Kazi Morshed on his National Award-winning film “Ghani”

National Awards for the last four years have been announced recently. In terms of a film winning multiple National Awards, Kazi Morshed's movie Ghani has made a new record. The film has won 13 awards in 12 categories for the year 2006. Ghani had to compete with internationally acclaimed films such as Nirantor, Swapnodanay and Antorjatra.Ghani won awards for best film, best director (Kazi Morshed), best music director (Sheikh Sadi Khan), best actor (Arman Parvez Murad), best actress (Naznin Hasan Chumki), best supporting actor (jointly Masum Aziz and Raisul Islam Asad), best supporting actress (Dolly Zahur), best storywriter (Kazi Morshed), best screenplay (Kazi Morshed), best dialogue (Kazi Morshed) and best editing (Saiful Islam). What's the reason behind this massive success? "Teamwork and dedication are needed if you want to make a quality movie. While making the film, we used to sit together after completing shooting each day and planned the next shot. A realistic view of rural Bangladesh has been portrayed in the film," said Kazi Morshed.Morshed alone has won four awards. According to him, "After watching an interview of a kolu (an individual who makes oil) on a private TV channel, who was getting ready for his fourth marriage, I got the idea to make the movie. The kolu told the reporter that he needed money to buy a bull for crushing grains, but marrying a woman who would do the labour of a bull, would cost him nothing.""The interview left a profound impact on me. Eager to make the movie, I went to Ghatail, Tangail to learn more about the kolu community. I stayed a few days with 19 kolu families in the area and found that only one family has a bull to crush grains. Women and family members do the backbreaking work, which is also hazardous for their lungs. I developed the story for the movie and submitted it for government grants. Subsequently it got the grant," he added.Ghani is Morshed's seventh feature film. Previously, he won a national award for the screenplay for his debut film Shantona (1991). Subsequently, he made five films that were not up to the mark. Morshed said, "I had to make compromises and make substandard commercial films as it is my source of bread and butter.""But, I won't make compromises with my artistic sense any more," added Morshed.Morshed started off with working as an assistant to renowned directors in the 1970s. Subsequently he joined Bangladesh Betar as a programme producer. Later he returned to the film industry and worked as an assist to filmmaker Amzad Hossain. Under his guidance Kazi Morshed learnt filmmaking.