Remembering Salman Shah

With Sohanur Rahman Sohan's 1993 film “Keyamat Theke Keyamat” (a remake of the 1988 Bollywood flick “Qayamat se Qayamat Tak”), Bangladeshi filmdom got a new lease of life. Two stars were born: Salman Shah and Moushumi. Shahriar Chowdhury Imon, who went by the screen name Salman Shah, changed the typical image of a Bangladeshi film actor.

It wasn't long till he turned into a heartthrob of the youth. But tragedy struck before he could take his career to the heights he promised. On this day in 1996 (September 6), he was found hanging from the ceiling of his bedroom, at the mere age of 25. Not too many incidents had stirred Bangladesh's entertainment industry quite the way Salman Shah's demise did at the time, with even incidents reported of his fans killing themselves, unable to bear the loss of their hero. 

On his 20th death anniversary, two of his co-stars shared memories of Salman with The Daily Star: 

Tanvin Sweety

I only got to work with him once, in a TV play titled “Swopner Prithibi”. He later did a film with the same title. I remember the play was shot in Dhaka. At first I thought he would be a pompous man, but was surprised by how much of a big-hearted person he was. He would call me 'madam'. I asked him not to, to which he replied that it is the norm in the film industry. He was a fantastic co-artiste. In that short span I caught a glimpse of his greatness. We still miss him dearly.

Tamalika Karmaker 

The world knew him as Salman Shah, but to me he was Imon. He was a childhood family friend of mine, and we have countless memories. I can never forget him. We worked in a TV drama called “Noyon”. Shomi Kaiser was also in it. I also did a film with him, titled “Ei Ghor Ei Shongsar”, which became quite a hit. Salman didn't live very long, but in that short span he gave this industry a lot, and he will live on through his works.