Veteran actor, director and visual artiste Afzal Hossain has shared a deeply personal reflection on his artistic journey, revealing that acting in films was never part of his original plan.
In a Facebook post shared on Thursday, Afzal Hossain looked back on his early years as a young man who moved from a village to the city with the sole dream of studying fine arts. He recalled preparing for admission to an art college at a time when only 35 to 40 students were selected from hundreds of candidates. Despite the uncertainty, he believed in his own ability as a painter. Looking back now, he wonders whether talent alone would have been enough had influence and power mattered more than merit—questioning if he might have been forced to return to his village in Parulia instead.
Recounting his student life, Afzal Hossain wrote about his love for poetry recitation. Sitting in circles under the lychee trees of the college campus or in hostel courtyards, sharing poems with friends, was part of everyday joy. He reminisced about a time when people would pause to listen to poetry with genuine interest. A younger student, Uttam Dey, often accompanied the recitations with guitar music, adding to the creative atmosphere of those days.
Although active student politics was absent on campus, the student union played an important role. Because of his skills in poetry recitation, Afzal Hossain was appointed cultural secretary. While organising a stage play for the college’s silver jubilee celebrations—with permission from teachers Nabi Sir and Rafiqun Nabi Sir—he initially had no intention of acting. However, circumstances eventually pushed him onto the stage.
After the performance, an unfamiliar man approached him with questions about acting and invited him to attend rehearsals at Dhaka Theatre. The man later turned out to be renowned theatre personality and freedom fighter Nasiruddin Yusuff, popularly known as Bachchu. It was through his invitation that Afzal Hossain became involved with Dhaka Theatre.
Though he had never aspired to be an actor, theatre introduced him to extraordinary people and experiences. In the same year, legendary television playwright, director and actor Abdullah Al Mamun called him to act on television—despite their respective theatre groups being rivals at the time. Afzal Hossain reflected that if group loyalty and rivalry had prevailed, such an opportunity might never have come his way.
Film acting, too, was never part of his plans. Yet one of Bangladesh’s most successful producer-directors, Kazi Jahir, offered him a role in the film “Notun Bou”. For Afzal Hossain, the decision to cast a stage and television actor in a film felt both surprising and deeply meaningful.
Concluding his reflection, Afzal Hossain shared his thoughts on time, humanity and relationships. Sometimes, he wrote, people give value to time; at other times, time itself creates opportunities for people to become valuable. Despite changes in goals and motivations, he believes that the age-old principle of people standing beside one another—offering support, encouragement and shared joy—continues to exist on the world’s stage.
