Mohammad Shoaib: The last of Bangladesh's cinema poster painters

As I entered the flat in Adabor, the first thing that caught my eyes was the gigantic poster of Hridi Haq's forthcoming movie '1971 Shei Shob Din'. 

The flat, situated at the first floor of an apartment building, with its front door ajar, was mostly deserted, except for numerous colourful cinema posters hanging from the walls. The largest room in the flat, the drawing room, was indeed being used as a 'drawing room' (pun intended). 

There was a huge canvas (17 feet by 8 feet) resting on one side of the wall. The canvas was nearly complete; the artist Mohammad Shoaib was standing on a table applying finishing touches with his brushes, while his assistant Baset Khan was standing next to him, passing to him whatever he needed.  

The canvas, now transformed into an acrylic cinema poster, was a scene to behold. It was unlike any digital cinema poster you nowadays see on the streets or in front of cinema halls. It had a rare authenticity – a piece of art produced by a human being, with his raw flair and hardwork. 

The Bangladeshi cinema industry no longer gets the cinema posters hand-painted, and turns to computer-based graphic designers instead, because that is more time and cost-efficient. 

And that is why artist Shoaib and his craft are so special. Besides, Shoaib is one of the remaining members of the first batch of Bangladesh's cinema poster painters, dating back to the pre-independence era. 

As I dove into a friendly conversation with the man nearly half a century older than me, his whole journey as an artist – which took him places, including to a European country – unfurled before me.

It turned out that he was the man behind the portraits of some of the biggest world leaders visiting Bangladesh; the list comprising the likes of Queen Elizabeth II and Bill Clinton, though he never received his due credit for that. 

The art of making heroines more appealing 

Shoaib has lost count of how many cinema posters he has painted throughout his career.

He painted posters of Dilip Kumar's movies the most in Hindi, while in Urdu, he painted Mohammad Ali's films more than others. In the golden era of Bangla cinema, he painted posters of more or less every actor, from Razzak-Kabori to Farooque-Babita.

But the one Bangladeshi actor Shoaib claims to have worked the most with is Ilias Kanchan. 

"Throughout my career, I worked mostly with brushes and colours. But that's not really a hard and fast rule. For some Ilias Kanchan movies, I even worked with knives and bamboo twigs on fabrics." 

Shoaib didn't really work much in the era when Bangladeshi cinema industry was marred with obscenity and cut-pieces. So, his posters were mostly free from nudity. 

"But of course, we used to draw heroines in revealing clothes in seductive poses. The heroines were not really wearing short and revealing clothes in the still images we were provided with. But we applied our imagination to make them look a bit more appealing," Shoaib said. 

The reason, of course, was to represent the heroines in accordance with the male gaze, so that more audiences rushed to the cinema halls. 

"We would also try our best to make the heroes look as powerful, and the villains as dangerous as possible," he added. 

Shoaib also said that during their time, they always had the creative freedom to tweak poster designs to their own liking. "As artists, we definitely have a better understanding than film directors about what would be best for a poster," said Shoaib proudly.  

Evidently, Shoaib can sometimes be very stubborn, in contrast to his usual friendly self, when it comes to making sure that he is enjoying his creative freedom. 

When someone from the crew of '1971 Shei Shob Din' asked to change the colour of tanks he drew in the poster, Shoaib was reluctant to give in. "Maybe the Pakistani tanks were olive, but in the nighttime while opening fire, they are not supposed to resemble the same," he put in. 

A chance return to cinema poster painting

While some media outlets are claiming that '1971 Shei Shob Din' is Shoaib's first venture into cinema poster painting in 20 years, that's not really the case. 

In September last year, he also took part in the poster painting of Operation Sundarbans, a film produced by RAB Welfare Cooperative Society Ltd. For that movie, he had to paint a total of four posters, one of them was even bigger than the '1971 Shei Shob Din' poster. 

"For Operation Sundarbans, I went to RAB's office in Uttara, and painted a 20 feet by 10 feet poster alongside Bidesh Kumar Dhar [another poster painter from the '60s]," said Shoaib. 

For Operation Sundarbans, Shoaib not only received a payment of Tk60,000, but he was also invited to the film's premiere in Bashundhara City Complex branch of Star Cineplex, and awarded a one-time honorary allowance of Tk50,000. 

A lot of pride, but hardly any return

Shoaib has some other memories to be extremely proud of. 

