Mehrin Mubdi Cowdhury

For most, the single word that scares us out of our wits is probably cancer. Joyeeta Trisha, famous freelance photographer of our country dealt with all the adversities and emerged as a survivor. Here's her story:

Kanak Aditya, Director and Chief Creative Officer at Deshal is a true artiste in all senses. Renowned musician, seasoned painter with a professional degree from the Faculty of Fine Arts, DU, involved with Prachyanat since his university days – he knows the ins and outs of the creative world. Star Lifestyle went to visit this creative, in his relaxing den, in the outskirts of Dhaka and discovered the actual secret behind his brilliance.

Every day movement around the city is a gigantic task for Sharlin Akther, a person with a physical disability (cerebral palsy), where most of her right side is incapacitated and she has to balance herself in a special way to make her daily commute to the workplace. Every day she has to take a long queue at the bus station, only to find her reserved seats already taken by someone else – especially one without any distinctive medical condition. According to the Rights and Protection of Persons with Disabilities Act 2013, Section 32 (1) – a 5 percent dedicated seat reservation is mandatory. This story is about Akther and many others who go through the same ordeal everyday, without any expectations that things would change in the near future.

With global names like Netflix, HBO, Disney, and Amazon investing heavily in the concept, it is inevitable that local names like Chorki, Hoichoi, Binge, Bongo etc., will continue to flourish equally. As the ecosystem continues to grow, we have numerous questions that come into our minds, such as how much OTT has actually affected the overall entertainment industry, what its future outlook may be, and whether there will be any negative impact, as is usual with any swiftly expanding user platform.

“Nadir On The Go” is a popular YouTube channel, maintained by Nadir — a Bangladeshi documenting travelogues since 2016, as he visits different cities across the globe. Recently, Nadir won the Best Content Creator award in the Travel Vlog category at the Blender’s Choice-The Daily Star OTT & Digital Content Awards 2021.

Hawa is a Bangladeshi mystery-drama film, written and directed by Mejbaur Rahman Sumon. The film is produced by Facecard Productions and Sun Music & Motion Pictures Limited and has become one of the trendiest movies of the year. The film stars Chanchal Chowdhury as Chan Majhi, Nazifa Tushi as Gulti, and Sariful Razz as Ibrahim or Iba, amongst others. A few days ago, Gulti, a protagonist of the trending movie Hawa, sat amongst the crowd at Chitra Mahal cinema hall in Old Dhaka, to relive the magic of cinema amongst real men.

Nobody ever forgets their first… well to be more specific here, their first silvery strands peeking out during the most awkward of occasions; maybe on an anniversary date with that special someone or on a formal interview with future colleagues, where they are supposed to look able, fit and technically young with a head full of jet-black hair.

If you are thinking that Hawa, the Chanchal Chowdhury and Nazifa Tushi starrer is simply facing the first few days of success, that is usual of any good movie, then you are simply clueless. The movie written and directed by Mejbaur Rahman Sumon is facing an implausible triumph, one that is only synonymous with blockbuster hits. Fans had gone wild even before the movie was released. They were wearing the Hawa sari, and Hawa T-shirts, carrying the Hawa merchandise and even humming to the famous ‘Shada-Kala’ tune while boarding a rickshaw. It’s as if the film had created a cult following, who were hung up on setting the records straight for once: that Bangladeshi movies could generate a buzz similar to any of their global counterpart.