Bobita
Encyclopedia
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
i film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
actress. She has also participated in several NGOs focusing on the welfare of women and children and founded a community seed bank
Seed bank
Seed bank may refer to:*Seedbank, a repository of preserved seeds*The store of viable plant seed in an ecosystem; for example:** Soil seed bank, the viable seed present in the soil;...
.
Early days
Born in early 1950 (app.), Her family full name is Farida Akhter. She was born to an educated family that had its origins in the west-Bangladeshi district of Jessore, BangladeshBangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
. Her family nickname was Poppy, and like her mother, she had early ambitions of becoming a doctor. Instead, she was to become the most accomplished actress among three sisters, all of whom became movie stars. She also has three brothers whom are not in the movie business.
In the mid-1960s, her elder sister Kohinoor Akhter entered the movie industry in the capital Dhaka
Dhaka
Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh and the principal city of Dhaka Division. Dhaka is a megacity and one of the major cities of South Asia. Located on the banks of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, along with its metropolitan area, had a population of over 15 million in 2010, making it the largest city...
, and adopted the screen name Shuchonda
Shuchonda
Shuchonda is a renowned Bangladeshi film actress born in Jessore. She started her career in the mid of 1960s. She performed as heroine at a lot of successful movies in Bangla. Her younger sisters Bobita and Chompa are also very famous actresses in the Bangladesh and South Asian film industries...
. In 1968, Shuchonda married Zahir Raihan
Zahir Raihan
Zahir Raihan was a Bangladeshi novelist, writer and filmmaker. He is perhaps best known for his documentary Stop Genocide made during the Bangladesh Liberation War. He disappeared on December 30, 1972 trying to locate his brother, the famous writer Shahidullah Kaiser, who was captured and killed by...
, a talented film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and martyred intellectual who was later to lose his life in an ambush by West Pakistan forces
Pakistan Army
The Pakistan Army is the branch of the Pakistani Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The Pakistan Army came into existence after the Partition of India and the resulting independence of Pakistan in 1947. It is currently headed by General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. The Pakistan...
during the Bangladeshi war of independence
Bangladesh Liberation War
The Bangladesh Liberation War was an armed conflict pitting East Pakistan and India against West Pakistan. The war resulted in the secession of East Pakistan, which became the independent nation of Bangladesh....
. Raihan was casting around for a heroine for his movie Jaltey Suraj Ka Nichey, when his producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
Afzal Chowdhury mentioned that his sister-in-law might fit the bill http://www.independent-bangladesh.com/news/dec/10/10122004mg.htm#A18. Poppy was photogenic and had already acted in television. Zahir Raihan agreed to cast her, and although the film was not completed in the end, she found an entry into the Dhaka film industry. Her first released feature was Shesh Porjonto.
Naming of "Bobita"
In an interview with the Independent newspaper in 2004, Babita says that it was Afzal Chowdhury who suggested the screen name Bobita for her. In another interview with the Daily Star in 2005, she mentions that Zahir Raihan originally casts her for the movie Shongshaar http://www.thedailystar.net/2005/06/28/d506281403110.htm. A different version of the story is that she adopted the name after appearing in Ehtesham's movie Pitch Dhala Path http://thedailystar.net/2005/05/06/d505061403105.htm.International stardom
She acted in number of joint venture movie projects in her career, namely: a Bollywood-Bangladesh joint production Movie Door Desh in 1983 (Gehri Chot in Hindi) and also Pakistan-Bangladesh joint venture film Miss Lanka (Nadaani in Urdu) in 1985.Working with Ray
Babita was notable also for being an actress, and her performances in films such as Taka Anna Pai, Shorolipi, and Anarkoli. Her acting gained the attention of the IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n director Satyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray was an Indian Bengali filmmaker. He is regarded as one of the greatest auteurs of 20th century cinema. Ray was born in the city of Kolkata into a Bengali family prominent in the world of arts and literature...
. In 1973, Ray cast Babita in Ashani Sanket
Ashani Sanket
Distant Thunder is a 1973 Bengali film by the renowned Indian director Satyajit Ray, based on the novel by the same name by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay....
("Distant Thunder"), his film about the Bengali famine of 1943. Babita appeared in the lead role of Ananga, the demure wife of the village doctor Gangacharan, who was played by long-time Ray favourite Soumitra Chatterjee
Soumitra Chatterjee
Soumitra Chatterjee or Soumitra Chattopadhyay is an iconic Bengali actor from India, known among other things for his frequent collaborations with the great Bengali film director Satyajit Ray and his constant comparison with the Bengali screen idol Uttam Kumar.-Background:Soumitra graduated from...
