Centre stage
Gazi Shuvro
A man of many talents, Gazi Shuvro has achieved immense success in his career. From music videos to TV commercials, he’s done it all. In today’s interview, we talk to the multitalented artist, and uncover the secrets behind his successful career.
Tell us about your journey?
My career began with music videos. Then I started doing musical programmes for ATN. One was an Eid programme where the focus was on music and poetry. Another was on Pan music. I also had to communicate with several agencies for sponsors for my programmes, and that got me some interested clients. I then made a music video for Miles, in association with Tara Bangla. I also used to do a programme called Pepsi Rock and Rhythm, it was a show about the past, present and future of bands, like LRB and Miles. I used to work in the export industry back then, where I formed a weekend band, Sahara with then managing director of BAT. The band was short-lived. I then had the opportunity to film a proper music video for the top eleven contestants of Closeup 1. Afterwards, I was asked to do a commercial to promote it. I later formed a company with James, called Red Dot. I also made Beautiful Bangladesh, the 3.5 minutes long video for ICC Cricket World Cup, 2011. I did commercials for Bangladesh Navy and Airforce, and made another video, Visit Bangladesh. Now I mostly make TVCs. I recently did a programme for iFlix, where we got new singers to sing some of our favourite old songs. The program was synchronised, organised and supervised by Bappy Mazumder. I'm doing plenty of audiovisuals for different corporations, as well.
Have you ever wanted to do anything other than this?
I've always wanted to make a movie, but am hesitant because the budget is very little, due to there being not many cinema halls. This makes the films not as cinematic as say, international films. The films we grew up with, we can't find anything close to them now. It all happened with the banning of the import of such films in the past. We need to be exposed to good contents in order to learn from them. Also, with the growing popularity of digital cameras instead of the ones used in the past, the line between films and TV shows is getting blurred. I feel that we should show our films in theatres of other countries where Bangla is spoken. And in saying that, the quality must be improved exponentially. We've lost the richness of our films.
Do you have any message for the readers?
Let's all hope for the best, and be positive. Everything is changing in all sectors of our country, for the better I hope.
Transcribed by Amina Hossain