Ferdousi Mazumder

Ferdousi Mazumder (née Ara Begum; born 18 June 1943)^[1] is a Bangladeshi film, television and stage actress. In 1998, she was awarded Ekushey Padak in the drama category by the Government of Bangladesh.^[2] As of 2009, on stage she has given over 1200 performances of about 35 plays, mostly for her own group, Theatre.^[1]

Early life

Mazumder was an intermediate student of Eden College.^[1] She earned her master's degree in both Bengali and Arabic from the University of Dhaka.

Career

Mazumder started her drama career through her brother, Munier Chowdhury, a playwright and novelist.^[1] She first acted in the drama Daktar Abdullahar Karkhana, written by Shawkat Osman, which was a production of the then Iqbal Hall of the University of Dhaka.^[1] Ferdousi also acted at the very first televised drama of Bangladesh Television, Ektala Dotala (1964).^[1] Over the years, she performed in plays like Kokilara, a one-woman play, Eka, an one-character non-verbal play, Tamoshi, written by Nilima Ibrahim and others.^[1] She directed five stage plays including Meherjan Arekbar, Tahara Tokhono, Chithi and Dui Bon.^[1]

After the independence of Bangladesh, in 1972, a group of Chhatra Shikkhak Natya Goshthi members formed a theatre troupe calling it Theatre. Majumdar was one of the founding members of the troupe.^[1]

Personal life

Mazumder is married to Ramendu Majumdar.^[3] Together they have a daughter, Tropa Mazumder. Her father, Khan Bahadur Abdul Halim Chowdhury, was a district magistrate. Her brother Munier Chowdhury was an intellectual. Another brother, Kabir Chowdhury, was a professor and intellectual.^[4]

Awards

• Ekushey Padak (1998)
• William Kerry Award (1998)
• Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Award for Best Actor (1978)
• First National TV Award for Best Acting (1975)
• Sequence Award of Merit for performance in TV for a decade^[1]

Works

References