Kids who recreate South Indian cinema in rural Bangladesh

A high-definition footage shows a young boy jumping across a stack of bricks. He lands firmly on his feet, kicking up dust. The action is caught in slow motion. The little boy picks up a gun and begins to shoot at his enemies, each catching the bullets in his chest.

The sequence is done in bullet time: a visual effect, also known as the Matrix effect or time-slice, created using multiple cameras to demonstrate that time has either slowed or stood still.

It's a scene out of any of the multitude of hit action South Indian Cinema. Except this one is made by a bunch of kids with no formal education or even the equipment of big-budget blockbusters. And it is shown for free on YouTube.

The shot is also filmed in Kalkini upazila of Madaripur, far from the glitz and glamour of Telugu film industry, Kollywood (Tamil), Mollywood (Malayalam) and Sandalwood (Kannada).

The makers of the fast action video, titled Allu Arjun save police in Dj movie, are a group called FF Friends Forever. The popularity of the channel and the video are plain to see: 5,56,000 subscribers and this one video amassing nearly a million views in a month.

Sufian Khan of Madaripur leads the team of 10-12 members. Most of them are school-goers.

The group got together when schools across the country were shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The friends, all enamoured of the Southern Cinema fight scenes, began recreating their favourite sequences.

At first, they used to record and edit videos on their phones. Although their foray into the cinematic universe began as a hobby, their fame soon started to skyrocket.

Along with the additional income came new cameras and laptops.

And since then they have never looked back.

But Friends Forever isn't the only group engaged in recreating the magic of Southern Cinema. Many others around the country have given in to the allure, making their versions.

Like Friends Forever, they are also not trained. They are, instead, gifted.

Sylhet's Kulaura Upazila's Nissan Quraishi, a similar content creator, "About one-and-a-half years ago, we decided to make a video like this with some friends and local acquaintances. We used to love watching Tamil movies, especially the fighting scenes. We decided to recreate action scenes from famous and popular movies like Pushpa, RRR, KGF, etc. Then we added background music and fight sounds from the movie to them."

He, too, has over 10,000 subscribers on his Youtube Channel, Nissan Quraishi. Although he faces similar challenges to Sufian, both are driven by a passion that surmounts all.

Talent triumphs over budget

Sufian, who leads a team of six school and college students, is currently studying at the Dhaka Polytechnic Institute.

He still makes time to shoot his videos, all set in his hometown.

Addressing the challenges, Sufian said, "It is shot with one camera, so the angle has to be changed repeatedly. While working like this, you have to spend about two days shooting. Then it takes another 2-3 days to edit. Even if the action scenes are short, they take about a week.

Nissan Quraishi, who has been directing and editing the videos on his channel, also has a Facebook page with 26,000 followers.

Action videos like his are regularly posted on another Facebook page called "Blackbook Entertainment." With over a million followers on the page, videos posted quickly go viral.

The plaudits also pour in, while many commended them for their efforts, some saying it is even better than what Bangladesh cinema currently offers.

But how do the content makers get their desired effect with little to no equipment and zero training?

Aryan Akash, a member of Nissan's team, said, "You can see dust being kicked up in our videos, especially during fight sequences. But floating dust can't be captured on camera. So for such scenes, we apply cement to the clothes, which is more visible. Cardboard paper is blown from the side to disperse the cement like dust."

He also said they used fake weapons - machetes, axes, hockey sticks – for most of the fight sequence, although close-up shots often call for the real deal to be shown.

"In our country, so many big budget movies are made, but if you see the action, it will seem of very low quality. Only sounds don't make the action. Many have said that our action videos are better than even the ones in Bangladeshi movies," Nissan said.  

He said editing a two-minute action sequence can take up to two days.

"It involves slow motion, effects, background music and more. It has to be done. But these things are not done in the movies made in our country. Sometimes there is a lack of planning, which can be understood by watching the action scenes of the movie. Therefore, despite having big budgets, the standards haven't changed. Many people think that it is not possible to make a good action movie without a big budget. We have proved them wrong," continued Nissan.

In wait for the call

Nissan's team has yet to make money in two years since they started to make action videos. They aren't that interested in it either. For now, Nissan's young team is focused on getting acclaim.

The intense sequences have also injured some actors, but that has done little to deter them.

They believe they will get a call to work in a Bangladeshi cinema.

Nissan said, "Sometimes if we cut our hands and feet, we have to go to the doctor. But you know the saying, no pain, no gain. So we are happy to do this work if we can."

On copyright issues, he said they used freely available music, which helped them avoid any "strikes."

Most of his team members have also decided to no longer pursue their education. Some have gotten other jobs instead.

Nissan dropped out after high school. His teammate, Aryan, owns a mobile shop.

But, like Sufian, Nissan wishes to one day get a call to do directing work. They also dream of working on commercial ventures.

There is, however, a gap that individual talent and willingness cannot bridge alone.

"If we can learn everything about action and editing by ourselves sitting in Madaripur - many people may wonder why the big action directors of our country can't do it. So if we get the right guidance and financial support, we know we can make really good action films," Sufian said.