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Morning rain; cloudyEntertainment
Sazzad Rahman and Amina Choudhury in Kita Oilow
A day in an actor’s shoes
Shelina Begum29/10/2004
IT'S not everyday when you're asked to be part of a movie - but
that's exactly what happened to me when a local Bangladeshi
director invited me to play a part in his next Sylheti film.
And it didn't take too long to jump at the chance either, who knows
if Shah Rukh Khan ever gets to watch me in the movie he may decide
to line me up to play opposite him in his next Bollywood
film.!
With that in mind I said yes. I was to play the best friend of the
lead character, Munwara, and my job was to tell her not to marry an
illegal immigrant from Bangladesh.
The film is set in Oldham and is called 'Kitha Oilow' - What
Happened.
This is director Luthfur Rahman's second film. His debut was called
Kitha Paylam and starred several Oldham actors.
The aims of Sylheti films are to deal with problems arising in the
Bangladeshi community in the UK. This can range from drug abuse to
arranged marriages..
The actors speak in the Sylheti dialect and because of this,
Sylheti films have been a huge hit in both the UK and Bangladesh,
especially with young people who are able to connect with the
message being portrayed.Apart from getting a bit of background
about the film and my character, I didn't know what to expect,
after all I don't have any acting experience.
The film was being shot at a house in Werneth, Oldham. The camera
crew were all hard at work shooting quite an emotional scene
between the lead actress Amina Choudhury who plays Munwara and her
mother.
By this point I was getting nervous. I had been handed my lines. It
was a small scene but I wasn't sure whether I'd be able to perform
in front of so many people.
Producer, Sazzad Rahman assured me that I would be fine. After
Amina finished her scene it was time to make my acting debut. But
first I had my makeup done. At this point I decided to interview
the producer and get some more details about the film.
Sazzad told me they wanted to explore issues related to marriage of
convenience rather than love.
He said: "There is a huge cultural difference between young people
who have grown up in this country and those back home.
"It can be very hard for a young man from a village in Sylhet to
adjust to the lifestyle of an independant girl born and raised
here. Their outlook on life is different and their aims of the
future defer as well.
"This often leads to conflicts which in many cases has lead to
marriage breakdown. This is a huge problem with families in the UK
and it has been highlighted in the film."
So is the film a warning to parents then?
"No, absolutely not," said Sazzad.
"We want to show the overall picture of what could happen and how
the different social climates in which a person was raised can
affect the marriage of two people who have never lived in each
other's environment.
"At the end of the day it is up to the individual where and whom
they get married but it is important that they see the full
picture."
After I had spoken to Sazzad and my makeup complete, looking very
much like a film star, it was time to put my premature acting
skills to test.
Luthfur went over my lines showing me how to get the tones right,
when to stop and pause - there was a lot more to it than only
remembering the lines.
Finally when the cameras started rolling and the director shouted
action, I imagined nobody in the room while my character, Anwara
told Munwara not to rush into marriage.
I got my lines wrong the first time round, during one shot my mind
even went completely blank, luckily for me I was not the only one
getting the lines wrong, so was Amina, which made me feel a little
better.
And about two hours and 20 shots later the cameras stopped rolling
and I think I finally pulled it off.
Who would have thought three minutes worth of film could take so
long to shoot. As fun as it was, acting is hard work.
It's not easy remembering lines and trying to play different
emotions, that comes from true talent, of which I have truly begun
to understand an admire in actors.
Kitha Oilow is out soon.
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