "'No Land's Man', 'Revolution' win India's Film Bazaar". Variety.
  36. ^ Ramachandran, Naman (3 August 2023). "Mostofa Sarwar Farooki Leads 'Ministry of Love' 12-Film Anthology for Bangladesh Streamer Chorki (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  37. ^ Ramachandran, Naman (21 June 2021). "Mostofa Sarwar Farooki Sets ZEE5 Bangladesh Original Series 'Ladies & Gentlemen'". Variety.
  38. ^ "Chabial gears up to storm the small screen this Eid". The Daily Star. 11 May 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  39. ^ "Chabial Eid Reunion to feature seven different stories". Dhakatribune. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  40. ^ ঈদে একুশে টিভিতে ছবিয়ালের সাত নাটক. bdnews24 (in Bengali). Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  41. ^ ফিরে আসছে ছবিয়ালের নাটক. Prothomalo (in Bengali). 10 May 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  42. ^ ছবিয়ালের নাটক শুরু. চ্যানেল আই অনলাইন. 10 May 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2023.