I want to tell an inspirational story of Bangladesh: Nuhash on his movie on Pathao

Promising filmmaker Nuhash Humayun came up with the idea of his first feature film 'Moving Bangladesh' while watching the anthology film "Iti Tomari Dhaka" with an international audience at the Busan International Film Festival. 

During the screening, when he was thinking of coming up with an inspirational story to tell in his first feature film, he remembered the day when he was running late for a meeting. He was stuck in the traffic for a while, and eventually ended up calling a bike and got out of the car. 

The moment he felt the breeze on his face, he instantly thought of the journey of Pathao, the first ride sharing app in Bangladesh. Later on, Nuhash started doing research, which led him to the film. 

In a conversation with The Business Standard, Nuhash talked about the film, shedding light on those memories. 

"I remember I was stuck in bad traffic and was getting frustrated. So, I got out of the car and called a bike. When the bike just went through the traffic, I thought it was a cool experience and I never had this before in Dhaka. So I was thinking when and how it all had started," explained Nuhash. 

Nuhash shared, "When I was watching 'Sincerely Yours Dhaka' with an international audience during its premiers at Busan Film Festival, I thought since the anthology film tells stories of Dhaka, next I wanted to tell an inspirational and bigger story of Bangladesh that represents the country globally. And that's when I decided to tell the story of Pathao since it is one of the first ride-sharing apps in Bangladesh."
 
'Moving Bangladesh' talks about the real life story of a bunch of youth, who are sick of being stuck in traffic and in life as well, and decide to create the app Pathao that truly changes our lives for good.

"My film is based on the story of Pathao but it is also a personal journey for me because I want to tell the story of my generation who are struggling and who are trying to create something inspirational and different and not go into traditional jobs," he added, adding it could be relatable to new generation film audiences.

The film will be focused on the Pathao founders. Inspired by true events, the film will be fictionalised and currently is in the development state. 

"I am taking a lot of liberties and making it mingle with a very personal journey. The film is in the scripting process and it has already been selected for some prestigious workshops," informed Nuhash.

As a filmmaker Nuhash wants to explore different genres. "I really like to challenge myself as a director; I don't like doing the same things repeatedly. I sometimes find making a music video challenging, or a documentary is very challenging. The idea of making a feature film based on a true story is quite challenging, because there are so many moving elements and parts associated with it. I really love these challenges," asserted Nuhash.

For his other works he plans to take on similar challenges, and working on different genres, he feels, would be challenging too. "It could be either a thriller or an action film. If the idea of the film makes me scared, I shall probably take it on," he said with a smile. 

Produced by Arifur Rahman and Bijon Imtiaz, and made under the Goopy Bagha banner, "Moving Bangladesh" is the only film from Bangladesh at this year's Film Bazaar Coproduction Market. The film has been in the making for a year and the story will focus on 2013-2014's Dhaka. The names of the cast crew have not been published yet.

As a huge fan of the works of David Fincher, Nuhash thinks that a young filmmaker in Bangladesh has barriers but those can be overcome. 

"Of course there will be barriers, but in the digital era, anyone can make a film; you just need to use the camera on your phone to make content. Nobody can actually stop you. I would rather say there were a lot more barriers in the past."

"Now filmmaking is actually more open and you can prove yourself easily because equipment is easily available. There are barriers, but you can find ways around it," concluded Nuhash.