Where passion meets direction

Films, video games and satire- these are three elements that embody Rahat Rahman. You may know him through his amazing work in his YouTube Channel. However, he has also been massively successful in mainstream media through ad-making and some very well-received telefilms. In 2016, he was selected to be a part of the Asian Film Academy in Busan, South Korea, where he spent 18 days attending film workshops, building stories and creating visuals. Rahat has recently worked in the much-anticipated Iti, Tomari Dhaka, Bangladesh's first anthology film.

Tell us about your experience working in 'Iti, Tomari Dhaka'. How different is it from working on an open platform like YouTube?

To be honest, YouTube has a lot more freedom that I really enjoy. If it was feasible to make a livelihood creating YouTube content in this country, I might actually have considered it.

That being said, I have been making television commercials for the last five years, and I started my own production company -- Film Logic. I also directed the much talked about telefilm Monkey Bizness along with some other projects; so the transition wasn't really that hard for me. When I got called up by Abu Shahed Emon, who is the creative producer of Iti, Tomari Dhaka, I was very excited. I said yes almost instantly, because my hunger for filmmaking was re-ignited when I previously visited the Busan Film Festival. Incidentally, Iti, Tomari Dhaka will represent Bangladesh in the same festival! My film for the project is titled Jiboner Gun.

Did you always have a passion for direction?

Mostly. When I was little, I actually wanted to be a video game developer. However, that changed when I realised that I had to learn a lot of difficult mathematics and programming for it, I gave up on that 'dream' (laughs). My first exposure to media was when I was a child journalist on Muktokhobor on ETV; I was in class 7. Our young crew had to do all the research, editing and presenting of the programme, and this was a head-start for me in the industry. My passion for filmmaking slowly ignited from here onwards, and I started working in various projects as assistant director.

'Team Possible' was a spectacular YouTube series, of which many fans want a sequel. Is there any chance for a second season?

Absolutely. We originally shot Team Possible in 2016 for a renowned telecom company, who unfortunately scrapped the project. I waited two whole years to put this up on my YouTube channel, and I am glad that people liked it. When it came out, however, many of my acquaintances in the industry did not like it. It was a tribute to The Office and other similar sitcoms. I eventually want to make a second season of the show, but only after everything else falls in place.

What other projects are you working on at the moment?

I have finished shooting an original for iflix titled Paangkha. It is a part of the ongoing Shoptaher Shesh Golpo series. It is a thriller, which I am hoping that people will like. I also want to work on a full-length commercial film in the near future.