A toned down Eid season for television?
As Eid-Ul-Azha is just around the corner, TV buffs and families are planning to spend the Eid holidays all curled up in front of the television. However, a strict lockdown at the time of the industry's peak working hours for Eid productions has led to impediments for cast and crew members, resulting in a rather low-key Eid season.
Many popular actors decided not to act in Eid specials this year, after seeing the recent increase in Covid-19 cases and deaths.
Mosharraf Karim is known to be a part of 25 to 30 television projects during Eid. However, he will be featured in fewer projects than usual on this year's Eid-Ul-Azha, owing to the pandemic.
Zahid Hasan has starred in and directed many Eid television projects in his career. Under these unprecedented circumstances, he will be seen in just around eight Eid special shows.
Chanchal Chowdhury has captivated viewers for years with his brilliance and versatility on the theatre stage, television, and silver screen. "This is an unusual Eid for us. We will not be releasing as many Eid shows as we generally do, since we are battling a health crisis," says the actor. "Nonetheless, I am happy with the work that I was able to do." Chowdhury will star in an eight-episode Eid special series titled, Mogol Family. He is also set to appear in OTT platform Chorki's anthology series, Unoloukik, among other projects.
Apurba, one of the most prolific artistes of the country, is known to star in ten to twelve tele-fictions during Eid. Fans of the actor will be glad to know that he has many Eid releases lined up this time too. "Eid is a time of celebration, and we wish to celebrate through good work on television. We have put sincere efforts into presenting brilliant stories for our audiences," he says.
The ever hardworking Afran Nisho will star in Mizanur Rahman Aryan's Hello Shunchhen?, alongside Tanjin Tisha. Aryan also wrote the screenplay for the project, with a story by young writer Rashat Rahman Zico. Hello Shunchhen will be released on CMV's YouTube channel on Eid-Ul-Azha. Nisho is also gearing up for the release of Shihab Shaheen's series, Morichika, on Chorki.
Mehazabien is known to be one of the busiest artistes, especially during the Eid season. She is set to star in the Eid special tele-fiction, Mr and Mrs Chapabaaz Unlimited, among other projects. Popular actor Shajal, on the other hand, has only worked on five to six Eid specials this time.
"I am usually very busy around the time of Eid. But this time, things have been different, to say the least. Since the start of the lockdown, I have not gone out to shoot at all," shares noted actor Fazlur Rahman Babu. "Prabir Roy's Baba Tomake Bhalobashi was the last project I worked on, before the lockdown was enforced."
Although Covid-19 and its restrictions have been taking a heavy toll on television shows, one hopes that the forthcoming Eid will not be entirely dull for viewers.
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Translated by Shababa Iqbal