A Long Way To Go: A Travelling Story (2015)

Chapter 3

“My friend, I was looking for you after graduation” said the speaker (Sameen).

“Oh, how did you get my number?” asked Iliyas.

“When I was looking for a criminal lawyer in the directory, I thought of you. As you were on the directory list, I found your office number. Your secretary, Dulal gave me the number” said Sameen.

“Oh I see. How is your upcoming film going?” asked Iliyas.

“It’s good. Anyways, your family is invited to see the shooting of the film. Some of the actors are eager to see you. The scene is just a conversation between the lawyer and the client. I hope you can help my actor to look authentic” said Sameen.

“Ok, where is the shooting place?” asked Iliyas.

Then Sameen mentioned the place. We were so excited that I felt I could go. There are things stored in it. I really want to see his art of filmmaking. It’s great to see such rare brilliant Bengali filmmakers. Therefore we went to sleep as I talked to the whisperer in chat. He revealed that Sameen was passionate in films but also a brilliant storyteller. He convinces people so brilliantly that everyone wanted to act on his films. Woah!

I felt excited! I went to sleep after the chat.  Another day, Iliyas, Maisha, Saiful and Adreeta took me to the shooting spot. I saw the director watching a scene on the monitor while the people were doing the action scenes in front of the camera.

“AND CUT IT!” the director shouted.

 The shooting stopped, also clapped by the crew. Everyone chanted the actor ‘superb!’ The actor smiled with happiness. The director looked back at us. He was surprised when he saw us.

“Oh dear, Iliyas! How have you been? Look at you, a body builder! A French bearded man! You were so thin like a stick. How did you become like this?” asked the director.

“Yes Sameen, it’s just you know all in common-exercise. Anyways, your shot is superb. Is your actor methodic?” asked Iliyas.

“Yes, he’s a method actor. He researched his character in a brilliant manner. It’s rare that actors of Bangladesh do such things” said Sameen (the director).

 He showed us the costumes, the sets and unique collections of rare Bengali films which were not released, they were brilliant and experimental. Therefore, I became inspired for making the photography to the best level. I also saw his films in his editing room. He was so humble to us that we felt that the family was reunited. Iliyas, Sameen and Saiful sat beside the sound room.

“There is one person missing” said Sameen.

“Haroon?” said Iliyas.

“Yes, that hypocrite” said Sameen.

“He’s not really a hypocrite, we were wrong about him” said Iliyas.

“Yes, I know” said Sameen.

All three drank coke plus they were gossiping about Haroon. They revealed that they were university friends who had lot of fun together. Until the graduation something worst happened then Haroon was never to be seen again. I heard the whisperer, telling me to interrupt them because talking about something bad means they would have a bad nightmare. Therefore, I interrupted “Anyways, past happens. But there is something to rectify. How about a trip?”

“Sure, to Coxes Bazaar, Bandarban and first, some parts of Gazipur” said Sameen.

“Shooting?” asked I.

“No, just a break from shooting” said Sameen.

Saiful, Iliyas and their wives were so excited that I smiled happily. After the evening, I chatted with the whisperer by phone. He told me to be careful about the conservative people around the village. I have noted these in my diary. After we went home, I asked Maisha for the salwar kameez (the ladies cloth).  After that, I wore the pink, people around me were surprised and praising me a lot.

It was so good to wear it. The food was quite tasty. I overate it that I slept tight. It was a great day. I would never forget that. There are many things that are stored in this journey and many questions that are needed to be answered.