From the ramp to the screen: Shela is all set for challenges

Shirin Akter Shela is best known as the winner of Miss Universe Bangladesh 2019. Sporting a red jamdani shari with a model hood of Bangladeshi rickshaws and ornaments that emulated Bengali letters, she won hearts with her national costume at the beauty pageant's final competition in the USA.  She is the first person from a Muslim-majority country in South Asia to compete for the title of Miss Universe.

Shela keeps her roots close to her heart. In February this year, she collaborated with fashion designer Tasmit Afiyat Arny and a few artists to adorn the tea stalls of TSC with bright and beautiful rickshaw paint.

She made her acting debut earlier this month with Nuhash Humayun's "Pett Kata Shaw", on Chorki.

The series is a modern anthology of supernatural stories based on Bengali folklore. The stories contain psychological and paranormal elements that explore the human condition.

"Ei Building E Meye Nishedh", the first episode of the show, featuring Shela and Shohel Mondol in the primary roles, was released on April 7.

Shela plays a petni (female ghost) in the episode, which follows Hasan (Mondol), a young man who discovers that he has a mysterious guest, while cooking fish one night.

He realises that a petni has entered his house, and he has to feed the fish to her quickly, if he does not wish to be her feast.

Shela brilliantly portrays every complex facet of the fish-eating petni's personality. Fierce and terrifying, she understands right from the off what makes the twisted and tortured soul such a monumental presence, and backs up her compelling performance with an intimidating and eerie physicality.

 From undergoing weight loss and heavy makeup to shaving off her eyebrows, Shela prepared for the role thoroughly.

"It was exciting because Nuhash bhai wanted me to break out of my glamorous image. Viewers got to see me in a surprising and different avatar, that too, in my acting debut," she explains. "I lost weight because I portrayed a starving petni, who is enticed by the smell of fish. While preparing for the show, we realised that the makeup for covering my eyebrows was not satisfactory. I figured there is no point in taking up this role if I cannot give it my hundred percent. So, I shaved off my eyebrows. I had a great time working with Nuhash bhai."

For Shela, "Pett Kata Shaw" was special because it reminded her of ghost stories she heard from her grandparents, as a child. "My grandparents are no more. I miss them very much. I worked on this show in memory of them," she shares.

Moreover, she was drawn to the script because she believes in paranormal activities.

It is rare for a newcomer to burst so confidently into acting, but Shela makes it look easy.

"I hope to choose strong roles in stories with social messages. I want to play women whom viewers can connect with," she concludes.