A S Mahmud - The man who dreamed

1988. Bangladesh Short Film Forum was working hard to organise the first short film festival in the country. Filmmaker Alamgir Kabir, Tanvir Mokammel and I were running to various places to collect fund for the festival. Alamgir Kabir was the president of the festival committee while Tanvir Mokammel was the convener of the finance sub-committee. Tareque Masud, the secretary of the festival committee, remained so busy that he never got involved in the financial matters of the committee. Film director Salahuddin Zaki referred us to Sayeed Chowdhury, a businessman. Similarly, Sayeed Ahmed, a former secretary and dramatist, sent us to Late A S Mahmud who was then serving as one of the directors of Transcom Group. We went to his office and immediately met him. He was so polite that he stood up from his seat to shake hands with us. When we told him we needed financial assistance for arranging the film festival, he instantly met our request. We stayed at his office for about an hour and discussed many things. We were surprised at his knowledge on films which was rare even among the people involved in filmmaking. 

We made some special invitation cards for eminent personalities which we provided to them prior to the festival. We sent invitation cards to all our sponsors including the Transcom Group. During the film festival I had to stay at the venue from morning till night. I noticed that a lady was coming regularly to watch the films. One day S A Mahmud accompanied her. Later I learnt that she was the wife of A S Mahmud. 

After the end of the festival, our contact with A S Mahmud never ceased. He came to the premiere show of one of my short films titled Dhushor Jatra. After that, I lost contact with him for some time. But in 1996, when he was planning to establish a private TV channel, our contact was restored. Then I met his son Farhad Mahmud and became close to him. Together we have produced several works. 

A S Mahmud played a pioneering role in founding The Daily Star. He was the publisher and manager of the newspaper. The Daily Star has been widely recognised for providing quality news. A S Mahmud was a dreamer. He was the Chairman and CEO of Ekushey TV, which was his last venture in life.  

Everyone knows that Ekushey TV caused a stir in the media world. The audience was able to view something new in both news as well as other shows. Several journalists who started their careers with Ekushey TV are now heading the news section of other major telvision channels. Shows like Desh Jure and Mukto Khobor created a new vision of how news programmes should be. Many established dramatists and directors started their professional journey with Ekushey TV. Even if some of them started their careers elsewhere, they flourished after joining Ekushey. 

The news and programme division of Ekushey TV was headed by Simon Dring, Mishuk Munier and Nawazish Ali Khan. It was possible to bring together such a team only because A S Mahmud was the chairman and CEO of the channel; under his leadership, this team was able to do constructive and creative work. 

Imbued with the spirit of the Language Movement and the Liberation War, A S Mahmud named his television channel 'Ekushey.' Not only its name, but also the shows of the channels echoed the spirit of our Language Movement and the Liberation War. 

A S Mahmud was a symbol of politeness and gentleness. I doubt that we will be able to find a single person who was hurt by his words or behaviour. No matter where they are now, his team at Ekushey continue to remember him with respect. I still remember when the security staff of Ekushey scrambled to make space for him in the front of the queue waiting for the lift. Instead of standing in the front, he joined the end of the line, waiting for his turn. This, apparently, was a regular scene. I also recall another day in 1993, when he asked me to visit his office in the afternoon so that he could introduce me to his two sons. After I reached the office of Transcom in Motijheel, he said that we would be lunching at Purbani Hotel where he had called Imran and Farhan Mahmud. When I approached his car after work, he himself opened the door of the car for me. I was moved by this gesture of respect he bestowed upon an ordinary young guest like me. 

With a somewhat heavy heart, A S Mahmud left all of us on January 22, 2004. We all know about the events surrounding Ekushey. Does that mean he was a failure? No. He wasn't a failure. His ideals and dreams, him team and their creativity, all of it has spread over a wider canvas today. Eksuhey Television was shut down, but it was not possible to shut down Ekushey and its staff's excellence, creativity and ideals. 

The writer is a film director. Email: abusayeed2007@gmail.com  
Translated by Editorial Team, The Daily Star