Going Beyond Boundaries

Nirab Hossain is the second Bangladeshi actor after Ferdous Ahmed to have acted in a Bollywood movie. Nirab played the lead role along with Kavita Radheshyam in the horror thriller film, Sheitaan .The film revolves around two lovers who besides being Muslim were from two different communities Shia and Sunni, how they struggle to survive is shown in this film. Jointly produced by controversial film maker Faisal Saif and Ali G, Sheitaan it also stars Pakistan actress Meera.

Model-actor Nirab Hossain talking about his experience said, “The character (CBI officer) was quite thrilling .It’s been a great experience working with Faisal Saif. He is very talented and mostly chooses controversial themes and stories for his films.  Bollywood is more professional. My director read out the whole script infront of our whole team the night before our shooting started. He encouraged us to share our views and opnions. You have people with specialisms. Specialist people are taken for specific jobs.”

Nirab is also very proud of his pivotal role in the Malaysian movie Banglasia by controversial director Namewee. Namewee is one of Asia’s most well-known entertainment personalities, being multi-talented and wearing many hats as singer, songwriter, director, actor and YouTuber.

The film was made in the context of prevalent animosity towards Bangladeshi workers in Malaysian society after the 2013 elections. The film was banned in Malaysia after 31 scenes in the movie that were deemed inappropriate were cut off by the Malaysian Film Censorship Board. Nirab said “The film received worldwide attention for being the first Malaysian banned film to screen at major international film festivals.”

                                                      SHEITAAN - Movie

Talking about his journey in the glamour world, Nirab said, “I went to a friend’s house and was impressed by the photographs of his hanging on the wall. He had done a photoshoot for modeling. It got me interested in doing a portfolio for myself. I managed to collect some money from my mom, brother and sister and did a photoshoot. I started doing ramp modeling. I came in touch with Amitabh Reza Chowudhury, a prominent advertisement and filmmaker in Bangladesh.   He liked me a lot. I am the only person who has done 9 TVCs for him. Whatever I am today is because of him.”  

Nirab won the heart of millions of people by performing in advertisement of Banglalink. “The response was beyond imagination” laughed Nirab. He started getting offers from theatre. In 2009, he signed 5 films and all of them were with Shakib Khan. All of them were super hit. So far 24 films of Nirab have been released. “Some of my memorable roles were in the movies- Mon Jekhane Hridoy Sekhane(Nirab’s first film), Shaheb Name Golam,  Raja Surjo Kha and Guru Bhai. 

Nirob feels technology has brought about a sea change in the quality of films. The Bangladeshi cinema industry is only beginning to explore its potential. “Today the storyline incorporates the use of digital content and visual effects. More digitally enabled movie theatres are needed in Bangladesh” said Nirab.

                                    BANGLASIA - Movie

Excessive amount of entertainment based films being churned out these days. Does the audience prefer mass films over movies with a message? 

“People come to cinemas for entertainment. People in the subcontinent love to live in the realm of fantasy. The middle class audience has been watching and patronizing cinema which reflect the middle class emotion, sentimentalism and nostalgia and a feel-good factor. Commercial films help you to reach a wider audience and doing independent films keeps your artistic side happy. Producers are skeptic about unconventional movies.” said Nirab. Nirab feels that cinema can be a very important tool of regional co-operation and social harmony and welcomes joint production of films if done in a proper way.