The pain Babita still carries after all these years

Having earned the title of a legendary actress through her contributions to cinema, Babita still carries a void that haunts her after all these years.

She has mostly spoken about her journey as an unexpected one into cinemas. Babita shares that she dreamed of becoming an actress.

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“I never imagined that I would make films, become a heroine, appear on the big screen or become internationally known. I had no interest in acting. Whenever I watched a shoot, I wondered how people could work so hard. I used to think, ‘I could never do this,’” she recalls.

As a child, she once accompanied her elder sister, actress Suchanda, to a shoot in Cox’s Bazar. She was then in class five.

“I saw Suchanda apa shooting under the scorching sun, on the sand. She was running and walking for the scenes. Seeing how difficult it was, I thought acting was not for me.”

But a few months later, filmmaker Zahir Raihan chose her to play the daughter of Nayak Raj Razzak and Suchanda’s characters in “Sangsar”.

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Babita recollects bittersweet childhood, unfulfilled dreams

“I was completely taken aback. I wondered how I would act. But eventually, I did it. In my first film, I called Raj Razzak baba and Suchanda apa, maa.”

At the time, she was credited by her family name, Popy. A few years later, Zahir Raihan offered her the female lead in his Urdu film “Jaltey Suraj Ke Neechey”, which Shabnam was initially supposed to play. However, Shabnam could not make time for the shoot in West Pakistan and Babita got that role.

“I refused at first. I did not know how to act, and then there were Urdu dialogues. Everything seemed difficult. But eventually, I did it for Zahir bhai. The film was eventually released.”

She subsequently made her debut as a leading actress in Bangladeshi cinema with Shesh Porjonto, the film that also marked the beginning of her journey as Babita.

For the film, she received Tk 12,000—a considerable amount at the time.

“It was a lot of money then. After that, I became established. Recognition came, offers started pouring in, and I kept doing one film after another. I never had to look back.”

With her first earnings, Babita bought a car. But what should have been a joyous moment became one of the most painful memories of her life.

“We were living in Gandaria then. I bought the car and wanted to show it to my mother. But I never got the chance.”

Her mother was ill and receiving treatment in hospital. Babita went there in her new car, hoping to show it to her.

“When I reached the hospital, I found out that my mother had passed away.”

Decades later, the memory still hurts.

“So much came into my life. I became famous and achieved multiple honours, but my mother never got to see any of it. I will carry that pain for the rest of my life,” Babita says.