Amitabh Reza Chowdhury ( bn, অমিতাভ রেজা চৌধুরী) is a

Bangladeshi Bangladeshis ( bn, বাংলাদেশী ) are the citizens of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centered on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the eponymous bay. Bangladeshi citizenship was formed in 1971, when the ...

filmmaker. In his career, he has directed nearly fifteen hundred (1500)

television commercial A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

s (henceforth TVCs). Amitabh has also directed a few television films to critical acclaim. He founded the production house 'half stop down', which mainly produces TVCs. Amitabh's directorial debut in theatrical feature film is ''

Aynabaji ''Aynabaji'' ( bn, আয়নাবাজি ) is a 2016 Bangladeshi crime thriller film directed by Amitabh Reza Chowdhury and produced by Gousul Alam under the banner of Content Matters Production. The film stars Chanchal Chowdhury, Masuma R ...

'' which was released on 30 September 2016.

Early life

Chowdhury was born to a middle-class family in 1976. His hometown is

Kishorganj Kishoreganj ( bn, কিশোরগঞ্জ) is a district in Dhaka Division, Bangladesh. Earlier it was a Mohkuma (মহকুমা) under the Mymensingh district. It was taken 2495.07 sq. km of land from Mymensingh district to form prese ...

, Bangladesh. He went to

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

to study economics. While there, he studied literature on his own to aid his dream about making films.

Career

After returning to Bangladesh, Chowdhury made a television film named ''Hawa Ghar'' (1999) under Maasranga Production which gained popularity. After ''Hawa Ghar'' he directed the first 20-episodes of the TV series ''Bondhon'' (2001-2002) under Maasranga Production. Following the success of ''Hawa Ghar'' and ''Bondhon'', he received offers from agencies to make television commercials. He is now one of the leading directors of TVCs in Bangladesh. A number of his productions have been screened in other countries as well. He, his sister Mahjabin Reza and Md Assaduzzaman are owners of the production company "Half Stop Down". Under his production house he made more than 12 television films, followed by his first theatrical feature film. He has also worked as adjunct faculty in the Television, Film & Photography Department of the

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. The university opened its doors to students on July 1st 1921. Currently i ...

Personal life

Chowdhury married

actress Nowrin Jahan Khan Jenny in his early life, but the marriage did not last for long. After 4 years, they separated and Amitabh married Mim Rashid, the younger sister of singer Mithila and ex-sister-in-law of

Tahsan Tahsan Rahman Khan (Bengali:তাহসান রহমান খান; born 18 October 1979), known mononymously as Tahsan Khan or Tahsan, is a Bangladeshi musician and actor. He is the lead singer of his own rock band Tahsan and the Band. ...

. Reza and Mim divorced in 2017; Mim married popular actor Iresh Zaker in February 2018.

Filmography

Chowdhury's debut film as a director was ''

'' (2016). Starring

Chanchal Chowdhury Suchinta Chowdhury Chanchal ( bn, সুচিন্ত চৌধুরী চঞ্চল), known as Chanchal Chowdhury ( bn, চঞ্চল চৌধুরী), is a Bangladeshi actor. Critically acclaimed for his performances in ''Rupkothar ...

Masuma Rahman Nabila Masuma Rahman Nabila is a Bangladeshi television presenter, model and actress. She started her career in 2006 as a TV host. Early life Nabila was born in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Her father Lutfar Rahman was appointed as an auditing officer in ...

and

Partha Barua Partha Barua (born 3 May) is a Bangladeshi singer and actor. He is a member of the rock band Souls. Early life Barua was born and raised in Chittagong to Bimal Kanti Barua & Ava Barua. His mother was a teacher of Bagmoniram S.K City Corporation ...

. The film was a major success in the box office, and it was screened in movie halls across the country for next few months. However, it was not profitable for the producer. His upcoming films include "Rickshaw Girl" and "Punorujjibon". Aynabaji was screened at Marché du Film at 69th annual

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

, where it scored well. Aynabaji has won the award of the best film at United States's 11th Seattle South Asian Film Festival. His next film is ''

Munshigiri ''Munshigiri'' (Bengali: মুন্সিগিরি ''Munsigiriḥ'') is a Bangladeshi mystery drama film directed by Amitabh Reza Chowdhury from a script by Naseef Amin for Chorki. Based on the novel ''Mriterao Kotha Bole'' by Shibabrata Bar ...

'', which will be released digitally by Chorki in 2021.

Films

TV and web series

Recognition and awards

Chowdhury received a number of national and international awards for his work. He was awarded with the Meril-Prothom Alo Best Film Director Award in 2017. He also received the Best Film Award in Seattle South Asian Film Festival in 2016 for

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chowdhury, Amitabh Reza Living people People from Dhaka Bangladeshi filmmakers Best Director National Film Award (Bangladesh) winners Year of birth missing (living people) Best Film Directing Meril-Prothom Alo Critics Choice Award winners