Remembering Humayun with Dr Ezazul Islam, Faruk Ahmed
The actors recently visited The Business Standard office to share their memories of celebrated author Humayun Ahmed who would have turned 72 today
It was Humayun Ahmed who introduced Dr Ezazul Islam and Faruk Ahmed as actors to people of this country. They worked with him in many of his celebrated productions, which turned them into household names later on.
They recently visited the Business Standard to share their memories of Humayun Ahmed.
They first spoke about how they met the writer.
Dr Ezazul said, "It was 1996. I had set up a chamber in Gazipur after obtaining an MBBS degree. Our MBBS course was under Dhaka University. At that time, I went to the room of Prof Karim Sir at Dhaka University to get a signature from him on a form of the university. On reaching there, I came to know that he had gone to Humayun Ahmed's office in Kakrail. Without wasting a single moment, I rushed there. My main target was to meet Humayun Ahmed."
"When I entered the office room, Humayun Ahmed started talking to me. He asked me my name and where I lived, etc. I told him that I lived in Joydevpur. Then he told me that he used to go there for shoots and sometimes he fell into trouble. He asked me whether I could help him. I was waiting for the opportunity. I assured him that he could go there anytime and there would be no problem. After leaving the room, I felt extremely happy. I was so excited to meet him that I lost the signed form. One week later, Humayun Sir called me on the phone. He then came to Gazipur with a big team to shoot a drama named Sabuj Shathi. I helped him during that shoot. He was very pleased with me. Somehow I got involved in the drama and played a role in it," Dr Ezazul continued.
One day, Humayun Ahmed told Dr Ezazul about his dream of building a Baganbari (a holiday home). Humayun Ahmed spoke to many people about finding a suitable place for one but no one could help him in this regard, said Dr Ezazul.
Then he gave him the responsibility of finding a place to build the house. Dr Ezazul showed him the place where Humayun built Nuhash Palli.
Meanwhile, Faruk Ahmed was a school friend of Humayun's youngest brother Ahsan Habib. During Faruk's school life, Humayun lived in Mohammadpur and he used to visit their home very often. At the time Faruk did theatre. Later, in 1991, he played a character in a drama named "Achin Brikkho" directed by Humayun Ahmed. Produced by Sheikh Riaz Uddin Badshah, the drama was aired on BTV. After that, he worked on more than 150 dramas, including "Aj Robibar," by Humayun Ahmed.
"Many people called Humayun Ahmed 'Sir.' But I called him 'Bhai' as he was my friend's eldest brother. There was a familial relation between us," Faruk said.
Humayun Ahmed wrote several scripts for the drama series "Tara Tin Jon." Different aspects of society were highlighted in the series in a humorous way. Dr Ezazul, Faruk Ahmed and Swadhin Khasru worked on the series.
When asked about the origin of the drama series, Dr Ezazul said the idea had come from Humayun Ahmed. He made a plan for the three actors, but did not share it with them. The three actors came to know about it on the first day of shooting. Then the series became very popular, said Dr Ezaz.
On celebrating Humayun's birthday, Faruk said Humayun used to celebrate his birthday with his family and close ones. People close to him used to go to his home with gifts.
"Otherwise, Sir would ask what they had brought for him. However, it was fun. Actually, he was such a humorous person that it was a great joy to spend time with him," Faruk added.
Reminiscing about the old days, Dr Ezazul shared a story on one of his birthdays.
"During one of his birthdays, we were late going to his home. When we reached his home, it was night. We were unsure about what gift we would give him. Later, we bought a seedling for him. He was so happy to see the gift that he showed the gift to everyone," said Dr Ezazul.
Faruk told us another story about Humayun's son Nishat's birthday.
Faruk said, "On the birthday of his son, he forgot to invite us. But somehow we came to know that Nishat's birthday was being celebrated at a restaurant. Ezazul and I rushed there. Later, the incident became a source of many laughs. Sir told everyone that he did not invite us to the birthday celebration but we went there. 'This is called love,' Sir said."
Ezazul said that he misses how Humayun used to call him "doctor."
"I came to the media through Sir. Now I miss him very much. If he was here, many episodes of 'Tara Tin Jon' would be made," said Dr Ezazul.
Faruk feels the same way. He only wishes for eternal peace of the departed soul on his birth anniversary.