Faridi said, “Bring them to me”

Humayun FaridiProthom Alo

Humayun Faridi loved to eat and wanted to become a chef. Later, he developed a taste for movies, but could not afford the tickets. And in the last days of his life, he barely could enjoy food. Humayun Faridi, who oncec could not arrange money for a movie ticket, ultimately became one of the biggest superstars of Bangladeshi film industry. He still remains as one of the best among the actors of Bangla films. Yesterday was his ninth death anniversary.

Actor Faridi considered theatre as the truest and purest form of acting. It is a medium where nothing can be hidden. A small issue can be magnified into a giant. And Faridi loved this medium of art. He acted in several dramas including Shakuntala, Muntasir Fantasy, Kittonkhola, