Nasir eager to work with Kashyap

Since the release of the critically acclaimed web series ‘Taqdeer’ and ‘Mohanagar,’ Bangladeshi actor Nasir Uddin Khan has turned into an internet sensation with his unique and mesmerising acting. That popularity has increased ten folds after the recent success in the roles he played in the Chorki original series ‘Syndicate’ and blockbuster hits like Raihan Rafi’s ‘Poran’ and Mejbaur Rahman Sumon’s ‘Hawa.’ His on-screen aura is being praised by both audience and critics. In a recent conversation with The Business Post’s Siam Raihan, Nasir spoke about his 27-year-long acting career and the stories behind his incredible journey

Your most recent release ‘Hawa’ is the talk of the nation right now. Could you tell us a bit about how the ‘Hawa’ team made this possible?

You already know that Bangladeshi films had no proper promotional campaign for more than a decade. Earlier, we used to see promotional trailers of upcoming films on BTV and hear audio promotional on the deep voice of Mazharul Islam on the radio. Even huge advertisements were released in newspapers which described the film’s cast, release dates and other information. We used to see those but we have not seen such promotional activities for a long time. After social media became prominent, we only see small-scale Facebook campaigns about the film and that’s it. What the ‘Hawa’ team did differently was they gradually did different sorts of promotions. From the conventional online poster, teaser, trailer and song release to wall poster campaigns to the old-school rickshaw painting campaigns, they did it all to create a nationwide hype of the film. Right before a week of the film’s release on July 29, we started to visit different campuses in Dhaka. We started with Jahangirnagar University and Zahir Raihan Film Society then visited a few more campuses including BUET, AIUB, and BUP. We performed live shows at these campuses and bands and musicians like Emon Chowdhury, Tanzir Tuhin and Meghdol did these road shows with us. The young generation became interested in these figures and it helped us to promote the film in a more organic way. Several universities also invited us, but we could not cover all of them. And after its release, we started going to different theatres and we saw that wave of hype for ‘Hawa’ is increasing every day just like the waves in the film itself.

The entire film was shot in the deep sea. We even saw you diving into the water in one scene. Would you share any such terrifying experiences that you went through during production?  

The most terrifying experience was the scene you just talked about. The sea was quite rough on that day. It was not stormy but the sea was very rough. I had to dive into the sea from the trawler with a lit cigarette in my mouth, grab the fishing net underwater and then swim back up. It was quite the experience but we had to go through 3 to 4 months of training and rehearsals to achieve that in the final shot, so that helped.

Clips of your famous dialogues became contests of popular memes on the internet right now. How do you react to seeing yourself in such presentations?

Obviously, I feel very pleased and honoured when I come across these. As I am working on the visual medium and the audience can directly connect to my performances and take the time out to share them, I feel very pleased. I applaud the youngsters and personally, I feel more comfortable hanging out with people who are at least 10 to 15 years younger than me. Yes, it is true that the young generation is sharing these clips the most but I have recently noticed something very interesting that I have never noticed before. I sometimes get these posts on my news feed and I look over the comments section. To my surprise, there are a lot of senior audience members, who are approximately 55-65 years old, who also enjoy these clips of mine. Recently, I received a very positive and well-written comment from a 55-year-old housewife who seemed like a well-educated woman from a middle-class household just like our mother or aunts. Looking into her profile I was more surprised to see that she was from my hometown Chattogram. It felt as honest and genuine when a loved one gets happy to see that you are doing well in life. But overall, I am surprised and very pleased to see that even the older people of my age enjoy my screen presence.

A huge number of your fans are calling you the ‘Nawazuddin Siddiqui of Bangladesh.’ How do you feel about this comparison?

