Demise of a legend

ATM Shamsuzzaman was an extraordinary actor. He was born in Dowlatpur, Noakhali on 10 September 1941. But he grew up in Adi Dhaka which means old Dhaka. At that time he was renting a house next to Armanitola field in Babubazar. Then in 1958 his father bought a house in Sutrapur. He has spent his early and whole life there. So, everybody think him, call him 'The Son of old Dhaka'.

His full name is Abu Taher Mohammad Shamsuzzaman. His father Nuruzzaman was a noted lawyer who used to work in Dhaka. So, Shamsuzzaman’s mother Nurunnessa Begum moved to Dhaka along with her new-born. This couple had five sons and three daughters. ATM Shamsuzzaman was the eldest of them. He spent his early childhood at their home in Debendranath Das Lane.ATM Shamsuzzaman’s schooling began at Dhaka’s once famous Pogose School. Another powerful actor of Bangladesh film industry Prabir Mitra and famous cartoonist Rafiqun Nabi were ATM Shamsuzzaman’s friends at school.

Although their home is in Sutrapur, the playground is Armanitola ground. There are many memories of dusty childhood and adolescence around the field. He wanted to be a lot in one life. This is probably the turning point of life. Otherwise how did he become an actor from a director. But his acting came from the source of management.

He used to watch films with his mother, though his father was against it. Shamsuzzaman said just because of his mother he could gather enough courage to step into the realm of acting.He always wanted to work in the film industry. In fact, acting was his passion from the very beginning.An incident he mentioned provides an indication what he had to go through initially to pursue his passion.

His father wanted him to be a lawyer. But ATM Shamsuzzaman was a very stubborn kid. He had harboured the dream of becoming an actor since his childhood.He moved to Rajshahi with his uncle who was in the army. There he got admission in Lokonath High School.Dr Muhammad Shahidullah was his relative. Shamsuzzaman used to call him ‘nana’, or grandfather. He had spent a lot of time with him in Rajshahi.

Later, when he was in class X, his uncle had to move to Mymensingh. ATM Shamsuzzaman completed his schooling from Mymensingh City Collegiate School. After passing the matriculation examination, he came back to Dhaka and started living with his family again. Later he got admitted to Jagannath College.

Once one of his friends informed him that Indian filmmaker Udayan Chowdhury needs an assistant for his film Bishkonnya. ATM Shamsuzzaman met him in his office. He was asked to write his name on a paper and Udayan appointed him as his assistant. This is how in 1961 he stepped into the world of film.

‘Udayan Chowdhury is my guru,’ he emphatically pointed out. Anwar Hossian played hero in that film for the first time. Though the film was never released, it paved the way for ATM Shamsuzzaman to begin a career in the film industry.

He worked for some other noted filmmakers, including Khan Ataur Rahman, Kazi Zahir and Subhash Dutta, as assistant director. ATM Shamsuzzaman got married on March 15, 1968 to Runy Begum. The couple had three sons and three daughters.

ATM Shamsuzzaman has written over one hundred scripts as well. He made his debut as a screenplay writer with the film Jalchhabi. H Akbar was the director of the film. Actor Farooque was introduced to the industry through Jalchhabi where actress Kabori Sarwar played the female lead. Shamsuzzaman used to write stories and poems for newspaper as well. He considers writer Ranesh Dasgupta as his mentor in the literary arena. Ranesh Dasgupta used to go through his write-ups every time he needed a second pair of eyes to ensure quality. Besides, ATM Shamsuzzaman expresses his gratitude to educationist Ajit Kumar Guha, novelist Alauddin Al Azad, Dr Hasan Hafizur Rahman and others for grooming him during his college days. ATM Shamsuzzaman’s acting career saw its start when he acted in a film as a substitute actor. He also began to work as a prompter in films.

In 1971, He started working as an assistant director in Udayan Chowdhury’s ‘Manusher Bhagwan’ and ‘Bisakanya’. Since then he has worked as an assistant with various directors. In 1975, He came in front of the camera for the first time in the role of a magazine seller in Narayan Ghosh Mita’s ‘Etotuku Asha’. In that film, Altaf Hossain played a newspaper seller. Speaking of acting with him as an assistant, he was absent that day for some reason. ATM was present on that set at the time. Producer Mita did not see other option and asked him to play the role of Altaf’s assistant. At first he did not agree, but later he stood in front of the camera at his request. Seeing his expression, he said, you will one day be a great actor. ATM don’t know if he could be a good actor.

In 1972, he appeared as a war criminal in the film Ora Egaro Jon. He started playing both comical and negative characters. He acted in Amzad Hossain’s film Noyonmoni and Golapi Ekhon Trene lending his weight to the characters that were central to the story but were villains. Later Shamsuzzaman earned nationwide popularity for his portrayal as a villain in Dilip Biswas’ film Ashami. From then on, he did not have to look back. He has played different roles in over 400 films.

He has Surja Dighal Bari, Dayee Ke, Shasti, Hajar Bochor Dhore, Molla Barir Bou, Chander Moto Bou, Mon Boshena Porar Tebile and others popular films are under his belt. ATM Shamsuzzaman has played the role of a village matabbar, sometimes a variety of naughty people or comedy genres other than the usual ones. Whenever he appeared with that character, the audience responded quite well. ATM Shamsuzzaman have directed, acted, written stories, screenplays and stories for films. Actor ATM Shamsuzzaman has been loved by the audience more than anything else – this is more or less what.