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Face to face

Passionate couple in theatre

Ferdausi and Ramendu

HARUN UR RASHID
ONE must agree that the Majumdars--Ferdausi and Ramendu--are the most
prominent and praised couple in the country. Primarily known as theatre personalities, the Majumdars are
among the first row of pioneers in Bangladesh who have struggled
passionately to uphold the language and culture of the nation.
Ramendu Majumdar was born in a culturally weathered family where in his childhood he inherited an interest in drama from his father. When he was in class VI, he played a role in a school production of the play Serajuddoula. At the university, when Shahid Munier Chaudhury was looking for an actor to perform in his play Roktakto Prantor and the legendary teacher Jyotirmoy Guhathakurta recommended him, Ramendu was finally chosen. This marked the beginning of Ramendu's career as an actor.
Shahid Munier Chaudhury appears again as the key-factor when it comes to Ferdausi's acting forte. For it was he who took the younger sister for acting in the play Abdullahr Karkhana. 'It was particularly easy, as I had to play the role of a robot. So, the first experience was no big deal for me,' Ferdausi recollects with humour. Written by eminent litterateur Shawkat Osman and directed by Munier Chaudhury, the production was arranged by the students of Iqbal Hall of Dhaka University.
However, coming into acting was not very easy for Ferdausi because hers was a very conservative family. There had been a lot of objections to her acting in theatre from her father. 'But he used to get easily moved by the achievements of his children,'
says Ferdausi. When one day her name was published in Tamoshi, a magazine edited by Late Neelima Ibrahim, her father noticed it and became very happy, Ferdausi promptly took the opportunity to establish that acting was not something to look down upon.
Being widely known for their TV
appearances, the Majumdar couple has a remarkable achievement in this very medium. They acted in the first ever drama aired on Bangladesh Television in 1964. Titled Ektala Dotala, this was another play by Munier Chaudhury. Ferdausi played a Punjabi girl living on the first floor of a two-storied house who made a lot of noise while washing clothes with a brick-bat. This leads to successive confrontations with the ground-floor tenant played by Ramendu. Eventually, the two fall in love. After this first TV play, neither of the couple has had to look back.
On stage too, the two have been among the most celebrated performers in the country. Especially
Ferdausi has achieved a number of significant milestones in the history of theatre in Bangladesh. She is the only performer to have acted in two solo dramas Kokilara and Eka. The latter is comparatively different since it does not have any dialogue. Since 1959 Ferdausi has performed on about 1100 occasions in some 30 plays, mostly for Theatre Drama Group.
The couple has also performed on the radio. 'It is much harder to perform for the radio than the TV or stage. For, nobody sees youthe only means to draw a character is dialogue,' the Majumdars compare the two media.
Besides acting, they have been involved in other activities as well. Ramendu is a popular Bangla newscaster in both TV and Betar. He, however, started his career as a lecturer at Chaumuhani College in Noakhali. Ferdausi, too, has been a teacher all her life until last July. She retired from her last working place Mastermind School due to ill health. A few months back she hurt her knee as she fell off the staircase while performing in the famous play Payer Awaj Paowa Jay. Ferdausi has also acted in three films--Domka by Abdullah Al Mamun, Mayer Odhikar and Meghla Aakash.
The Majumdars do think that there has been a satisfactory rise in the earning of the actors, thanks to the introduction of private TV channels and package dramas. 'But that has brought down the quality of acting to some extent,' say the veteran theatre personalities. 'Earlier we had to rehearse a play for days together to make a flawless production. But now the necessity of rehearsal is felt much less than before.The devotion for the theatre seems to be absent now,' they both feel.
At present, the couple is engaged in training at their Theatre School. With their only child Tropa, the couple hopes to continue working for the theatre of the country as long as possible.