Marvellous and multi-talented: Mousumi Mou
Anchor and actress Mousumi Mou is the perfect example of what it means to be culturally involved. She has been involved with dancing, singing, recitation, and debating, from a young age.
"Although my parents wanted me to become a doctor, they always encouraged me and my brother to participate in cultural competitions," shares the actress, who is also the General Secretary of Prothom Alo Bondhushava.
She has participated in debate competitions at district levels. "I have never ranked second in any debate competition, except one in my entire life," says Mousumi.
She completed her Bachelor's in Physics from Eden Mohila College and Master's in the first batch of Printing and Publications from University of Dhaka, standing the first position in her final results. After completing her Bachelor's, she joined as a part-timer in events and activation, Prothom Alo.
"Even though I hosted many programmes earlier, until I did the month-long BTV Book Fair live programme in 2016, I did not consider that as anchoring," shares Mousumi. Earlier, she also hosted the BTV national debate competition in 2016, and the daily programme Shuprobhat Bangladesh.
As of now, she is the host of seven television programmes on different channels, including Lux Café live.
Mousumi will be hosting this year's T20 Cricket World Cup from the second day, she informs. "I started sports anchoring in 2019 with BPL cricket highlights," she mentions.
Later, she hosted IPL semi-finals and live shows Cricket Mania and Cricket Extra during the Bangladesh versus Sri Lanka match. "It was challenging for me to host live sports programmes; however, I gave enough time in researching on cricket, and due to my growing interest, I grasped it easily," she says.
Formerly the Vice President of Dhaka University Mime Action (DUMA), she is currently the advisor of the association. "I have earned a lot of appreciation for my mime acts," she asserts. She participated in an Inter-university competition in mime art in Dehli.
Kolkata-based Emon Mime Theatre honoured the actress with the Nari Shommanona Award. "It was during the time of #metoo movement, when among seven Indian performers I participated as a Bangladeshi contestant," asserts Mousumi. She also received the Nari Shommanona award from Pantomime movement Chattogram.
Mousumi has always been passionate about acting. She was also involved with the renowned theatre group Prachyanat for more than one year. She made her first appearance on television as an actress in Syed Salahuddin Zaki's "Agni Foshol". Her co artistes were Afzal Hossain and Yash Rohan. Later, she acted in six productions directed by Chayanika Chowdhury including "Sir Er Meye" with Abul Hayat and Manoj Pramanik. She will also be featured in Mabrur Rashid Bannah's tele fiction to be aired soon, among some other projects.
"Although I belong to theatre, I think acting is quite challenging," explains Mousumi. "The life of an anchor is very easy, while acting requires much more hard work." She will play the role of Chanchal Chowdhury's wife in Hoichoi's much anticipated original film "Boli", directed by Shankha Das Gupta. She just completed shooting for the film. "We had to shoot for 11 days, and it was challenging for me as the character I played speaks in a local dialect."
Recently, Mousumi attended a webinar arranged in the USA, where Antony Blinkton, US Secretary of State invited 11 volunteers from different countries. "I participated in the webinar representing Bangladesh, as a social activist and a Muslim volunteer," she shares. "It is a great honour, as we had to pass many stages to get selected. We are looking forward to visiting the USA in-person soon for more projects."