Partho’s cricketing dreams transform into a filmy one
With nuanced roles and a remarkable presence, Partho Sheikh made himself relevant not just in the OTT arena, but more recently, on television as well. His performances in Syed Ahmed Shawki's web-series "Karagar" (2022) and Shafayet Mansoor Rana's web-series "Odrishshyo" (2023) earned him acclaim. Recently, he was featured in "Prem Kabbo", directed by Rubel Anush.
During an exclusive photoshoot and adda with The Daily Star, Partho talked about his acting and directorial journey while also spilling some beans on upcoming projects.
Initially, he dreamt of becoming a cricketer and was on the path to becoming one. He was a part of the Bangladesh National Under-16 team, and after playing for a couple of years, he fell victim to a severe spinal injury, which extinguished his dream. "Life had other plans for me, thus, on a rainy evening in 2017 after completing practice in Dhanmondi's Abahani field, my interest in becoming an actor found a way."
Two of his friends told him that they were going to audition for a TVC directed by Amitabh Reza Chowdhury the next morning. Partho, being curious, asked if the audition was open-for-all. "I just auditioned out of curiosity; however, I got a small role in that commercial," he asserted.
After two years of working in commercials, it was time for a level-up. It was when Partho started to look for roles in the television industry for fiction. "My first work was released in 2022. It was a series called 'BnG' for the platform Bongo. It was directed by Polash Nizam. The same year I was featured in 'Karagar'."
Referring to himself as a bookworm, Partho shared that before he started acting, he had read a lot of acting-related books. "From reading books authored by Russian theatre practitioner Konstantin Stanislavski, American actress and acting coach Stella Adler, American actor Sanford Meisner, to Russian-American actor and director Michael Chekhov, I read many of them."
These books gave him the idea that acting in theatre isn't the same as doing it in front of the camera.
"Camera acting means simplicity without a lack of emotional energy in the character and doing it dynamically. You cannot do anything extra since the camera documents every bit, and you shouldn't be doing anything extra unless the character demands it!"
The artiste also attended classes with the theatre group Prachyanat. "During this time, I was thinking that I would just work on OTT projects, and TVCs, however, the reality is that after a certain period, I wasn't getting enough calls for either of them."
To sustain himself in the media industry he worked on Daekho TV and Idiot Box, and at the same time, he was bearing the sorrow of getting rejections from both television and commercials. It was then that he reinvented himself as a director sometime after joining Qinetic Music, under the guidance of Sharaf Nafees Nazaar. "It was Nafees bhai who made me direct and act in the projects made under the company." Partho has been working as the creative lead of Qinetic Music for four years now. He directed the music videos for the songs "Beni Khuley", "Jhumka", "Preme Dewana", and recently, "Bamey Daney".
Partho believes working in television more often will grow his audience. "'Prem Kabbo' brought quite a great response, people are noticing my work, and they now realise that this guy can act, and has a good voice as well," he added. "For an actor, luck is very important, clicking the right project at the right time is very important, and I'm waiting for it."
Director Partho has recently made his directorial debut with a commercial to be released on Eid. He aims to continue his passion for acting and direction as well. "I am in talks with two projects for Chorki, a film by Siddiq Ahamed, and another series by Arifur Rahman."
Partho concluded the interview, sharing that he has completed shooting for a silver-screen project, titled, "Banan", directed by Enamul Karim Nirjhar. "Although it is a small role, I absolutely enjoyed working with the team and especially the director."