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Down memory lane

"TV plays should deal with contemporary reality"

-- Atiqul Haque Chowdhury

ERSHAD KAMOL
PROMINENT TV play director Atiqul Haque Chowdhury has chosen to adopt a low profile for the last nine months due to ill health. However, his TV serial Dr Mahataber Swapno, made earlier, is airing on Channel-i. Recently, Atiq took time to speak to The Daily Star about his life and times. Excerpts:
What is your impression about current plays telecast from different private channels? Atiq has a ready answer: "Some are really good, some tolerable, others not worth viewing at all. I admit there may be romantic and witty plays but they should depict real life in a reasonable and acceptable manner. Some of our young writers and directors are successful in bringing a touch of reality to our current TV plays."
However, Atiq bemoans the growing
commercialisation of package plays and the tendency of a few profit-earning sponsors to treat TV plays purely as a source of entertainment or an industry. As he says: "I believe TV plays should deal with people and their ideas. There should be a naturalistic touch and internal conflicts of characters should come to the fore. TV plays should deal with contemporary reality; at the same time the message should have a universal and poetic quality. I strongly feel that if there is a crisis of scripts, more plays based on the classics of world literature should be made."
Atiq certainly practices what he preaches -with good results. For his contribution in TV plays Atiq got the Best TV Producer Award in 1976. Moreover, he has twice over been the recipient of the Sequence of Merit Award provided by the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy. He has also received an honorary
Doctorate degree provided by New Delhi-based World Development Council in 1990 for his contribution to TV plays. Atiq is also a prominent TV playwright. He delves into subjects such as romance, society, politics and family relationships. Atiq says, "The aim of TV plays should be an authentic portrayal of life. The interrelationship between human beings, political ideology or philosophy, in fact the whole society, should come forth in TV plays."
Atiq is full of praise for the package drama trend in Bangladesh. He says, "Package drama was introduced in Bangladesh Television and I was the first director of a play. Following the introduction of package drama, many talented playwrights, directors, artistes and technical crews have had the opportunity to prove their talent."
Atiq has had a long and distinguished career. He began as a producer at the Pakistan radio in the early 1960s. From then on he has produced hundreds of radio plays. Of those Srikanto, Shesher Kabita, Pather Dabi and others have gained popularity. Atiq says, "Many prominent drama personalities of the country like Abdullah Al Mamun, Ferdausi Majumdar, Khalil and others were introduced as radio drama artistes in the plays produced by me."
Later in 1967, Atiq joined the then Pakistan Television. Till 1997, Atiq had been regular in producing, writing and directing television plays. In this role he has earned recognition as the 'promoter of TV stars'. Atiq says, "Artistes Abul Hayat, Humayun Faridy, Shampa Reza and others were introduced in TV plays produced by me."
Adds Atiq, "If it is a quality play, the artistes get the scope to express their talent under the guidance of a good director. In fact, it is the director who creates artistes. In the early 1980s, TV plays were based on one or two characters. The directors as well as the artistes had plenty of time for teamwork, which is very important for a quality play. That is why the artistes got tremendous exposure, which is very rare these days--even though many plays are being aired in a range of TV channels. Nevertheless, I believe that there are still many latent talents in our country."