I had my eyes on Cannes while making Maa: Aranyo Anawer

Director Aranyo Anawer's first film 'Maa' is being discussed for many reasons, Pori Moni's performance in it being one of them. But more importantly, the film was screened at the 76th Cannes Film Festival in France before its release in Bangladesh. 

The director went to the prestigious film festival for the film's screening, and naturally drew a lot of attention upon himself. Bangladeshi films are not often screened at Cannes. This marks the first time that a film was officially sent to the Cannes Film Festival under the management of the Bangladesh Film Development Authority. 

"In addition to Bangladeshi expats in France, most of those who watched it were film students from different countries. They expressed their enthusiasm. They learned about Bangladesh through this film, and that such films are made in Bangladesh. They expressed all this in my presence, which increased my enthusiasm greatly," Aranyo said.

Before directing films, Aranyo used to be a popular television director. He directed 20 serial dramas and more than 100 single-episode dramas. 

His first drama was in 1998, called 'Ekhane Attar Pawa Jay', which aired on Channel I. Around the same time, another drama under his direction named 'Janma' aired on Ekushey Television. Following the success of these dramas, Aranyo did not focus on anything else for some time, before moving to films eventually.

"I have no desire to direct dramas now, except for Eid or special days. I want to spend the rest of my life with films," Aranyo said.

The director thinks that after the screening of Abdullah Mohammad Saad's 'Rehena Maryam Noor' at Cannes in 2021, his film was able to take Bangladeshi cinema up a notch. 

"I was assuming while making the film that it would be screened at the Cannes Film Festival and fortunately, it did. This means my plans for the film were implemented properly. This recognition in the international arena is – in a word – a wonderful thing," he said.

The director returned to the country after the festival in an elated mood. "I came back happy from Cannes. This will never fade away, because it was my first film. This will help me in my future endeavours."

Maa is being screened at Sony Square and BlockBuster Cinemas in the capital presently. Audiences are crowding both theatres to watch the film. 

"The audience cried after watching the film," Aranyo said. "All my efforts for the film paid off."

"What more can a director ask for? A film becomes art only if it can touch the emotions of the viewer," he thinks.

In the meantime, Aranyo has already completed filming his second film named 'Haor'. 

"This is exactly the opposite of emotional stories. There is some emotion here, but its context is very different," he said.

Aranya began his career in journalism before becoming a director, working at 'Ajker Kagoj', following stints at 'Bola Na Bola', 'Priyajan', 'Shaili', 'Bhorer Kagoj'.