Bubly's take on the king

Starting with Bossgiri, you have paired up with Shakib Khan in five movies till now. How well have you known each other throughout this journey?

Ours is a three-year long journey of togetherness.  Walking through this trail, Shakib Khan's performances have always reminded me of how fine an actor he is. Shakib Khan is a superstar indeed; but he is also an admirable co-star, anyone would love to work with. It makes me feel immensely proud to have a superstar like him in our country, all to ourselves.  Rajjak Uncle, Salman Shah are some of the few names that come to mind when talking about the superstars of the Bangladesh Film Industry. Having Shakib Khan's name in that list is a matter of glory, an absolute delight. He represents our country worldwide and this quality of Shakib mesmerizes me the most.

How much do you think you've learned under Shakib's mentorship?

We started together with Bossgiri and I have learned a lot from him. Undoubtedly, Shakib Khan is my acting guru and I am his obedient disciple. I stepped into the industry holding his hands and shared my first on-screen space with him. It is none other than Shakib Khan who has helped me polish my acting skills as a tutor, a curator. Even when shooting for scenes, when I struggle with delivering my dialogues, he is the one who comes to my rescue. He taught me everything personally, giving close attention. An actor of his stature putting such efforts on me is truly enchanting. Shakib puts a lot of thought behind making a praise-worthy movie. I am fortunate to have him beside me in this journey.

What were your first words to him once you stood in front of the camera together for the first time?

The first day of our shoot together was a nightmare, as the scene demanded my character to salp him on the face! Do you even have the slightest idea of what I was going through? As the shooting date approached closer, my apprehension increased. How am I going to do it? How will he take it? What if he gets hurt and rebukes me for this afterwards? Numerous questions like these occupied my mind. I tried convincing my director for a way out while he kept on persuading me with words like – it's just acting. On the floor, upon understanding my nervousness and hesitation, Shakib Khan came forward. With his words he made me feel comfortable at last, and when we were done with the scene he even praised me for my determination. That's when I felt relaxed – upon realizing that I was in good hands. 

Describe Shakib Khan as an on-screen romantic hero.

When we act as lovers in front of the camera, we totally get into the character. Thus, we perform as per the essence of the role and the heat of the moment. There is one thing that I have noticed carefully about Shakib: when he stands in front of the camera, he totally lives up to his character. We have many romantic songs together where it seems like he is quite enjoying the romantic experience in a lively way.

How would you describe Shakib Khan as a person beyond his reel life?

To be a good artist one has to be a good person first. I truly admire and respect the real-life Shakib Khan. His on-screen fame and success are of course the rewards of the kind and generous person that he is in his real life. Both being introverts, indulging in after-shoot chitchats are not so common between us. On the sets, while one of us shoots, the other works on improvising their dialogues.

We have heard that you have taken charge of all Shakib's costumes for movies. Tell us more about it.

It started back with our first movie Bossgiri. There's a fun story behind this practice of ours. Since our costumes are specially designed by expert hands, I was explaining the colour and design of my attire to the designer. This at once grabbed Shakib's attention who, after carefully paying heed to the instructions I was giving my designer, suddenly asked, "Bubly, which colour do you think would go with this outfit?" to which I replied, "You know it better!" He promptly responded saying, "As we are co-workers, let this be a combined choice of ours." Since then, we decide on our dresses together. From the very beginning till Captain Khan, our compatibility and understanding regarding this has been outstanding.

Has he ever complemented you praising your beauty or admiring your skills?

Not in the way you say it, but while shooting for movies he praises my dance moves as well as my action moves in fight scenes. He encourages me a great deal. I must share that my performance in the song Dil Dil from Bossgiri, had left him in awe. I got just a single day to prepare for the song and yet, despite being my first dance performance ever, he was amazed to see my dance moves and the way I was grooving. My first ever dance performance garnered much appreciation from him. He also said, "I didn't have the slightest idea that you'll dance so well."

Rumours of you and Shakib Khan being together is up in the air for a long time now; some say you are about to get married soon. Mind shedding some lights on these gossips?

All these rumours make me feel we're indeed a very popular couple, on-screen. What more would an actor ask for? People have always tried to find a cosmic connection between famous on-screen pairs. The chemistry of the evergreen pairs like Uttam Kumar- Suchita Sen have also faced such speculations. Doing a number of movies consecutively with Shakib Khan has probably given rise to such speculations.

You've been really close to Shakib Khan for a while now. Please tell us what the superstar loves to eat.

Shakib Khan is very conscious about his food habits. As I have noticed, he prefers home cooked food most of the time. When having food from the set, he mostly likes boiled food and vegetables.

Have you ever treated Shakib Khan with home-made food from your kitchen?

Yes, many times. He has a true love for food.

Has Shakib Khan's favourite heroine ever cooked his favourite food, all by herself?

I cooked Biriyani for him. Other than this, he loves fish so I cooked different kinds of fish for him and sent them to his place. Beef is his favourite too. Its not always possible to cook and bring food for him amidst the busy schedule. But I try to when I get the time to cook. He's very choosy when it comes to food.

As a co-star, how would you rate Shakib Khan on a scale of 10?

I neither have the capacity nor the audacity to do so. It will be an act of impudence. I don't even want to rate him but all I can say is "he's a whale in the sea."

Tell us about some of his best qualities.

Besides being an excellent actor, he is a soft-hearted human being with a keen sense of responsibility. He looks like an angry young man but Shakib Khan, in real life, is full of kindness and generosity. He is hard-working and leaves no stones unturned to come up with a good piece of work. He's a very religious and pious person as well.

Do you feel agitated when you see him getting intimate with other female actors on screen?

He is an actor, a superstar. His profession demands him to get along with diverse people for the sake of his performance, his career. I have never developed any hard feeling regarding this. This is how the world of acting works and being an actor there's no reason for me to get angry or anxious about the issue.

Does Shakib Khan call you by any other pet-name in your personal space?

At times he does call me by the name of my character.