Memory: A story about Dildar

Sheikh Arif Bulbon :

Dildar was a renowned Bangladeshi film comedian.
July 13 marked his 22nd death anniversary. He passed away on July 13, 2003, at the age of 58 due to heart failure. He was celebrated for his comedic roles in Dhallywood cinema and was posthumously awarded the National Film Award for Best Comedian in 2003 for his
performance in the film ‘Tumi Shudhu Amar’.

His parents gave him the name Delwar Hossain. He became Dildar after entering the world of cinema. With this changed name, he won the hearts of the audience. In less than four decades, Dildar has appeared in over 500 films. Dildar has shown how to reign supreme, how to transcend the boundaries of comedian and become a stand-alone hero.
After his death, there were no more comedy characters like that in Bengali cinema. Many attempts have been made at various times to create an alternative to Dildar. But all attempts failed. So even after so many years of his death, Dildar is still as relevant, even as popular. July 13 was the 22nd death anniversary of this smiling actor of Bengali cinema.
Here are some stories about him that were collected by scraps on the day of his death.
Dildar was unrivaled as a comedian in Dhallywood. He became synonymous with the word ‘comedy’. The director used to say that the movie needs story, romance, action, suspense, and a Dildar. He was so indispensable at that time. He surpassed many heroes and heroines in popularity. Director Malek Afsari was shooting in Uttara one day, many people had gathered to get autographs from the hero and heroine. Both the hero and heroine were getting quite annoyed by the commotion. Meanwhile, Dildar’s car arrived at the shooting set. Everyone shouted, “Challi is coming.” Leaving the heroes and heroines behind, they surrounded Dildar’s car to get autographs. Meanwhile, the hero and heroine sat there, looking annoyed.
Dildar became the hero in Tozammel Haque Bokul’s movie ‘Abdullah’. He was surprised to receive an offer from the director to become the hero. Dildar said, “Are you coming to kick me?” After much pleading, Dildar agreed. But who will be the heroine opposite him? This created complications. Several heroines including Moushumi and Shabnur turned down the offer. Then the director took the offer to Nutan. She agreed. From then on, Nutan started receiving many calls, asking her not to do the film. But Nutan did not give up. Even after making the movie, the director and producer were in a lot of fear. Why did they take this risk with Dildar, had to ask the hall owners this question. However, after the movie’s release, the scene changed. From the very first day, the audience started gathering in large numbers. The producer said that at that time, the movie ‘Abdullah’ did business of about Tk5 crore.
Dildar has sung in many movies with Nasrin. Nasrin was also supposed to act in Malek Afsari’s film ‘Lal Badshah’. But at that time, Dildar was having a falling out with her. After hearing Nasrin’s words, Dildar made it clear that he would not act in this film if Nasrin was with him. Later, a new actress was cast opposite him in the film. Before shooting, the director told Dildar that there would be a song in lip-synched by Dildar. During the shooting, Dildar wanted to know where the song was? Then the director said that the song was supposed to be made centered around him and Nasrin. There was no song because a new actress was working. Dildar was annoyed to hear this and said that if there was no song, he would not give it to schedule again. The director gave him a condition at that time, there will be song, if he can sing himself. Later, Dildar lent her voice to the song ‘Shudhu Dim Diye Porichoy’. This song in his voice became quite popular.
Just as he kept the audience captivated with his acting on screen, Dildar was also a joy to watch on the shooting set. He used to encourage his fellow artists to do good work. Dildar has worked with Dulari in many projects. The movie ‘Danga’ is one of them, the film was also remade in India. Dildar was also in that Tollywood movie. At that time, Dulari had not acted in any Indian movie, so she was very scared to go abroad. At that time, Dildar gave her courage. He said, if she can do it in domestic cinema, why can’t she do it in Indian cinema? Dildar supported Dulari a lot even during the shooting. During the shooting, he took Dulari to New Market. Many people asked him, “Who was she to you?” Dildar jokingly introduced her as his wife. Everyone was having a lot of fun seeing the difference in height between the two. Dulari asked him, “Why are you telling everyone this?” Dildar replied, “What’s the problem? Everyone is having fun.”
He loved to make everyone happy, not only in front of the camera, but also off-screen.
Even though he was busy with films, Dildar was equally responsible for his family. He would never be on the shooting set after 10:00pm. He would return home. He also kept the financial aspect of the family in mind.
Thinking about the future, he built two houses during his lifetime. His wife Rokeya Begum was still paying the rent for that house. Dildar’s two daughters, Masuma Akhtar and Jinia Afroz, are both established.