Due to his reputation as an excellent portrait artist, he would often be called up by the officials of the Public Works Department (PWD) to draw portraits of high profile personnel. 

He even got the opportunity to paint portraits of recently deceased Queen Elizabeth II and US President Bill Clinton, when they came to Bangladesh. 

"Both of them liked my paintings, and I assume surely they left some bakhshish (tips) for me. But I never got hold of them," he said. 

"I even painted portraits of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and a Qatari Emir. I heard the Qatari Emir left around Tk25,000 for me. But you know, I eventually got nothing!"

Still, a great opportunity came Shoaib's way when he was hired by a Danish political party back in 2013. 

"I flew all the way to Denmark, and drew portraits of six mayoral election candidates from Copenhagen, Aarhus and Viborg. My travel, accommodation and food cost were covered by them, and I was also paid Tk1 lakh in cash," Shoaib revealed. 

During the coronavirus pandemic, he received Tk10,000 in two instalments as donation from the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy. 

How the journey began

Born in Old Dhaka's Rathkhola, Nawabpur, in the early 1950s, Shoaib never found any interest in formal studies. Though his parents tried to get him educated, he always considered going to school as "nothing but a waste of time". 

So, his academic career was cut short when he was only in class four, and he started exploring his talent as a painter. He made his debut in poster painting in 1965, as a 15 year old boy.

"In this line (of profession), one must have a 'guru', and so did I in the form of Mohammad Ahmad Siddique," shared Shoaib. 

Siddique had his studio in the same locality Shoaib lived in, and through his time spent over there, Shoaib mastered the craft. Then he also travelled with Giren Das in 1968 to Kolkata and learned more about the art. 

After coming back to Dhaka, he began to work as a poster painter more frequently in Qari Studio, with his starting salary being Rs5. But as he proved himself a real prodigy, his salary soon rose nine-fold to Rs45.

"And at one point, my monthly salary became Rs100. But then 25 March happened," said Shoaib, referring to the genocidal Operation Searchlight that led to the nine-month long Liberation War, with Bangladesh becoming an independent country eventually. 

Before 1971, Shoaib used to work predominantly in Hindi and Urdu cinemas, but after independence, his filmography contained Bangla cinema more. 

In 1978, Shoaib, along with two other artists – Giren and Shubhashish Chakraborty – set up a studio called Hollister beside the historic Hussaini Dalan in Old Dhaka. 

Also till 2003, he worked in several studios in Rathkhola, Kaptan Bazar, and behind the Judge Court.

Lonely days

Shoaib never really left his profession as a cinema poster painter, but making hand-painted movie banners and posters completely stopped after 2005. 

As a seasoned painter, he didn't have to be without work. From painting commissioned portraits to drawing cartoons on school walls, he did everything he was capable of doing as a painter. Even now he continues to do those for a living. 

"I now live in Kamrangirchar, and you could say I'm completely alone. My wife passed away in 1994. I had three children. I married my two daughters off, and my son lives in Narinda. He works in a dispensary," he said. 

Still, as a single person, Shoaib needs the minimum earning to lead a life properly. But he is struggling to do that. 

"In some months, I earn up to Tk15,000, while in some months, my income drops to Tk5,000. There are also months when I earn close to nothing," he said. 

Even his just-finished job in '1971 Shei Shob Din' didn't yield him much. 

"I have spent nine days painting this poster. Before that, it also took me three days to buy all the material. And for these, I will get Tk30,000. I had already received half as an advance, and I will get the rest soon," Shoaib said. 

However, Tk30,000 in 12 days isn't really as much as it sounds. 

"I spent nearly Tk15,000 to buy the materials, and I will have to pay another Tk10,000 to my two assistants. So, ultimately I will take home only Tk5,000."

So, how much would have been an appropriate deal for this job? 

"I hadn't bought materials for poster painting for 20 years. Hence, this time I took up the job without knowing the current situation of the market. But now that I am aware of everything, I would ask for Tk45,000 if another project arrives."  

Sometimes Shoaib gets calls from university students to run workshops. "So far I have conducted quite a few workshops inside Dhaka, and also travelled to Manikganj for that. Not that I earn a lot from these, but I love the respect young artists show to me." 

But it's also a matter of concern how long Shoaib can keep going like this. "I had to start wearing glasses five years ago due to poor vision, and can't stand or hold my hands up for a long time."