I prefer doing better projects to getting lost in lots of works: Mamo

Zakia Bari Mamo has established herself as a popular actress through her noteworthy works over the years. Coming to limelight with her debut film ‘Daruchini Dwip’ which also brought her a National Film Award, the actress is also praised for her film ‘Chuye Dile Mon’ and versatile performance in small screen projects. Recently, the actress once again caught the attention of the viewers with her role as ‘Shahana Huda’ in Ashfaque Nipun’s much talked-about web series ‘Mohanagar’. In a recent conversation with The Business Post’s Antara Raisa, Mamo shared her experience about working in ‘Mohanagar’ and other recent projects. 

The Business Post: Your character Shahana Huda in ‘Mohanagar’ is applauded by the audience. How does it feel?

Mamo: It feels really very fascinating. I feel great to work with Ashfaque Nipun and the team who made this series a success. He (Nipun) is such a brilliant director. I am very grateful to them. I have been getting huge response from the audience for my character. Luckily, all my co-artistes were extremely supportive to me. I am getting positive feedback from them as well. Overall, I feel great to be part of this fantastic project. 

TBP: Tell us about your whole experience of working in this web series? 

Mamo: The experience was very good, yet very challenging and different. Because we had to shoot at night time for 15 days. The full team was very dedicated. The character Shahana Huda was totally a director’s brain child. I tried to follow director’s advice completely. I had to take my own preparations for the character too. I tried my level best to portray the character the way it’s expected to be. 

TBP: It seems nowadays you don’t appear on screen frequently. Are you very selective when it comes to pick a character or a story?

Mamo: Of course, I am very choosy about the stories. And I want to be choosy. I prefer doing better projects to getting lost in lots of works. As I don’t have God-gifted talent, so I have to work very hard to prove myself through my performance. All I want to do good projects that keeps inspiring me. May be, I haven’t done lots of projects, but I’m happy with it. 

TBP: What type of character or story intrigues you?

Mamo: I love to work in all types of genres connected to our lives. But I think I prefer those characters or stories that challenge me the most. Sometimes we have to do similar type of characters in many projects. That’s also challenging for me because I have to make the character different in each project. 

TBP: In your recent movie ‘Sphulingo’ and web series ‘Contract’ and ‘Mohanagar’, you played bold characters. Do you love to appear in such roles nowadays? 

Mamo: I believe that women should be bold in their mind, body, work and thoughts. And I personally feel this deep inside my heart. But I think the casting directors can answer it better why they choose me for this type of roles. I think the pandemic helps me to realise that sometimes it is better to stop for a while and focus what I really want to do. I just tried to focus on how I want to see myself on the screen during this pandemic. 

TBP: Do you have plans to concentrate more on OTT? Or, you want to work more in films?

Mamo: I want to give my best no matter it’s OTT or film. Of course, an artiste will be happy if s/he gets chance to work on big screen. But it also depends on the time and situation. With time, the importance of preferences changes. So, for now, I want to just keep improving myself and keep eyes on what comes in the future.