Actor-director Afsana Mimi is now passing most of her time shooting for the acclaimed drama serial ‘Poush Phaguner Pala’. The serial directed by Mimi is based on three novels by Gajendra Mitra set against the backdrop of the sixties and seventies in Dhaka city and its outskirts.
‘It is very difficult to create the ambience of a particular time period. Everything has changed rapidly, especially, the old buildings and furniture,’ says Mimi. The drama serial, jointly written by Iraj Ahmed and Mansur Rahman Chanchal, is being aired on ATN Bangla every Tuesday and Wednesday.
Mimi has already competed 50 episodes of the serial, and plans to cover the original trilogy ‘Kolkatar Kachhe’, ‘Upakantha’ and ‘Poush Phaguner Pala’ through 200 episodes. Keeping the skeletons of the novels unhurt, the director has brought together the stories of three novels making few changes in the storyline.
Interestingly, audience of different ages are quite appreciating the serial. For elderly people the drama stirs nostalgic feelings while for the younger it is an interesting presentation. ‘If audience accepts the drama we will feel proud,’ Mimi, who has been facing a lot of challenges regarding the drama, exhales a sign of relief.
Recalling her memories regarding the novels, Mimi says she secretly read Gajendra Mitra’s ‘Upakantha’ when she was a high school student. ‘Involved so deeply with the novel,I could not feel my father’s presence. He gave me a slap for reading a novel instead of a class book,’ she smiles. ‘After nearly three decades I am working on that novel,’ she sounds excited.
Due to her busy time in making the serial, Mimi could not act in much plays these days. ‘In fact, I am still occupied with the drama serial ‘Poush Phaguner Pala’ and planning to start the shooting for the next episodes after the Eid vacation,’ Mimi says. However, she has performed in the single episode play ‘Cross Action’, written by Faria Hossain and directed by Arif Khan. The drama is scheduled to be screened on Channel-i as a part of their Eid programmes.
Mimi, a regular performer of Prachyanat’s ‘Raja O Ananya,’ an well-acclaimed theatre production based on Rabindranath Tagore’s ‘Raja’, admits that she should give more time to theatre. ‘I cannot even impersonate the character of queen Sudarshana in the play satisfactorily.’ regrets the artiste.
As for her next project, Mimi has plans to make a film on Zafar Iqbal’s story titled ‘Camp’. She expresses her optimism saying that she always tries to do her duty to the media industry carefully and sincerely.