Yes, I have noticed that. Listen, I am of the generation that grew up watching Diego Maradona. I started watching him around 1986, during my high school years. A lot of great Argentine footballers like Ortega, Tevez and many more came to the team but did not leave a mark. When Messi came, people started to compare him with Maradona. Messi is undoubtedly a tremendous footballer, some might consider him even better. But he is not Maradona as there is only one Maradona. So, of course, there is only one Nawazuddin Siddiqui. However, I think that people do this sort of comparison out of love. As they love Nawazuddin’s work and they see someone like me who is close to them, lives in the same country as them and appreciates my work in the same way. Hence, they make such remarks. Yes, as a performer, I feel honoured at the way they feel.

Tell us something about your early life

I started school at a local kindergarten before 1979, as far as I remember. I have a lot of siblings and the brother who is most close to me is Aman Ullah Khan. I call him ‘Abu daa.’ He then admitted me to Little Flower School when I was in the nursery. Then I was moved to my third school called St Mary’s School and was admitted there to KG in 1980. Due to the various shifting, a lot of my batchmates were quite a few years younger to me. I was there till class V. Then I moved to Ispahani Public School and College, from class VI to XII. Then I completed my bachelor’s the Commerce College in Chittagong. After that, I completed master’s from City College. Also when I was doing my bachelor’s, my brother Abu daa got me into a reputed CA firm called MRH Dey & Co in Chattogram so I can complete my Chartered Accountant exams. So, I joined there and started my internship. I worked in several CA firms up until 2015. In 2016, I decided to quit and started working full-time for visual media.

Will you share with us your experience in the theatre movement in Chattogram?

I joined the popular local theatre troupe called Tirjok Natyagoshthi Chattogram, back in 1995. I have spent more than 20 years with them and it worked as a foundation of my acting career. I am still a member of that group but I am not in the performer team since 2016. I still work in different roles. Whenever I go to Chattogram, I attend the rehearsal sessions of the troupe and hopefully will perform again with them on stage. 

How do things go on your family front?

I got married back in 2001. My wife and I are blessed with a daughter and a son. The four of us are quite a happy family. If I talk about my extended family, then I have five brothers and a sister. I am the youngest among them. We all siblings live in the same building so we maintain a very tight-knit relationship. As I am the youngest among them, I receive an enormous amount of love and affection from them since my childhood. Thankfully the amount of love they have given me remains the same to this day and we have a strong bond.

Who are your acting inspirations, such as favourite actors, directors or films?

Well, there are hundreds. I cannot possibly name each one of them nor I can rank some of them as my only favourites. But, what I can say is the co-artistes I have worked with and the directors I got the opportunity to work with were so frank, loving, welcoming, helpful and cooperative that I feel very lucky.

If I talk about my most recently released project ‘Hawa’ then Chanchal Bhai (Chanchal Chowdhury) and every other cast member were amazing and so helpful. Also, I am carefully choosing the projects. I am only signing the projects I feel comfortable with. As we started the conversation with ‘Hawa,’ I must say honestly say that Mejbaur Rahman Sumon is one of the most talented directors in the country. And we cannot just shout out loud that I love that person but you must know as well Sumon is such an amazing human being. Sumon has each characteristic of a great human being. Respecting his team members, not being rude to anyone, helping everyone as much as he can and so on. He is always so calm and cool. Even if someone does something wrong on the set he does not get angry.

He stays calm and never insults that person in front of the whole team. He asks that person to go with him and gently talks with him or her to resolve the issue. Even his team has acquired his characteristics. Also, the successful promotion of ‘Hawa’ is not just the hard work of Sumon or his team. Every fan, friend or well-wisher of Sumon from around the country has pitched in every way possible to promote his amazing debut film. 

Any international director you would love to work with?

Anurag Kashyap.

What are your next projects?

I have received a couple of offers recently but nothing is official as of now. Some projects I have denied because I did not like those scripts. But hopefully, I will start shooting for a project in the upcoming September. Moreover, Nurul Alam Atique’s “Manusher Bagaan” and Raihan Rafi’s “Damal” are two films I have already completed and both of them are awaiting release. Noor Imran Mithu’s recent film “Patal Ghor” is in the post-production phase and Wahid Tarek’s 2014 film ‘Alga Nongor’ are also awaiting release.