She wanted to soar the skies as an air hostess, but became an actress instead
Cinema was not part of Moushumi’s plans when she was growing up. At different points during her school years, she imagined herself as a teacher, a lawyer or an air hostess. Winning the Anandabichitra Photo Beauty Contest eventually set her on a different path.
Speaking to The Daily Star from the United States, where she has been living for several years, Moushumi recalled how modelling led to film offers and eventually to her debut in “Keyamat Theke Keyamat” in 1993.
“Sometimes I thought I would become a teacher. Teachers used to conduct their classes so beautifully, and everyone respected them. Seeing that, I would think that I should become a teacher. But there is something called destiny. None of us knows where it will take us, when, or how,” she said.
Law was another possibility for her. “I also thought I would become a lawyer. I would become a renowned lawyer and earn a good reputation. I don't know why I used to think that way. Such thoughts would simply come to me during my teenage years, in my own little world,” she said.
“Sometimes I thought I would become an air hostess. I would travel through the skies, and the blue sky would be my address. I would go from one country to another and see so many things. I would travel around the world as an air hostess. But that was not in my destiny either,” she said.
Her first step into the film industry came through the Anandabichitra Photo Beauty Contest. Photographer Chanchal Mahmud took her photographs for the competition, which she eventually won through audience votes.
“I did not start out as the frontrunner. Later, I moved ahead through the audience vote and became the champion. If I talk about how I entered this industry, I have to talk about this competition,” she recalled.
“Modelling brought me recognition and popularity. The audience used to love me as a model then,” she said. Film offers soon came for her, though neither Moushumi nor her family was ready at first.
“Then offers to act in films started coming. One after another, the offers arrived. But my family was not willing at first. I was not particularly interested either,” she said.
Journalist Mushfiqur Rahman Gulzar, who later became a filmmaker, was among those who brought a film proposal to her family. After interviewing Moushumi following her beauty contest win, he later visited her home with director Sohanur Rahman Sohan.
“Filmmaker Mushfiqur Rahman Gulzar bhai was working as a journalist at the time. After I became the Photo Beauty winner, he came to our house to interview me. One day, Gulzar bhai came to meet my father. He brought another filmmaker, Sohanur Rahman Sohan bhai, with him. They made an offer to my father for me to act in a film. But my family was not willing at first. Later, they managed to convince my father and mother,” she said.
That film was Sohanur Rahman Sohan's directorial “Keyamat Theke Keyamat”, opposite Salman Shah.
“My first film was directed by Sohan bhai. The male lead was Salman Shah, and I was the female lead. The film was ‘Keyamat Theke Keyamat’. Before shooting began, we also rehearsed together,” she said.
Moushumi had already watched the Hindi original, “Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak”, several times on VCR.
“There was a time when watching films on VCRs was very common. I watched films that way too. I watched the Hindi film ‘Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak’ the most. I never imagined that one day that film would be remade in Dhallywood and that I would be the heroine,” she said.
When “Keyamat Theke Keyamat” was released in 1993, its songs and the Moushumi-Salman Shah pairing quickly became popular.
“‘Keyamat Theke Keyamat’ was released, and very quickly the name of the film spread from one person to another. The songs also became popular. The reputation of Salman Shah and me as a pair spread everywhere. At that time, it was difficult to find a viewer who had not seen the film in a cinema hall,” she recalled.
She watched the film herself at Ananda Hall in Farmgate, but did not stay until the end.
“After the release of ‘Keyamat Theke Keyamat’, I went to a cinema hall to watch it. The first time, I watched it at Ananda Hall in Farmgate. Nobody recognised me that day. After staying in the hall for some time and seeing the audience’s reaction, I was overwhelmed. I left without watching the entire film. Later, I watched it several more times,” she said.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. More than three decades later, she still hears from audiences about the film.
“My first film, ‘Keyamat Theke Keyamat’, was released in 1993. I still receive praise for this film. Audiences still watch it. That itself is a very big thing,” Moushumi said.
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