Unburdened by his father's legacy

Nuhash Humayun carries one of the heaviest surnames in the Bangladeshi entertainment industry. The moment news broke out that the eldest son of iconic writer-filmmaker Humayun Ahmed was making his first mainstream TV play, anticipation ran wild. Under Amitabh Reza's supervision, the Eid special TV series “Osthir Somoye Swasti'r Golpo” featured Nuhash's directorial debut on television with “Hotel Albatross”, and the young gun has made one thing clear through the work: he is on a path of his own, unburdened by his father's legacy. The psychological thriller, starring the masterful Asaduzzaman Noor along with a strong supporting cast, gained plenty of praise from the audience for originality and storytelling method.

Nuhash spoke to The Daily Star about the making of the thriller, his challenges and future plans.

“One of the biggest challenges I faced was with time. Usually, when I work for myself, I take my time. Most of my time goes to post-production. When I began working on 'Hotel Albatross', I had to change my entire mindset. I was given a particular timeframe to work within, and getting all of it done was a challenge for me.”

Nuhash believes one of the reasons he was able to pull off his play with such success was because of the involvement of Amitabh Reza's team. “Amitabh Reza's team is like a well-oiled machine: they know their duties and timeframe, and most importantly they market their products very well.”

When Nuhash made “Hotel Albatross”, he made sure he told a story he personally felt must be told. “While there were compromises I had to make due to producers' calls even though I was reluctant to, the story was unapologetically me. I got away with a lot of things that I didn't think I would -- like insults, offensive language, and gore.” But there will always be limitations, Nuhash believes. “Even if I'm not always happy with it, it's a part of the process that everyone must accept.”

About the casting, Nuhash said: “I believe the heart of the play was the story itself, for which I needed the characters to be well-developed. I required a lot of rehearsal, and the actors were really busy and yet they found time for me. Allen would come over even if it was at 3am, to discuss his character with me and go through the script.”

 “Asaduzzaman Noor brings a completely different energy on set. I know how busy he was. But once on set, he took in the character so completely that it urged his co-actors to do better than they normally would have done,” said Nuhash about working with the seasoned actor and Cultural Affairs Minister.

Nuhash already knew what the industry expected from him. “Of course because of my father, people thought I would make something similar to what he used to make. I don't mind this expectation -- it drives me to do better. But after the airing of 'Hotel Albatross', people told me it was very different from my father's work. A lot of what is the norm in directing plays today was established by my father. And I think, not many people have been able to go beyond that format and do something new. I want to explore more methods and ways to go about filmmaking.”

Nuhash has one project right now that's keeping him busy. “I'm working on a short film called 'Paper Frogs'. It will be aired at this year's Dhaka Lit Fest. It's a simple coming-of-age story of a girl; very different from 'Hotel Albatross'. I don't know when I will work on my next TV play. I still have many stories I want to tell. Let's see where they take me.”