Babita was supposed to spend her birthday, 30 July, in Canada with her son, as usual. That's what she has been doing for quite a few years now. But the renowned actress had been in hospital with Covid recently, as so shelved the plans. Yesterday, Monday, Babita spoke to Prothom Alo's Monzur Kader about her birthday and a host of other things.
So have you fixed a new date for Canada?
Babita: I had to delay the trip because I contracted Covid. Hopefully I'll be able to fly in around 10 days. Everyone is telling me I'm still too weak to travel such a long distance. My son works there, he lives there alone and so they say, what if you fall ill there again? Everyone is advising me to take my time.
So you've missed celebrating your birthday with your son this time.
Babita: Absolutely. He had so many surprises for me! He had plans to take me all over the place, go here and there, eat out. Anyway, that's not happening this time. That's life, what to do? Not everything goes according to plan always.
Anyway, here's wishing you a happy birthday! What are your thoughts on life?
Babita: Thank you for the birthday greetings. At present I am concerned with the situation in the country. There was an internet blackout for a couple of days. All my relatives live abroad. I have to inquire about them, make sure they are doing well. I couldn't do that and that was rather sad. It is simply not right to shut down the internet in this day and age.
How do you celebrate your birthday?
Babita: I never really celebrated by birthday in a big way. I don't think there's any point it making a big deal out of it. We have one life and so much to do. I ponder on what I haven't done. When I'm in Dhaka on my birthday, many deprived poor children come to visit me. I sing to them, chat with them and have lunch together with them. My young sister Champa and my elder sister come over. That's about it!
Last year in the US, the mayor of Dallas bestowed me with a lifetime award. He presented me another honour that day by declaring 6 August 'Babita Day'
Does it concern you when the celebrations lessen?
Babita: There's nothing to be concerned about. I pray regularly and I ponder on death too. I hope I can be buried one day in my father's grave. My father lies asleep in the Banani graveyard.
That's about death. What about life?
Babita: A life that does not help others is not a life at all. When I die, my son Anik will miss me a lot. He is my only child and I think about him a lot. I don't know how far my fans will remember me. But there is one thing that has made me very happy in life. Not many artistes have received that, either in India or in Bangladesh. Last year in the US, the mayor of Dallas bestowed me with a lifetime award. He presented me another honour that day by declaring 6 August 'Babita Day'. That made me so happy.
It is when I think of the solitude of the grave that I sometimes feel sad. Then again, I do not want to live too long. I do not want to be a burden on anyone.
What makes these thoughts come to you?
Babita: I see many relations around me who have been ailing and bedridden for long, suffering. And this is even worse for those who live alone. That is why I always want never to be a burden to anyone.
There was a time when cinema took up all your time. Now how do you spend your time?
Babita: For quite a few years now I spend half the year in Canada and the US. My son lives in Canada and brothers in the US. I go to both the countries and go around and spend time with them. I have my medical checkup there. Five or six months just pass like that. When I come back to the country, there's work to do. Outside of that I look after my plants and birds.
I love walking down the village path, just staring out at the fields stretching out afar. I love rivers and to walk by the riverside, drinking date juice from the date palm trees in winter. I loved all of this from my very childhood
You have a lot of birds.
Babita: I used to have a mynah. It died three years ago. I was in Canada when I heard about it and that really upset me. That mynah would copy my laugh. It would ask about Anik. When any guest would come over, it would say, "Bring a glass of water." It would welcome guests when they entered. It could speak just like a person. It had been with me for 9 years. Mynahs normally live long. I also have love birds, budgerigars, cockatoos as well as Australian and local doves. I love my local doves the most. When they coo in the morning, it fills my heart. I feel like I am in a village home.
When I would visit the village as a child, I would live the call of the doves. Though my house is in the city, it has a rural aura. I have a bamboo grove. When the moon rises over the bamboo grove, it is an entrancing sight. And there is water all around my house, like its floating on water. There a little pool, a vertical garden, green everywhere.
How had you planned such a house in a place like Gulshan?
Babita: The rural environment always beckons me. I love walking down the village path, just staring out at the fields stretching out afar. I love rivers and to walk by the riverside, drinking date juice from the date palm trees in winter. I loved all of this from my very childhood.
When did you go to the village last?
Babita: Last year, to my paternal grandfather's home in Bijoynagar, Jashore. Now all the family there has passed away, only an uncle. My cousins are in Canada, America, Malaysia, scattered around the globe. After visiting the place I have been planning to build a mosque and an orphanage there. When I die, I can leave that behind.
Do you have any other unfulfilled wishes?
Babita: No one can be fully satisfied in one lifetime. All wishes can't be fulfilled. Still, sometimes I think, if only I could act in a film like this, or in a film like that. Even so, I have to say I have acted in the films of so many great directors. I have even worked for free for good directors who I knew could not afford to pay me. Acting was by profession, but I would realise they could hardly afford the amount I would charge then.
Sheikh Niyamat Ali was making a movie, 'Dahan'. It was about social responsibility. He frankly said he wouldn't be able to pay me what I commanded from other films. I didn't want take any payment for films like Subhash Dutta's 'Golir Dharer Chheleti,' 'Basundhara,' '23 Number Toilchitra,' and such beautiful films. But because of these movies, I got to participate in so many international film festivals, received so many awards, I was lauded in my own country too. We will all leave this world, but at least I could leave a little bit of me behind.
Finally, now that you have more time on your hands, do you watch your old movies? How does it feel?
Babita: I recently watched 'Golapi Ekhon Train-e' and then 'Ashani Sanket'. It was good. I thought to myself, hey, I don't act badly at all! (laughs) I was awarded for those movies too. Then I watched two other movies that though, I could have done a bit better here, or a bit better there. That's how it is.