The works of the dynamic duo Tareque and Catherine Masud made a significant impact to the scene of cinema in Bangladesh. Throughout Tareque’s journey as a filmmaker, Catherine, as his life partner, truly shared all his dreams, philosophy, goals and above all worked with him in all his projects as a soul mate.
After the untimely departure of Tareque, Catherine, with an oath to release and finish all his unpublished and unfinished projects, is carrying the legacy of her beloved husband. Dhaka Tribune caught up with the multifaceted persona marking the occasion of the second death anniversary of Tareque Masud, one of the most dominating figures of independent film arena of the country:
Tell us about this year’s programs to commemorate Tareque Masud?
We are having a memorial programme at Tareque’s hometown Faridpur today. Faridpur was a significant reference in his films and all his creation was inspired by the area. On August 18, a day long programme will be held at the Shawkat Osman Hall of Central Public Library. The day will be observed by exhibiting Tareque’s film and screening of “Death Trapped,” a documentary by Munjurul Haque about road safety.
Have you started working on ‘Kagojer Phul,’ the last unfinished feature film project of Tareque?
We are primarily working on to collect and publish all the unrevealed works of Tareque. This is a big task since Tareque was a multitalented person. Besides working for films, he also used to write articles, plays, songs, rhymes and many more. After completing all the projects in our hands, we will be working on “Kagojer Phul” which needs full-time attention.
What projects are placed on your table currently?
We are working to digitize Tareque’s very first documentary “Adam Surat -The Inner Strength” that depicts a close picture of the life of legendary artist SM Sultan. We are also adding more footages to the film from the previous rush prints and some newly taken interviews of a few prominent cultural personalities. Tareque started the film in 1982 and completed the venture after seven years. At that time, making films was a big challenge since financial support and technological advancement were inadequate. Moreover, the film involves a lot of emotional values as Tareque was very close to SM Sultan. Sultan’s simple lifestyle, his affection to the peasants of his village and his love for the rich heritage of our culture made a strong impact on Tareque’s life. We have a target to release it on December 6 which is Tareque Masud’s birthday. We are also working on his unfinished documentary on “Hajrahati,” a village in Faridpur.
What is the next publication of Tareque Masud?
After launching of the books “Cholochitro Jatra” and “Life and Dream” last year, our next publication is the “Tareque Masud’s Chitro, Natyo O Gaanguli.” The book is about Tareque’s screen plays and the songs collected in the book are written by Tareque.
Last year a CD compiling songs written by Tareque Masud was launched. Since Tareque never disclosed himself as a lyricist in his lifetime, what is the story behind publishing his songs after his death?
Tareque told me once that he wanted to release his songs. He died, but I did not. It was my responsibility to expand his creations to the people and acknowledge his talents.
Did he possess any more hidden traits? During his childhood, Tareque use to write rhymes. His rhymes were about folk culture and rural areas. Those reflect his artistic soul and his aspirations to some aspect. Also, he was an appreciator of art and design, and used to get involved in art direction. Tareque was a very humble and down-to-earth person, he never claimed himself as a multi-talented person, which he actually was.
