Remembering Humayun Sadhu
Khandakar Mohammad Humayun Kabir, popularly known as Humayun Sadhu, the versatile director-actor-writer, breathed his last at Square Hospital at 12:30 am on October 25, at the age of 37. He was born in Agrabad, Chattogram. On September 29, Humayun Sadhu suffered from a brain stroke, after which he was admitted to the Bangladesh Specialised Hospital in Dhaka. He was supposed to fly abroad for a brain surgery on October 22. Unfortunately, on the night of October 20, Sadhu had his second brain stroke, for which he was immediately admitted to Square Hospital. He had been on life support at the ICU ever since.
Sadhu was the seventh amongst nine children. From an early age, he had been interested in cinema and music. While a student in Chattogram, he would anonymously send write-ups to different newspapers.
His love for films led him to become a member of the Chattogram Film Centre in the year 2000, where he met television director Ashfaque Nipun for the first time. In the same year, internationally acclaimed filmmaker Mostafa Sarwar Farooki and celebrated writer Anisul Haque had held a script writing and filmmaking workshop at the centre which was attended by many eager aspiring filmmakers, including both Sadhu and Nipun.
“A seven-day short film festival was held at the Chattogram Shilpakala Academy, where films were shown from 10 am to 8 pm, every day,” says Nipun. “These festivals were very unusual in divisional regions, which is why the shows would hardly ever have any audience. But when I had entered the hall to watch a movie, I discovered that the only other audience member sitting next to me was Humayun Sadhu. In fact, we were the only two who actually watched all the shows in the festival! We met again in 2005 while shooting for Farooki bhai’s second feature film Made in Bangladesh, where we worked as assistants.”
In 2003, Sadhu moved to Dhaka without informing his family, but eventually returned after a brief meeting with Mostafa Sarwar Farooki. In 2006, Sadhu permanently came to Dhaka and began to live at the Chabial house with the Bhai-brothers – a named which was coined for Mostafa Sarwar Farooki’s team. In fact, it was while living with the brothers that he got his name ‘Sadhu’. Director Saraf Ahmed Jibon gave him the title ‘Sadhu’, which eventually turned into his name.
In the Chabial house, he shared a room with directors Redoan Rony and Iftekhar Ahmed Fahmi. “At the beginning, I was not very easy with him,” remembers Rony. “It was obviously for the competition that I felt! However, we had to interact with each other on a daily basis, and from there our bond grew strong and we became really good friends. What I loved about him were his sarcastic and witty comments! He managed to charm us all within a short time.”
Humayun Sadhu is most remembered for Unomanush, a TV-fiction which was helmed by Farooki, based on Sadhu’s life. The story, which also starred Nusrat Imrose Tisha and some of the brothers as well, was developed through a brainstorming session inside the Chabial house with Sadhu himself.
Sadhu had worked both on screen and behind the camera. His first directed fiction Dorshon, was aired in 2012. He had directed a short film for BBC Media Action in 2013, called Homo-sapiens. He also directed the telefilms Schizophrenia and Omanushik. He was featured in Redoan Rony’s film Chorabali, in a television series Saat Bhai Champa, a fiction Adorsholipi amongst others. He had also worked in Ashfaque Nipun’s Shunte ki pao and Pother majher golpo.
In a workshop at the British Council, under Catherine Masud’s guidance, Sadhu made a short film titled, God Vs God. Interestingly, an Indian girl liked the short film and contacted Sadhu. Later on, they met in Mumbai. According to Sadhu in an interview, he felt that the meeting probably did not go very well for the girl as expected. That meeting was made into a TV-fiction called Chikon Piner Charger, and was featured in the Chabial Eid Reunion in 2017.
Humayun Sadhu’s first book Nonai, published by Boibhab Publishers, was released this year at the Ekushey Boi Mela.
Ashfaque Nipun remembers the last few days he spent with Humayun Sadhu. “After the first brain stroke, when he was admitted to Bangladesh Specialised Hospital, he could not speak clearly,” he says. “However, I could understand his half formed words and sentences. We would also chat with each other online. One night, I and Sadhu’s nephew Miraj took him to the rooftop of the hospital in a wheelchair. Sadhu was so excited that the only word that he could scream out was ‘Yes!’”
Sadhu was very passionate about his identity and his country. While at the hospital, he did not miss the much talked about World Cup qualifier football match between India and Bangladesh. “He was the most excited and the happiest when Bangladesh made the first goal against India!” remembers Nipun. “He would not let go of the remote control.”
Humayun Sadhu was buried yesterday after Asr prayers, at the graveyard near the Rahim Metal Mosque in Tejgaon, Dhaka. His first and second janazah was held at the mosque after Jummah and Asr prayers. The prayers were attended by family members, his bhai brothers and a host of admirers and friends.
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