Uncompromising Vicky Zahed
Bangladeshi television projects were somewhat confined to genres, such as romance, comedy, and family drama. In this race, young director Vicky Zahed brought gothic, dark and parapsychological plots—unconventional themes that initially were a 'risk' for the tele-fiction industry.
Beginning his television journey with "The Life of Jalil" in 2019, he went on to elevate the industry with hits like the "Punorjonmo" series, "Chirokal Aaj", "Kaykobad", and "Irina", among many others. His directorial OTT projects— "Redrum", "The Silence", and "Ami Ki Tumi"—are some of the remarkable ventures in his career. This Eid-ul-Azha, two of his directorial small-screen projects were released— "Tithidor" and "Hajot". Tomorrow, his short film "Ekti Khola Janala" will be released on Binge. The director dropped by The Daily Star to share insights on his way of direction and spilled the beans on his future projects.
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"If I am asked about my direction philosophy, I'll say that I have always remained honest with myself," shared the director. "During the initial stage of my career, many suggested that I should make popular genres such as comedy, however, I have always wanted to make gothic, dark, and psychological works, for which I had to wait. My never-compromising nature brought me where I am today."
Vicky attempts to reach the audience's mind in a way that brings some discomfort and lingers for a long time. This Eid-ul-Azha, "Tithidor", featuring Mehazabien Chowdhury and written by Jahan Sultana, left many audiences in tears, and especially the female audience could find a connection with Tithi, portrayed by Mehazabien. With no commercial elements in it, no thrill, and telling a linear story, Vicky succeeded. However, for a male director, it is difficult to justify the portrayal of female psychology. How did Vicky cope with this? —"This project is very close to my heart for two reasons. The character of Tithi reflects one of my close acquaintances, and I have seen closely how she suffers in her life and faces many criticisms, such as being single in her mid-30s. Due to her skin tone and texture, she was even bullied. Yet, she wins all the challenges and smiles amidst all her pain. Secondly, our executive producer Masudul Mahmud Ruhan ended his life last May, which was shocking for us. Through this story, I wanted to say that suicide is not the solution and there are people who, despite numerous struggles, give life a chance; because once it is gone, there is no coming back."
Vicky's experimental project "Tikit", was released on Chorki earlier this February. Unlike his other projects, this one didn't engage viewers that much, and the director shared the reason behind this. "I wanted to try black comedy for the first time, and it was more of satire, which didn't work for me; however, I have no regret since I got to experiment."
"We have not yet revealed the protagonist of "Ekti Khola Janala". He shares a resemblance to a notorious criminal, who is alleged to have eaten raw human liver after digging them up from graveyards. This is a short film, and also one of my favourite types of projects."
Vicky's landmark "Punorjonmo" series reached such heights that to date, wherever he goes, people ask about a spin-off possibility. For the readers, he spilled the beans— "Hajot" is the prequel of the "Punorjonmo" universe. Since Rafsan Haque's character has reached the mass audience, this time we plan to make it larger than life. Hence, for that, we need time to create something special."
Last year, the director announced that he would be directing the web-series "Adom", based on a real-life incident. "We have completed shooting the series and the post-production. Since the plot is sensitive, we are taking time before bringing it to the screens."
Recently there has been a rumour that Afran Nisho and Vicky Zahed are set to collaborate for a silver screen project. To that, Vicky responded, "Nothing has been finalised, as of yet. We are in the initial planning stages. I do believe that the audience deserves our collaboration on the big screens, but only time will tell."
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