#Title

The more you look local, the more you go global

JAYA AHSAN
SHARMIN JOYA
Jaya Ahsan is a brand herself; she needs no introduction. Her immense talent, beauty and charm extended her career into the Tollywood industry, becoming one of the most loved actresses on either side of the border.
After her last release “Alatchakra”, Jaya is returning to the silver screens today, with Mahmud Didar’s debut directorial “Beauty Circus”.
The actress recently flew to Kolkata to attend the ‘World Film Festival’, as the Chief Guest.
Share your experience of ‘Beauty Circus’ with us.
The experience was amazing! This film has a special place in my heart, as it is based on a lost heritage of our culture. We learned how circus troupes work from a professional team. Since it is a diverse entertainment show, it has a lot of stunt-oriented and object manipulative gestures, which needs to look perfect on screen.
The director and crew shared that you had to risk your life during this process…
We did take a lot of risk, but then again, no risk no gain! I am glad that we did this at the end so well, and I believe that the audience will appreciate our effort. Also, the circus includes animals, and we had to be extra careful about taking care of them. We are relieved to have made this happen successfully.
After ‘Debi’, your upcoming production is going to be ‘Jaya Aar Sharmin’. You seem to produce films that empower women, which is still not that regular in our mainstream industry.
I feel like our patriarchal mindset holds us back to take the initiative of making more female-centric films. If you consider ‘Debi’, it is a nice middle-ground in a popular genre, while the films I have been featured in Kolkata, including the likes of—‘Bijaya’, or ‘Bishorjon’, go all-in on that aspect. At the same time, films like ‘Robibar’ and ‘Binisutoy’ have both male and female roles with significant importance.
Your films that were released in Kolkata were arguably more successful than the ones that released in Bangladesh. Why do you think that this happened?
‘Debi’ was the most talked about film of that year. About ‘Alatchakra’ and other productions, I would say that each film has its unique mood and tone. Thus, the way ‘Debi’ was received because it was a middle range cinema, might not happen in case of ‘Alatchakra’ or any other similar project.
After ‘Debi’, you have received a government grant for the second time for ‘Roid’. There was a debate over the grants received this year, about the process not being fair. What is your take on that?
Formula films lost their place a long time ago. Mainstream films need financial support to regain its lost charm, and the government has taken this initiative of supporting the mainstream films, it is really great. Then again, commercial films tend to get more producers compared to documentaries, or archival films. Such films need extended support, because these works of art are also essential to keep us rooted towards our history and culture.
‘Roid’ is your second production, and it is Mejbaur Rahman Sumon’s second directorial project as well. Your collaboration has presented some of the finest works in television from 2007 until 2010. Why did you and Sumon not collaborate in your first projects?
All I can say is, when Sumon wanted to make his debut as a director in the silver screen, he wanted to tell his own story, while I was more into producing a popular plot. Now, after years of working on television, we’ll have our first film together.
What are your upcoming projects?
After “Beauty Circus”, I have a few pipelined projects in Bangladesh—”Jaya Aar Sharmin”, and Nurul Alam Atique’s “Peyarar Shubash” and government granted film “Nakshi Kanthar Jamin”.
As for Kolkata, I have five films which awaits release— “Ardhangini”, “Bhutpori”, “OCD”, and “Kalantor”.