Shabana from Ratna: Tale of a living legend film actress

Sheikh Arif Bulbon :
No one has ever been able to capture people’s hearts with passion like her. At the age of 9, she made her debut in cinema, after which the rest is
history. It is impossible to write the history of Bengali cinema without her. She is the living legend
film actress Shabana.
June 15 was the birthday of Bengali cinema actress Shabana.
She was born on this day in 1952. Although it has been 26 years since she said goodbye to the film industry, no one has forgotten Shabana.
Since childhood, Shabana was a bit too shy. She was not interested in studies. So, she ended her education in secondary school. She got a call to act in director Ehtesham’s movie while studying in the fifth grade. Ehtesham, the producer of Star Maker, was Shabana’s father’s cousin. In 1962, Shabana’s silver screen chapter began as a child artiste in the movie ‘Notun Sur’. Ehtesham changed her family name to Afroza Sultana Ratna and changed it to Shabana. She acted as a child artiste in Ibne Mizan’s movie ‘Abar Bonobase Roopban’ (1966) and in supporting role in Mustafiz directed movie ‘Dak Babu’ (1966). She has also worked as a dancer and extra artiste in some movies.
In 1967, Shabana made her debut as a heroine in the movie ‘Chokori’ directed by Ehtesham. She gained popularity in the first movie as a heroine. Starting from the successful movie, she continued to give one after another successful and
successful movies.
Shabana has acted in nearly 300 movies in her career of three and a half decades. She paired up with hero Alamgir for almost one-third of her career. Apart from this, she has teamed up with popular heroes including Nadeem, Razzak, Farooq, Jasim, Sohel Rana, among others, has given many famous movies.
Shabana has received National Film Award 10 times – 9 times as Best Actress and once as a Producer. No one could break this record till date. Shabana received Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017. Other awards include the Producers’ Guild Award, BACHSAS Award, Art Forum Award, Natyasobha Award, Quamrul Hassan Award, Natyaniketan Award, Lalitakala Academy Award and Kathak Academy Award.
Shabana married government official Wahid Sadiq in 1973. The two established the production company, SS Production. Many popular movies had been produced under the banner of this production house.
After marriage, the popularity of heroines decreased, proving that wrong, Shabana got married at the age of 21 and handled both family and movies in parallel.
At the end of 1997, she reduced her acting and suddenly left the
cinema. Then she settled in the United States. Shabana comes to
the country sometimes, and leaves again after a few days.
Notable movies starring Shabana include: ‘Bhat Dey,’ ‘Abujh Mon,’ ‘Chhutir Ghonta’, ‘Dost Dushmon’, ‘Sotyo Mitthya’, ‘Ranga Bhabi’, ‘Banglar Nayok’, ‘Ora 11 Jon’, ‘Birodh’, ‘Aanari’, ‘Somadhan’, ‘Jibon Sathi’, ‘Matir Ghor’, ‘Lootera’, ‘Sokhi Tumi Kar’, ‘Keu Karo Noy’, ‘Palabi Kothay’ ‘Swami Keno Ashami’, ‘Dussahos’, ‘Lokkhir Songsar’, ‘Putrobodhu’, ‘Akrosh,’ ‘Chapa
Dangar Bou’, etc.