Farida Akhtar Poppy, known by her stage name Babita, is a Bangladeshi film actress. She is a popular actress in Bangladeshi films of the 1970s. She is best known for her performance in

Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian director, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker, author, essayist, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligrapher, and music composer. One of the greatest auteurs of fil ...

's '' Distant Thunder'', a novel adaptation about the Bengal famine of 1943, which won the

Golden Bear The Golden Bear (german: Goldener Bär) is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival. The bear is the heraldic animal of Berlin, featured on both the coat of arms and flag of Berlin. History The winn ...

prize at the 23rd Berlin International Film Festival in 1973. She was active in the 1970s through 1990s as an actress in Bangladeshi films. Babita acted in more than 350 films. After winning the

National Film Award The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directora ...

in 1975, she won three consecutive best actress prizes. She won ''Best Actor'' in 1986, ''Best Producer'' in 1997 and ''Best Supporting'' Actress Award twice in 2002 and 2012. In addition, she was awarded the lifetime achievement award of the National Film Award in the year 2016.

Early life

Babita was born to a family that had its origins in the west-Bangladeshi district of

Jessore Jessore ( bn, যশোর, jôshor, ), officially Jashore, is a city of Jessore District situated in Khulna Division. It is situated in the south-western part of Bangladesh. It is the administrative centre (headquarter) of the eponymous district ...

, Bangladesh. Her father Nizamuddin Ataub was a government officer and mother Jahan Ara Begum was a doctor. They were in Bagerhat due to their father's job. Her nickname is Poppy. She has three sisters and three brothers. Babita's mother studied in

Lady Brabourne College Lady Brabourne College (LBC) is an institution for women's education in Kolkata, India. The college admits undergraduates and post-graduates, and awards degrees from the University of Calcutta. It is a state government administered college and is ...

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

. In an interview with the ''Independent'' newspaper in 2004, Babita says that it was Afzal Chowdhury who suggested the screen name ''Babita'' for her. In another interview with the ''Daily Star'' in 2005, she mentions that Zahir Raihan originally casts her for the movie ''Shongshaar''. A different version of the story is that she adopted the name after appearing in Ehtesham's movie ''Pitch Dhala Path''. Babita's brother-in-law

Zahir Raihan Mohammad Zahirullah (19 August 1935 – disappeared 30 January 1972), known as Zahir Raihan, was a Bangladeshi novelist, writer and filmmaker. He is most notable for his documentary ''Stop Genocide'' (1971), made during the Bangladesh Liberation ...

first cast her for his movie ''Jaltey Suraj Ka Nichey''. The film was not completed in the end but she found a break-through into the Dhaka film industry. Her first released feature was ''Shesh Porjonto''. Among the three sisters and three brothers are elder sister

Shuchanda Kohinoor Akhter (known by her stage name Shuchanda) is a Bangladeshi film actress and director. She started her career in the mid 1960s and acted in about 100 movies. She won Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Director for the film '' Hajar ...

who is a film actress, elder brother Shaheedul Islam is an Electrical Engineer, currently living in Australia, another brother Iqbal Islam is a Pilot officer, younger sister

Champa Champa (Cham: ꨌꩌꨛꨩ; km, ចាម្ប៉ា; vi, Chiêm Thành or ) were a collection of independent Cham polities that extended across the coast of what is contemporary central and southern Vietnam from approximately the 2nd cen ...

is a film actress and younger brother Ferdous Islam is currently living in the United States.

Education

Babita studied in her early days at Dawood Public School in Jessore. During her studies there, due to her sister's arrival in the movie, she came to Dhaka with her family. Later she studied in Gloria School. She earned proficiency in English, including some foreign languages. She refined herself to the level of an ideal artist.

Personal life

Babita's husband died when their son was three years old. Her two sisters

and

are film actresses.

Career

Actress

Babita's notable work includes ''Shukhe Thako'', ''Taka Anna Pai'', ''Shorolipi'', ''Manusher Mon'', ''Pich Dhala Path'', ''Noyon Moni'', ''Jonmo Theke Jolchi'' and ''Anarkoli''. Her acting gained the attention of the Indian director Satyajit Ray. In 1973, Ray cast Babita in ''

Ashani Sanket ''Distant Thunder'' ( bn, অশনি সংকেত; translit. Ashani Sanket) is a 1973 Bengali film by the Indian director Satyajit Ray, based on the novel by the same name by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay. Unlike most of Ray's earlie ...

'' (" Distant Thunder"), his film about the Bengal famine of 1943. Babita appeared in the lead role of Ananga, the demure wife of the village doctor Gangacharan, who was played by long-time Ray favorite

Soumitra Chatterjee Soumitra Chatterjee (also spelt as Chattopadhyay; 16 June 193515 November 2020) was an Indian film actor, play-director, playwright, writer, thespian and poet. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential actors in the history of ...

