Rise and fall of Pori Moni

“Opportunities don’t happen. You create them,” this popular quote attributed to success went in completely opposite direction for Dhallywood actress Pori Moni. When success is the result of perfection, hard work and persistence, Pori didn’t need to bank on any of these to be successful in the life at her young age.

Within few years of entering into the country’s showbiz, Pori Moni has established herself as one of the most popular heroines in Dhallywood. But her journey to making a heroine was not smooth. After working on the small screen, Pori made her big screen debut in 2015. Even before the release of any of her films, she came into the limelight very soon as she performed in a dozen of films and signed more than one dozen and a half other film.

With her glamourous look and stylish attires, she actually won the hearts of the general viewers and successfully made a big base of fans and followers.

Pori Moni’s actual name is Shamsunnahar Smrity. Born in 1992 in Satkhira district, she was brought up at her maternal grandfather’s house in Barisal, where she completed her secondary and higher secondary education. She started dreaming to be a heroine since her childhood. She worked in a few locally-produced dramas during her stay in Barisal. Then, with her dream of becoming a heroine, she came to Dhaka in 2011 and enrolled herself in Bulbul Academy of Fine Arts for dance lessons.

Before her journey into the world of modelling, Pori used to perform in different dance shows. She found her luck in small-screen productions and got opportunity to perform in four drama serials after making debut on small-screen. Eventually, she made her way to the lead role in the drama ‘Nari O Nabanita’, where she acted alongside popular film artistes like Amin Khan and Popy.

‘Bhalobasa Simahin’ was the first theatrically-released film of Pori Moni. Directed by Shah Alam Mandal, the film saw its release in 2015. But Pori Moni came into the limelight with her film ‘Rana Plaza’ directed by Nazrul Islam Khan. The film couldn’t make its journey to the cinemas till today as the authorities concerned imposed a ban on the film. After this film, Pori secured her position in the showbiz industry by inking more than 20 films at a time. She acted in around 30 films till now while her last released film was ‘Sphulinga’ directed by Tauquir Ahmed. She recently signed her contract to act in Sanjay Samaddar’s ‘Biopic’.

As Pori Moni continued to make headlines for her activities, a news of her marriage with two individuals went viral on social media in 2016. Even photographs of her marriage and divorce documents surfaced on Facebook. Taking to Facebook, a user named Anik Abraham on January 31, 2016 claimed that Pori is the wife of his friend Ismail. Few days after Anik’s claim, the document of Pori’s alleged marriage and some intimate photos of Pori with her husband appeared on Facebook. Again, another news of Pori’s marriage went vial on social media few days after her marriage. This time, a Facebook user named Shakil Riaz revealed photos and documents of Pori’s marriage with another person named Saurav Karim.

After this incident, Pori again made headlines with her relationship with entertainment journalist Tamim Hasan. They even got engaged after two years of relationship and afterwards ended up the relationship in divorce in 2019. Just after one year, Pori got married to director Kamruzzaman Rony in March, 2020. But her marriage did not last even five months. It’s believed that Pori is now single or may be in love with someone without making any claims regarding this for a while.

In 2020, Pori Moni was included in Forbes Asia magazine’s ‘100 Digital Stars’ list. The list consists of the most influential celebrities on social media and the digital space, who are “as famous online as they are on stage and screen”, as per the magazine. With nearly 10 million Facebook followers, the 28-year-old Pori Moni is one of the most recognisable faces in Bangladeshi media today.

She was last seen in director Chayanika Chowdhury’s big-screen debut ‘Bishwoshundori’ released in December last year.

Pori Moni again made headline after she accused businessman Nasir U Mahmood of attempting to rape and murder her at the Dhaka Boat Club in Ashulia on June 8 this year. Nasir U Mahmood and four others were arrested in a case filed by the actress.

Pori was accused of carrying out vandalism at All Community Club in the capital’s Gulshan just two days after she had filed a case in connection with the incident at the Dhaka Boat Club.

Once again, Pori Moni made headlines as Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) detained Pori Moni after raiding her residence in the capital’s Banani area on Wednesday night. A huge amount of foreign liquors were recovered from the residence and a mini bar was also discovered there, according to the law enforcement agencies.

In the latest development, a Dhaka court has placed Pori on a four-day remand on Thursday, in a case filed under the Narcotics Control Act.