Rubaiyat Hossain: The workers are the real heroes of this story

The movie 'Shimu-Made in Bangladesh' directed by Rubaiyat Hossain was released on 6 September last year and was recently released to general audiences. The story tries to capture the life and struggles of a garment worker. Rubaiyat says it was inspired by the story of a garment worker named Dalia, although she is reluctant to call it a biopic of Dalia.

The story revolves around the establishment of a trade union to ensure workers' rights in the garment industry. Rubaiyat started to work on this project only after extensive and exhaustive research.

"When my film 'Under Construction' was released in different places, there was a character named Moyna, and that's when I started playing around with the idea of a story about a working woman. From that inception, I started researching for it in 2016," she said.

"After completing two years of continuous research, I started working on it in 2018. I finished principal photography in 2018 as well. In only 36 days, we finished the shooting and from 2019, we started to exhibit the movie in different festivals around the world. The movie was released in different countries, including France. I was planning to release the movie in 2020 in Bangladesh, however due to the pandemic it got delayed."

"Since I am not a labourer myself, I tried to tell the story of a labourer woman who lives miles away from me. As I took on the huge responsibility to narrate their story I had to be very thorough in my research to be able to represent their emotions in a thoughtful manner. Everyone was co-operative when I started researching. The labourers are the real heroes of this project. We have a certain perception of them from our insulated lives. But by the time my research had finished, my perspective changed completely."

Each frame of the movie will keep viewers riveted to the story of Shimu. Intricate details are replete in each frame of the cinematography.

Regarding her creative process she said "I always try to work in detail and to me, each frame is a canvas. I work thinking about what information, elements, colours will fit in it. I want people to feel like they were present in the moment, when they see it. For this reason we emphasise colour. We confirm the authenticity of our costumes. If something is old, it must look old. It should not look like we bought something hastily and used it carelessly."

Rubaiyat is very grateful to Jonaki Bhattacharya, the production designer of the film. Under her leadership, a strong art direction team brought Shimu's story to life. She also thanked Ravi Dewan, Tanzina Shawn, Saddam Khandaker Joy and Mohammad Shahabuddin. They all made the set exquisite and believable by working relentlessly, day in and day out. She also singled out in particular Rikita Nandini Shimu, who played the lead role. She spoke highly of Shimu and praised her team's efforts.

For her detailed work she also gives credit to Satyajit Ray. From the inception of her career, she has always been inspired by his filmmaking. She told us that she had seen every film made by Satyajit Ray, multiple times. Every scene of his filmography and detail fascinates her. She was also inspired by many other filmmakers including Mira Nair, Rituparna Ghosh, Aparna Sen.

Regarding future projects, Rubaiyat said that she will make a sequel to Shimu. There are plans to do a few more projects as well.

"I am working on a film called 'Sultanas Dreams' currently. The girls who are passionate about filmmaking, this movie is dedicated to them," Rubaiyat said.