. She acted in number of joint venture movie projects in her career, namely: a Canada Bollywood-Bangladesh joint production Movie ''Door Desh'' in 1983 ('' Gehri Chot - Urf: Durdesh'' in Hindi) opposite

Nadeem Baig (actor) Mirza Nazeer Baig (born 19 July 1941), also known by his stage name Nadeem ( ur, ندیم) is a Pakistani actor, singer and producer. He has appeared in over two hundred films and has won the 1997 Pride of Performance award. In Pakistan Nadee ...

and also Pakistan-Bangladesh joint venture film ''Miss Lanka'' (''Nadaani'' in Urdu) in 1985. ''Ashani Sanket'' won the Golden Bear prize at the 1973 Berlin Film Festival. Babita's performance was central to the film. Babita also acted in ''

Arunodoyer Agnishakkhi ''Arunodoyer Agnishakkhi'' ( bn, অরুণোদয়ের অগ্নিসাক্ষী) is a 1972 Bangladeshi film based on the Liberation war of Bangladesh directed by Subhash Dutta. Babita, Ujjal and Anwar Hossain played the three l ...

'' (1972) by Subhash Dutta, '' Quiet Flows the river Meghna'' (1973) by Alamgir Kabir, ''Golapi Ekhon Trainey'' (1978) by Amjad Hossain, ''Dahan'' (1986) by

Sheikh Niamat Ali Sheikh Niamat Ali (30 April 1940 – 24 November 2003) was a Bangladeshi film director. He won Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Director in 1979, 1985 and 1995 for all the three feature films he ever made - '' Surja Dighal Bari'', ''Dahan' ...

, and ''

Dipu Number Two ''Dipu Number Two'' ( bn, দীপু নাম্বার টু) is a 1996 Bangladeshi film directed by Morshedul Islam. The screenplay was based on the 1984 novel of the same name by Muhammed Zafar Iqbal. It stars Arun Saha, who played the le ...

'' (1996) by

Morshedul Islam Morshedul Islam (born 1 December 1958) is a Bangladeshi film director. His notable films include ''Agami'' (1984), ''Chaka'' (1993), ''Dipu Number Two'' (1996), ''Dukhai'' (1997), ''Khelaghor'' (2006), ''Durotto'' (2006) and ''Amar Bondhu Rashed' ...

. Babita's male co-actors were Razzak, Faruk, Zafar Iqbal, Bulbul Ahmed, and Sohel Rana.

1968–1974

Babita made her debut as a child actor in the ''Songsar'' film of

starring elder sister

. In this movie she plays the daughter of Razzaq and Shuchanda. Her primary name in the film was "Subarna". She acted in a television drama called "Kalam" at that time. Her name became "Babita" when she appeared in Zaheer Raihan's movie "Jalte Suraj Ki Niche". In the role of the first heroine in 1969, she starred in the film. The film was released on 14 August 1969 and on that day her mother died. Throughout the 70's, she established herself as one of the best actresses of the decade.

Since 2000

In 2002, Babita won a National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in ''Hason Raja'',

Chashi Nazrul Islam Chashi Nazrul Islam (11 October 1941 – 11 January 2015) was a Bangladeshi film director and producer. He won Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Director twice for the films Shuvoda (1986) and Hangor Nodi Grenade (1997). He was awarded Eku ...

biopic A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...

of the Bengali folk-poet. She has also formed her own film-production company and has expressed an interest in directing in the future. Babita has campaigned actively on behalf of various social causes in Bangladesh. Notable among the causes she has supported the campaign against throwing acid on women; the national

immunization Immunization, or immunisation, is the process by which an individual's immune system becomes fortified against an infectious agent (known as the immunogen). When this system is exposed to molecules that are foreign to the body, called ''non-sel ...

drive for children; and a support group for children who suffer from

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

. Starting in 2011, Babita began working with

Distressed Children & Infants International Distressed Children & Infants International (DCI) is a U.S.-based non-profit organization established at Yale University in 2003 and currently headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. DCI currently supports initiatives for children in Banglad ...

as a

goodwill ambassador Goodwill ambassador is a post-nominal honorific title, a professional occupation and/or authoritative designation that is assigned to a person who advocates for a specific cause or global issue on the basis of their notability such as a public ...

Producer

After the commercial success of ''Teen Kannya'' (1985), a movie produced by Babita's elder sister Shuchanda, Babita became interested in producing movies and hence launched a movie production house named "Babita Movies." Some of Babita's produced movies include ''Ful Shojja'', ''Agomon'', ''Lady Smuggler'' (a Bangladesh-Pakistan-Nepal joint venture movie), ''Lottery'' and '' Poka Makorer Ghor Bosoti'' (a Bangladesh Government sponsored movie).

Filmography

Awards

Babita won three consecutive National Film Awards for three consecutive years. She received the Best Actress Award from the Bangla Film Journalist Association for her performance in Satyajit Ray's Distant Thunder film. Besides, she has received numerous awards, both public and private. That is why she was called a 'prize daughter'. She participated in the International Film Festival for the most number of Bangladeshi delegates.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Babita, Farida Akhtar Living people 1953 births People from Jessore District Bangladeshi film actresses Actresses in Bengali cinema Actresses in Hindi cinema Bangladeshi expatriate actresses in India Best Actress National Film Awards (Bangladesh) winners Meril-Prothom Alo Lifetime Achievement Award winners Best Actress Bachsas Award winners Best Supporting Actress Bachsas Award winners National Film Award (Bangladesh) for Lifetime Achievement recipients Best Supporting Actress National Film Award (Bangladesh) winners 20th-century Bangladeshi actresses 21st-century Bangladeshi actresses