Sharmin Shila
When the director said "Action!" the camera started rolling, and Shila darted towards the actor. Shila says, "All of a sudden, I saw Shabbir moving away swiftly and instead of him falling into the water I landed up in the river. I was dead scared even though the water was not more than four to five feet deep. I started to scream while the rest of the crew burst into laughter. However, when I finally got on my feet I heard that it was pre-planned. The director had decided that the shot should be taken like this but I was not informed earlier."
Shila stepped into the media with the stage play Mrityusangbad in 1997 as an activist of theatre group Nagorik Natyo Shamproday. This performance was followed by a seven-episode Rang Kora Putul on BTV. Only in 2000 did she act in the popular mega serial Bandhan on Ekushey Television. She says, "It was my breakthrough performance as I became a familiar face on the television."
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Later, she modelled for the commercials of Harpic, Meril snow and White Plus toothpaste. Now she is acting in different serials: Lal Neel Beguni, Poribar O Ekti Company, Tanaporen and Ekka Dokka.
Her play Char Deyaler Chand by Ejaz Munna will be aired soon on ATN Bangla. The story is about three daughter-in-laws of a joint family where the old mother-in-law controls the entire family. But when the ambitious Shila, one of the daughter-in-laws, dreams of becoming a fashion designer, the old lady objects. She wants her daughters-in-law to be housewives and look after domestic matters.
A student of management in City College, Shila believes that the trend of one-hour television plays was better than mega serials. She says, " The audience likes one hour plays. It is unfortunate that such plays are hardly made and aired now. The artistes have become too commercial now because they have to act in many roles for different plays at a time. The directors are commercial as well. They don't give us enough time to understand the sequence properly. Sometimes I feel the shooting ends before I have actually grasped my character in the play."