A familiar face on screen

According to Nadim, he has never perceived modeling as his bread and butter. He says, "Modeling is certainly something that's close to my heart but I'm practical enough to acknowledge that one cannot sustain by choosing modeling as his/her sole profession in our country. The market is not big enough, so there's limited work and the pay is often insufficient. Besides, models all over the world are aware that a successful modeling career lasts for only a few years. It's tragic but an aging model has to seriously consider other professions."

Nadim continues, "I was fortunate to get a chance to start my modeling career with a TV ad by Afzal bhai (Afzal Hossain). It was in 1998, a few years after our TV ads went through a major facelift. One could see the standards of commercials improve drastically. Models like Pollob, Nobel and Mou set a standard for us.

"Afzal bhai was looking for a new face with a certain look for the ad of Starship condensed milk. He thought I'd be suitable for that ad, partly because I had long hair back then. Not aware of the significance of my hair, I cut it short three days prior to the shooting. Of course, Afzal bhai was disappointed to see my new look but he let me be a part of that ad anyway and that was the start."

After the Starship ad, Nadim went on doing an ad for Romana paint with Mou the same year. That ad can be considered a breakthrough for him, as it became widely popular. Nadim also worked with model Tupa in a commercial for Lurk soap, with actress Afsana Mimi in an ad for Meril soap and with Aupi Karim in the ad for Fuwang Foods. He has also done ads for Close Up, Wheel and Lifebuoy. In fact, he has been a part of the social awareness generating TV campaign by Lifebuoy. He has been featured on billboard ads for Standard Chartered Bank, EBL (Eastern Bank Ltd), Lifebuoy and Dentonic. Nadim has worked with most of the notable ad agencies in the country, including Asiatic, Matra, Unitrend and Adcom.

Besides ads, Nadim acted in a TV play called Tribhuj Prem five years ago. Tazin and Tamalika were his leading ladies in the play. Although he has received several offers to do TV plays, he has been reluctant. His reason: "I didn't feel I was ready for TV serials or single episode plays. I believe acting should come from within and I wasn't convinced that I could give a performance that would look natural. But I think I've gathered vivid experiences over the last few years and I'm ready for TV plays now."

Incidentally, Nadim also signed three movies to be directed by Bulbul Zilani that include Projapoti and Hothat Prem earlier this year. However, now he has decided not to be a part of the movies as he feels that mainstream Bangla films are somewhat alien to him. He says, "I want to act in a mainstream film but the storyline has to be interesting and fresh."

What are his current projects? According to Nadim, "A TV Commercial for ACI by Amitabh Reza. I've decided to do only one or two ads a year and concentrate on my acting, as I want to move towards TV plays now."