Bangladeshi actress Nusrat Faria says she has drawn on her seven years of journey in the cinema industry to portray her role in Bangla film “A House with No Name” which was screened in the Cinema of the World section of 53rd International Film Festival of India in Goa on November 25.
Asked about the difference between an actress on reel and in real life, Faria said, “When I started working, my family wasn’t very supportive. So, I had to fight my own battle to get here.”
“My character in the film also has her journey as she tries to come up in a male- dominated film industry where the only thing that sustains her is her passion. Their experiences may have been different but their overall journey is similar and I have drawn on my seven years of experience in the cinema industry,” she added while interacting with the media and delegates at an event ‘Table Talks’ on the side lines of the Festival on November 25.
In the film, Faria plays an actress who returns to her hometown and discovers secrets about her family’s past.
Explaining why she chose to do the film, Nusrat Faria said, “I have been doing commercial films with song-dance sequences and romance for the last seven years and my schedule kept me away from my family.
“During the pandemic, after many years, I spent 60 days straight with my family when Abu Shahed Emon came up with the film to me. It reminded me of my relationship with my mother and I instantly said yes,” she added. The film itself was shot between two the Covid-19 waves.
According to Faria, story is the real hero of films nowadays.
“One must keep the audience in mind, earlier they were not willing to pay for big ticket female-led films. But that changed after Covid-19 pandemic when people were exposed to content on OTT and became more open to the idea. Today, story is the main hero of the film.”, she said.
Also present in Goa was Afsana Mimi who essays Faria’s mother in the film. Mimi said she found the role in Emon-produced film very challenging on returning to the big screen after 18 years.
She said she chose the project as it was a challenging role. “The conflict portrayed in my character in the film is very tough. On the one hand, she performs abortions and on the other she craves to spend time with her daughter.”
Nusrat Faria said she couldn’t miss the chance to work with Afsana Mimi.
Abu Shahed Emon described the film as a ‘complex and beautiful mother-daughter story’.
Talking about changes in Bangladesh’s film industry, Afsana Mimi said, “Now there is more space for younger talent and newer ideas, in a way I couldn’t have imagined when I started working.”
To a question on the space women occupy in Bangladeshi film industry, Mimi said while roles for women have always been there, there aren’t enough female directors.
