Salman Shah was the male lead for actress Moushumi in her first film “Keyamat Thekey Keyamat” in 1994, and later the duo shared screen in several hits, including “Antorey Antorey,” “Sneho,” and “Denmohor.”
Remembering her late co-star on his 18th death anniversary today, Moshumi will inaugurate a week-long retrospective film show at the Balaka Cineworld in the capital. Organised by Dhuli Communications, the film show is the first of its kind to honour the late actor, whose life and work will also be remembered by several other organisations, including Salman Shah Smriti Parishad and RTV.
On this occasion, the Dhaka Tribune caught up with Moushumi to talk about her memories of the prematurely demised actor.
You are going to inaugurate a film show on your first film’s hero. How are you feeling?
First, I want to thank Dhuli Communications who organised this event. I am glad that such a show is going to take place for the first time in the country.
He was a close friend of yours. How do you cope with the loss?
Having Salman as my best friend was like a blessing. I can never erase him from my heart, and he will live through his work in Bangladesh. I miss him in every step of my life. He brought many people back to the cinema halls. I have yet to find one film buff in this country who has not watched any of his films. He is an icon in our film industry.
There is this story about you once storming out of a shooting spot after a fight with him. How did you reconcile?
Salman was such a nice person that it was hard to be angry at him for long. That day, I went home without finishing the day’s shoot, and I even probably decided not to continue in that project. But later at night Salman came to my house and kept blaring his car horns. When I went down to see what the commotion was about, I saw it was him, and a moment later we both were laughing. I completely forgot I was angry at him. Salman left an impression on every person he met. He always treated each and everyone with respect in a shoot, which you rarely see anyone doing these days.
Do you have anything to remember him by?
There are pictures and other things that have never been shared with the world. I want to make a documentary on him, and in that documentary I plan to reveal those never-before-seen memorabilia. I plan to release it before his next death anniversary.
Would you like to say something to the fans?
I want to ask the audience to please support the praiseworthy initiative of Dhuli Communications. I know you have watched Salman’s films before, but I think watching them again after so many years on big screen will certainly bring the sweet old memories back. I myself will be present on the opening day and hope you will be there too.
