Nawshaba: I realised how patriotic athletes are

Versatile actress, Quazi Nawshaba Ahmed has never hesitated to take up a role which requires an extraordinary effort to portray on screen. In one such recent venture, she dons the epynomous role of a badminton player in Tania, the 10th short film by Projonmo Talkies, which will be released today (July 14) on its YouTube channel. She’s will be next seen playing the role of a warrior princess in an upcoming TV series titled, Saat Bhai Champa. That’s not it, Nawshaba has quite a few ventures that are yet to be released, including the likes of Dipankar Dipon’s Dhaka Attack, Wahid Tarek’s Alga Nongor, N Rashed Chowdhury’s Chandraboti Kotha and Tanim Rahman Angshu’s Swapna Bari. Her recent music video with Akassh Sen has managed to garner plaudits. Showtime reached out to the actress to learn more about her role in Tania, her thoughts about it and much more.Tell us about Tania.The story revolves around Tania, a former badminton player who gives up her career, is married off and settles as a teacher. Then, she decides to return to the sport ignoring everything else.What’s in the story that beguilled you into portraying the role?It’s not a gender baised story, rather it’s about the people who are trying to swim against the current. When one decides to be sportsman in the country, especially a girl, he/she has to fight aginst all odds. Apart from the athletes in cricket, the other athletes do not usually receive support from their families or the government in the pursuit of their dreams. Tania is all about these people.Is the character fictional?It is fictional but very realistic. We have seen this character in our lives. It even resembles my life in terms of the struggles I have been through in order to become an actress. I ventured into acting after my marriage. Apart from the method or technical side of the character, Tania is one of us. Her story is much like that of an actress or a writer or a journalist.How did you prepare yourself for the role?Mentally, I didn’t have to prepare myself after reading the script; there are few lines in the script which seemed like my own words. Physically, I had to take extensive training in badminton and lose weight. I even asked the director to hold the filming for a couple of weeks so that I could get into the shape of a sportsperson. While I was traning, I had the opportunity to play with the current badminton champion of the country Yesmin. Her life also resembles with that of Tania. I took Yesmin as a model while sculpting the role.How challenging was it to portray a sportsperson?I even had an injury, and then I realised how patriotic these athletes are! I can only imagine how hard it has been for Mashrafe Mortaza to stay on the field despite being through the injuries he has been through. I had the option to pause the filming only to take the shot later, but a sportsman has no option but to continue playing in a game.Have you ever wanted to become a athlete in your life?Frankly, never. But I find athletes and musicians to be ambiguous god-like figures. Sometimes they are hard to understand, but they excel in what they do.