'No Land's Man' questions idea of identity through satire: director Mostofa Sarwar Farooki

Acclaimed Bangladeshi filmmaker Mostofa Sarwar Farooki says identity and the conflict surrounding the concept are at the centre of his Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer ''No Land's Man'' in which he has employed tools like mockery and satire to tell the story.

The director said the film, nominated for the prestigious Kim Jiseok Award at the ongoing Busan International Film Festival along with six other movies, is the story of a South Asian man called Naveen who ''we follow in New York, Sydney and also in India''.

The journey of Naveen (Siddiqui) ''sometimes gets humorous, satirical and very tragic'', he added.

''The film actually mocks the strange idea of identity that we have created around the world and the madness that surrounds this conflict. We human beings created these identities to either love or hate someone. ''General people don't need division, hatred or conflict. It's needed by the identity brokers, who are the political or religious players because conflict is their currency. And they are powerful people,'' Farooki told PTI in an interview.

The director said like his character Naveen, he as a filmmaker is also powerless and to deal with a ''powerful monster'' like identity brokers, he believes ''mockery and satire'' are the best devices.

''So, we have applied these tools in the film but not on a large scale. It is done in a way that suits our film and its mood. But we didn't forget the emotional part that comes from the tragedy that is suffered by the common man, the powerless people. You can call this film a combination of satire, mockery and emotions.'' Farooki, 48, whose films have travelled and won awards at different international film festivals, is credited for bringing Bangladeshi cinema to the forefront with his films ''Bachelor'', ''Third Person Singular Number'', ''Television'' or ''Doob: No Bed of Roses'', starring late Irrfan Khan.

''Television'' also closed the BIFF in 2012 and the director served as the jury of the festival in 2016.

''No Land's Man'' was an idea that was long brewing in the director's mind and in 2014, when he won the best project award for the film in Film Bazaar India, he met Siddiqui through a friend in Mumbai. They had another meeting in Kolkata during which Farooki narrated the story to the actor.

''I saw how the emotions of the story were playing to his soul. It was reflected in his eyes and I immediately knew that I needed him in the film. When I finished narrating the story I saw tears in his eyes and he was clapping like a kid. I think all great artistes are kids at heart. Nawaz bhai said he was in after listening to the narration,'' he recalled.

But the film did not take off immediately as shooting in three different continents was not easy with finance being a big concern for the director.

In 2019, while Siddiqui was shooting for another film, fate reconnected Farooki with the actor.

''It is actually a cinematic story. I have the bad habit of taking a nap after lunch, a typical Bengali habit. I saw Nawaz bhai in my dreams. I told this to my assistant directors wondering whether it was a signal to make the film. As fate would have it, that's when I got a call from an unknown Mumbai number. It was Nawaz bhai who had called to tell me that his number had changed,'' the director said narrating the story.

Farooki said he told Siddiqui about his dream and the actor said even he was wondering why they have not made the film yet as the story was apt for the times.

They had a meeting in Mumbai the same week, chalked out a plan to shoot the film and completed it.

''No Land's Man'' is Farooqi's second film in the identity series, the first one being ''Saturday Afternoon'', which is banned in Bangladesh though the film did its festival round.

''I don't want to talk about it because when I talk about the film, I feel really angry and hurt,'' the director said about the film.

''But 'No Land's Man' is the second film in the identity trilogy and my first in the English language. It is also Nawaz bhai's first English film in the lead role.'' Farooki, who moved to film direction after working in television, often deals with themes of identity and the collision of the new and old through his stories like ''Third Person Singular Number'', which navigated the journey of a young woman whose live-in boyfriend has been sent to jail, or ''Television'', about a community leader who bans television but ends up being helped by it.

The director said his upbringing has played an instrumental role in his journey to becoming a storyteller.

''I grew up in a middle-class area of Nakhalpara, Dhaka and the people are crazy there. If you go to a tea stall in every neighbourhood of Nakhalpara, you will see all the great storytellers sitting there. They are fibbing around, making up stories. They will tell you how their uncle's house has 22 cars, and how big his house is. They will create made-up stories but they tell these stories with a lot of wit, humour and emotions.

''That's what I grew up on and it impacted me. I saw how witty my uncles and my father were. They would create stories around everything. I realised that stories are important. They are the food for our souls and I realised that stories are even greater food for the souls of those who are 'have nots', like the guy in the tea stall creating a story around his uncle's opulence.'' The film premiered under the 'A Window on Asian Cinema' section at the 26th edition of the Busan International Film Festival on Saturday with a third screening scheduled for October 13. The movie gala will run through October 15.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)