Roni Bhowmik has received enormous acclaim through his directorial debut ‘Mridha Bonam Mridha’. His recently released short film ‘Chakrakar’ has brought him to light again. Roni spoke to Dhaka Tribune and shared his experience of shooting with smartphone-
- How was your experience with ‘Chakrakar’?
Roni Bhowmik: I have worked a lot in TVCs. However, every director has this interesting stimulus of telling a story. I worked with vivo previously. This time, vivo informed me that they would make a short film of similar sort in 5-7 countries with X80. The short film had to be shot with X80. So, I had this thought that I did traditional filmmaking quite a lot, but did not work with a smartphone. It seemed interesting. Therefore, I signed up for it.
- How was your experience of working with Afsana Mimi? Please tell us something about the casting-
Roni Bhowmik: When I came to know about the story, I felt Afsana Mimi apu would be apt to play the character of the mother. And, Mimi apu had this confidence upon me perhaps after ‘Mridha Bonam Mridha’. The entire ‘Chakrakar’ team was phenomenal. We in fact, worked at 4.30 in the morning and every one of our unit including Mimi apu has accepted it wholeheartedly. Every team member had this desire to do something new. Nova is my producer. Then, I must mention Nirjhar, Towhid, Shojol, our art director Shahidul.
- Many smartphone brands claim that it is possible to shoot professionally with their smartphone cameras. How was your experience with X80?
Roni Bhowmik: After all, we must keep pace with new technologies. We cannot use traditional camera in every circumstance. However, smartphone cameras can be utilized even in the most adverse situation. Suppose, I am at Cox’s Bazar and it is raining. In this situation, I cannot resort to a professional camera. But, you can capture the rain with a smartphone easily.
- Many youths are trying to make contents with smartphones. How will contents made with smartphones impact the industry?
Roni Bhowmik: Well, smartphone-made contents will inarguably revolutionize the entertainment industry. It will help expand the content platforms.
- What is your suggestion for the young filmmakers?
Roni Bhowmik: I want to tell them that, if you have a story then pluck up the courage and go ahead with it. If the work is good, people will accept whether it is made with DSLR or smartphone. However, we must ensure proper utilization of technology. I hope this never happens that, X80 had interesting features that we could experiment with, but we did not.