.
Ashani Sanket won the Golden Bear
Golden Bear
According to legend, the Golden Bear was a large golden Ursus arctos. Members of the Ursus arctos species can reach masses of . The Grizzly Bear and the Kodiak Bear are North American subspecies of the Brown Bear....
prize at the 1973 Berlin Film Festival. Babita's performance was central to the film. Two decades later, Babita's younger sister Chompa also received recognition for her performances in arthouse
Art film
An art film is the result of filmmaking which is typically a serious, independent film aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience...
films such as Padma Nadir Majhi
Padma Nadir Majhi
Padma Nadir Majhi is an award-winning Indian Bengali feature film directed by Goutom Ghosh from the novel of the same name, Manik Banerjees Padma Nadir Majhi.-Plot:...
.
Arthouse and commercial movies
- Arunodoyer Agnishakkhi (1972) by Subhash Dutta
- Dhirey Bohey Meghna (1973)—a war drama by Alamgir KabirAlamgir KabirMohammad Alamgir Kabir is a Bangladeshi cricketer who played in 3 Tests from 2002 to 2004....
- Golapi Ekhon Trainey (1978) by Amjad Hossain; Babita's portrayal of the migrant girl Golapi is regarded as one of her finest performances.
- Dahan (1986) by Sheikh Niamat Ali
In addition, Babita was also prolific in commercial cinema. The Bangladeshi film industry centres around the Film Development Corporation in Dhaka, popularly known by its acronym "FDC". The typical FDC feature is aimed at the poorly educated working classes, and it consists mostly of over-the-top melodrama and multiple song-and-dance numbers. Classic examples are her films of the early 1980s, Miss Lanka and Love in Singapore.
She formed screen partnerships with male stars Faruk, Zafar Iqbal
Zafar Iqbal
Zafar Iqbal , an Urdu poet, based in Okara, Pakistan, is known for his innovative style of poetry, in the genre of ghazal. The diction of his ghazal is entirely different from traditional Urdu poetry, making him popular and unpopular at the same time. He is a lawyer by profession, and regularly...
, Bulbul Ahmed, and Sohel Rana
Sohel Rana
Sohel Rana is a First class cricketer from Bangladesh. He appeared for Rajshahi Division between 2001/02 and 2003/04, taking 12 first class wickets with a best of 3 for 83 against Dhaka Division....
. Babita won the Best Actress award at the National Film Awards for several of her movies, some of which are:
- Bandee Thekey Begum (1975)
- Noyon Moni (1976)
- Boshundhora (1977)
- Ramer Shumoti (1985)
As a producer
After the commercial success of Teen Kannya Bobita became interested to produce movies and hence launched a movie production house named "Bobita Movies." Some of Bobita's produced movies are:- Ful Shojja
- Agomon
- Lady Smuggler (A Bangladesh-Pakistan-Nepal joint venture movie)
- Lottery
- Poka Makorer Ghor Bosoti (A Bangladesh Govt. sponsored movie)
Recent career
Her acting career continues, though less vigorously than before. In 2002, Babita won a National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Hason Raja, Chashi Nazrul IslamChashi Nazrul Islam
Chashi Nazrul Islam is a Bangladeshi film director and producer. He was born in October 23, 1941 in Bikrampur, Dhaka....
's biopic of the famed Bengali folk-poet
Hason Raja
Hason Raja , also known as Dewan Hason Raja, was a Bengali poet, mystic philosopher and folksongs writer and composer...
. She has also formed her own film-production company and has expressed an interest in directing in the future.
Babita has campaigned actively on behalf of various social causes in Bangladesh. Notable among the causes she has supported are the campaign against throwing acid on women; the national immunization
Immunization
Immunization, or immunisation, is the process by which an individual's immune system becomes fortified against an agent ....
drive for children; and a support group for children who suffer from leukemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
. Starting in 2011, Babita began working with Distressed Children & Infants International
Distressed Children & Infants International
Distressed Children & Infants International is a non-profit organization based in Cheshire, Connecticut. DCI's flagship program is the "Sunchild Sponsorship" program, which currently supports over 800 children in Bangladesh...
as a Goodwill Ambassador.