from August 31, 2005

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Farhad Hossain of Chicago Bioscope

Farhad Hossain’s independent feature “Za Thake Kopale” (“The Fate”) could be his ticket to producing a 52-episode TV series here next year.

Hossain, who runs the production company Chicago Bioscope, is in talks with three TV stations in his native Bangladesh to broadcast “The Fate.”

If all goes as planned, some or all of the stations will finance Hossain’s family drama series “I Am Going to Win” for Bangladeshi broadcast.

“They’ve already approved the script and the cast,” Hossain said. “Once they’ve broadcast ‘The Fate,’ they’ll pay me for that, and they’ll pay to produce the series.”

Hossain produced Asif Khan's shorts "To My Mother" and "Kankal" ("The Skeleton"), an adaptation of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore's short story, which were broadcast on Channel I.

Salma Rosey and Bobby Zaman star in “The Fate”

He’s self-financing the tiny budget for “The Fate,” a comedy about three unemployed Bangladeshi immigrants who hatch an ill-conceived bank heist scheme. He’s shooting the 72-minute film in a whirlwind week in late August/early September. “My locations are very limited,” Hossain explained. “Fifty percent of the work is in one location.”

The cast of “The Fate” features ShakespeareInc Theatre founder Bobby Zaman, STV New York satellite channel founder Al Mansoor, and Bangladeshi TV actors including Hossain’s wife, Salma Rosey, as well as S.K. Mukit, Swadhin Khosru and Mahfuz Ahmed.

Crew includes editor Asif Khan, composer Kamran Khan, production designer Darpan Joshi, and production consultant Anthony Collamati, IFP/Chicago 2004 production fund winner for his short “The Apologies.” Hossain is still hiring cast and crew.

The TV series “I Am Going to Win” is an ensemble family drama written by Bollywood filmmaker Shubhas Sehgal. Hossain hopes to carry over much of the crew from “The Fate.” “I want to form a team and keep working with them. Next time they will be paid,” he promised.

Hossain plans to shoot “I Am Going to Win” for just a few thousand dollars an episode, a standard Bangladeshi budget but one he’ll obviously have to stretch for Chicago production. Again, controlled locations are the key: “It’s mostly set in family and friends’ houses, with a few scenes at a University,” he said.

Hossain is also developing a feature adaptation of Zakaria Swapon’s novel “Twin Tower.”

Call 773/575-4296 or see www.chicagobioscope.com. —Ed M. Koziarski

Ed M. Koziarski is co-director of the feature film “The First Breath of Tengan Rei”. Email:

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