Naveen Islam Toree

Priyontee Urbee is clear about what she wants from her career: credibility. Not hype, not headlines — but work that speaks for itself. As her OTT presence steadily grows, the actor says her focus is on strong scripts, complex characters and consistency.

Few novels haunt popular culture the way “Wuthering Heights” does. Every generation believes it can tame Emily Brontë’s storm — and every generation is reminded that the storm refuses to be contained. The 2026 adaptation arrives not as a literary revival, but as a cultural battleground. Months before its release, debates around casting, tone, and directorial intent had already polarised audiences. But perhaps controversy is the most faithful tribute to Brontë’s unruly classic.

Produced by Shondaland, the series has built its reputation on lush, slow-burn romances set against the glittering Regency era. This time, however, the narrative leans unmistakably towards a fairytale — one strikingly similar to “Cinderella”. Benedict and Sophie’s story unfolds with all the familiar ingredients: disguise, longing, secrecy and the ache of forbidden love.

The Dhaka International Mobile Film Festival (DIMFF) 2026 kicked off on Saturday (January 31) with a clear message: mobile filmmaking is no longer a novelty, but a legitimate and growing cinematic practice with global reach.

From youthful longing to philosophical maturity, Rabindranath Tagore’s creative life unfolded as a continuous journey rather than something stagnant. That journey took centre stage at “Jatrapather Anandagan”, a thoughtfully curated cultural programme held on Friday (January 30) evening at Bengal Shilpalay in Dhanmondi.

The book was launched today evening at the Crowne Plaza Ballroom in Gulshan-2, Dhaka, at an event organised by Archiconnect and attended by architects, academics, planners, students, cultural figures and members of the media, marking a significant moment for contemporary architectural discourse in Bangladesh.

In a city where conversations around gender and representation are frequent, moments of genuine re-calibration remain rare. “The Other Voice” arrives at Bengal Shilpalay on January 28 not as a slogan-driven exhibition, but as a visual argument—one that insists women’s artistic practices in Bangladesh cannot be reduced to footnotes, themes, or exceptions.

Published by Unicorn and distributed locally by University Press Limited, the book resists the narrow frames through which Bangladesh has often been viewed since its independence in 1971. International narratives have long leaned on images of poverty, disaster, and despair. Grey’s work proposes something far more radical: a Bangladesh alive with texture, dignity, contradiction, and irrepressible energy.

Rupert Grey, a descendant of Charles Grey and best known professionally as a leading libel and copyright lawyer stood against this statement. “If Bangladesh is a basket case,” Grey tells The Daily Star, “then it is so in the best possible way.” For him, the term collapses under the sheer vitality of the country. A single square metre of a Bangladeshi street, he argues, holds more energy than entire neighbourhoods in London. Where life in England often unfolds in rigid routines, Bangladesh thrives in spontaneity—where a hanging lighter at a tea stall can become a moment of shared choreography.

A corner of Alliance Française de Dhaka’s Galerie Zoom has been transformed into a time capsule, where three teenage artists come together to tell a story that feels both tender and universal. “Convergence” is less about spectacle and more about memory — about how friendship forms, stretches across distance, and learns to say goodbye without ever fully letting go.

A group photography exhibition documenting the life, culture and traditions of the Manipuri community in Bangladesh opened at the Bishwo Shahitto Kendro Art Gallery in Banglamotor on December 12.

Necropolitics— a social or political power that determines who gets to live and who does not. Just the thought of this unfair monstrosity makes one shiver, doesn’t it? But it is the way of the world now. To make a bold statement against necropolitics all around the world, The University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) presented “Rupantor: The Resonance Show”, a sustainability-focused fashion and performance project that transformed discarded materials into wearable narratives, with design, movement and social reflection.

Cultural affairs adviser Mostofa Sarwar Farooki inaugurated the exhibition as chief guest. Renowned artists Professor Dr Abdus Sattar and Professor Mostafizul Haque attended the event as guests of honour, while Mr Sheikh Rezauddin Ahmed, director general of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, presided over the ceremony.

The auditorium at Goethe-Institut Bangladesh turns into an unconventional stage on November 29 as “AI Mafia Boyfriend”, an experimental performance created by Katerina Don for Sister Library, unfolds before a packed audience. Instead of a conventional play, the production operates as a participatory social experiment examining loneliness, emotional labour, and the growing role of artificial intelligence in intimate life.

Leading the charge was the iconic Miles frontman, Hamin Ahmed, who distilled decades of experience into an unforgettable session for the assembled talent. Organised by Team Alpha, the masterclass was a dynamic blend of deep technical instruction and a rare, intimate look into the maestro's creative process.

On November 27, The Islamic University of Technology Photographic Society (IUTPS) inaugurated “Break The Circle: Season XII” at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy’s Art Gallery 6, unveiling one of its most ambitious international showcases to date. The exhibition features 50 single photographs and seven photo stories selected from 7,832 submissions by judges Syed Latif Hossain, Suborna Morsheada and Sarker Protick.

The exhibition, which runs from November 21 to November 29, invites visitors into the intimate and often unseen beginnings of animated storytelling—before the polish, before the frames move, before the films exist.

In the quiet corners of Alliance Française, a small cluster of canvases invites viewers into a Dhaka that no longer exists — or perhaps one that exists only in memory. In “City of Memories”, Kazi Salahuddin Ahmed turns the familiar chaos of our own Old Dhaka into intimate, abstract landscapes, painted to recall the magic of the city.

His dramas from the 1980s to 2000s — “Ei Shob Din Ratri”, “Aaj Robibar”, “Kothao Keu Nei” — didn’t rely on extravagant plots. Instead, they unfolded inside familiar apartments, verandas, and tea stalls. The humour was effortless, the dialogue ordinary, yet the emotion ran deep. He made us care for people who could easily have been our neighbours.

On Friday, Dhaka witnessed an unforgettable night as Dhaka hosted a border-blurring musical spectacle that fused R&B, hip-hop, and indie energy in front of a roaring crowd hungry for something new. Jalali Set, Hasan Raheem, and Young Stunners lit up the stage, delivering one of the city’s most explosive live performances in recent memory.