COVER STORY
Standing Strong: Ferdous
A while back, the film audience of Bengal – Bangladesh and Kolkata - was introduced to a new face. It was of a man, who, in the movie, had a sweet hobby of collecting people's names and birthdays, and sending them birthday cards. This face would make a lasting impression on an audience always hungry for beautiful movies. That face belonged to none other than Ferdous Ahmed, and the movie was “Hothat Brishti”. Today, many years later, Ferdous is a name to be reckoned with. With sweet charms, princely looks and splendid roles in films, Ferdous is a seasoned actor who has made it big. This week, Star Showbiz zeroes in on Ferdous.
Hothat Brishti
Basu Chatterjee, a veteran film director, came to Bangladesh in search of an actor for his joint venture film. It was to be a movie in collaboration with Kolkata and the Bangladesh. After much searching – when he was just about to give up – he was introduced to Ferdous Ahmed. Very few people know this, but Ferdous actually, by that time, had already taken part in two movies, which for some unfortunate reasons, never got released.
And that was the start for Ferdous. The movie swayed the audience of the two Bengals, and the limelight fell on him and a star was born.
Since then, Ferdous have been working in both Bangladeshi and Indian films, many of which are highly acclaimed and gained enormous success.
Pick your favourite
Hothat Bristi is a flick you should definitely watch – if you haven't watched it yet that is.
After the super hit movie, Ferdous became very busy, making the list of his filmography grow bigger each time. Sadly however, not all his films saw the same success as that of "Hothat Bristi". In his long career, he had his share of hits and misses.
Having studied Mass Communication and Journalism in Dhaka University, Ferdous had the chance to play a journalist in the highly acclaimed film, "Guerrilla", which also starred Joya Ahsan.
The Liberation War movie revolves around Joya Ahsan, and Ferdous, with just a few small scenes, managed to hold an ubiquitous presence throughout the movie.
Aaynate, an Indian Bengali film - which also has the eminent Rituparna Sengupta on the cast - is another movie you might be interested in watching. He also starred in a Humayun Ahmed movie, Amar Ache Jol. It was among the last of the films of the great film director and author. He also worked with Mostafa Sarwar Farooki's famous film "Bachelor".
His latest movie is "Ek Cup Cha", of which he was the producer as well the actor. One may argue that the film was a bit overhyped; and many among the audience might not have had their expectations met; it was, at best, above average.
Charisma
For a movie star, the camera doesn't stop rolling with the director shouting 'cut'. But if the actor we are talking about is Ferdous, this reality is not a problem at all. He carries his graceful personality with a body of impressive height and a set of broad shoulders.
He listens, he talks and he makes the other person feel at ease almost immediately, which is a quality we seldom see in the stars.
With a handsomely chiselled face radiating an innocent, boyish charm, which is combined with a confident and suave persona, Ferdous easily makes a memorable impression.
Recent endeavours
Ferdous currently has his hands full with five Bangladeshi films and another four from Kolkata are underway. Among them is a movie where Moushumi is the director. He has also signed up for ten television commercials.
But at this point of his career, he feels that he ought to be more organised and focused. Therefore, from now on, he is thinking of doing about one or two movies a year, along with ads. He wants to prioritise on quality rather than on the quantity.
Meanwhile, he wants to continue producing movies. He is deciding on what his next project would be, juggling between subjects like Liberation War and the Sundarbans.
For the love of cinema
Just a few decades ago, one of the favourite things to do in the weekend for a Bangladeshi household was a go to the cinema. We need to revive this trend. The government recognises this as an industry, but it needs to provide more support. For example, it should facilitate the receiving of loans to produce films. If producers get the loans, there would be movies of various budgets. The government also announced to facilitate to make digital halls, but we still don't see much implementation. For a start, there should be at least one digital hall in all the districts of Bangladesh.
There are many from this new generation who are interested to join the film industry. With them on one hand and established actors like Ferdous on the other, the possibilities are going to be endless.
By Rafi Hossain & M H Haider