"Never thought the kaffara would be so terrible"

Ever since stepping down from his role as the Cultural Affairs Adviser to the interim government, the country's renowned filmmaker and advertisement director, Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, has been facing intense discussions and severe negative criticism across various circles, including social media. Recently, amid nationwide rumors and propaganda surrounding the filmmaker during his visit to Australia, he has finally broken his long silence.

On Sunday morning (June 7), he posted a long and emotional status on his verified Facebook account, unequivocally clarifying his stance on accepting the government role, the subsequent situation that arose, his professional integrity spanning over two decades, and allegations regarding business ties with the outgoing Awami League government.

Describing the ongoing situation as an unwanted crisis on social media, he expressed deep resentment and regret. At the same time, he reaffirmed his commitment to standing by ordinary people in any future national crisis, just as he has done in the past.

In his Facebook post, Mostofa Sarwar Farooki mentioned that he took the risk of joining the interim government as an adviser with the sole intention of doing something good during a crucial and transitional period for the country. However, paying such a heavy personal and social price for doing public welfare work was completely beyond his imagination.

Expressing his feelings, he wrote that he entered the administration knowing the absolute truth that a certain "Kaffara" (penance/price) has to be paid for every good deed. However, he never imagined the kind of ugly and well-organized propaganda that would be unleashed against him after leaving office.

Farooki used very strong language to counter the criticism and negative comments directed at him by various quarters.

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He stated that comments are currently being made about him by certain individuals or groups with whom he has never had even the slightest level of connection, whether personal or professional.

In his words, these individuals were never part of his or contemporary progressive society's intellectual "syllabus," and their names were never even mentioned in casual indoor chats. When mainstream journalists constantly call him to get his reaction based on the comments of these individuals—who are completely irrelevant to the contemporary social and cultural arena—he finds the entire matter deeply embarrassing. He labeled it as a harsh penalty or "kaffara" for becoming an adviser.

However, he firmly asserted that this collective malice and well-planned propaganda against him actually prove that he was on the right track during his brief tenure as an adviser and successfully fulfilled his assigned responsibilities.

Clarification on Career and Financial Success
Amid the ongoing controversies, the filmmaker also provided a very specific and detailed explanation regarding various questions raised about the economic and professional sources of his long career.

Farooki made it clear that 100% of his entertainment and advertising career relies on private organizations and independent corporate brands. He reached his current position by establishing his own signature and distinct style of direction in television dramas and advertising agencies. Whatever social or financial achievements he has made are entirely the result of the love of ordinary viewers. At no stage in his career did he have to rub hands or knock on the doors of any political party or government to secure work; rather, he changed the dynamics of the country's audio-visual industry through his own creative work.

Dismissing the rumors of business relations with the previous Awami League government as completely baseless, Farooki said that neither during the tenure of the past government nor at any point in his career did his company have any regular or profitable commercial relationship with any government. This is because bureaucratic or government work does not align with his institutional policies. In a professional career spanning more than twenty years, the two or three government projects his company did execute (such as the Air Force's 'Onirban', and a few projects for the Navy and VAT awareness) were co-directed by filmmaker Kibria. These very limited projects were undertaken only upon special requests from the respective government agencies, accounting for less than one percent (1%) of the total work in his entire career.

Mentioning that major advertising agencies were always somewhat uncomfortable giving him work due to his stubborn, uncompromising, and rebellious nature in the advertising industry, he shared that he doubts if he has done even 5 projects with top agencies in 20 years, whereas his contemporary filmmakers might have done hundreds. Despite these adversities, he survived on his own individuality, solely due to the deep trust of a few top-tier brands and by proving the utility or "talkability" of his work to the audience. Consequently, his career was never built on any specific agency syndicate or political patronage.

Ideological Stance
Concluding his status, the former Cultural Affairs Adviser clarified his political and social ideological stance, stating that he has always stood up for the rights of ordinary people during any national and historical moment of crisis.

Citing examples, he said that if he had been born or alive during Bangladesh's glorious Liberation War, he would have certainly stood on the side of the working-class people. Similarly, during the historic July Revolution of 2024 and the student-led mass uprising, he spoke out on the streets and on social media against fascism and in favor of the oppressed people without any personal calculations.

He considers it highly annoying to waste his valuable time responding to such baseless and motivated propaganda.

Criticizing those spreading malice on social media, he angrily stated that he had to spend or "waste" some of his highly valuable time giving "Sadakah" (charity) by replying to the propaganda spread by a few brainless and narrow-minded people. Following Farooki's lengthy and detailed self-defense, a new storm of debate has erupted across digital platforms; while one section of conscious netizens has applauded his honest and courageous statement, another section continues to criticize his political stance on social media.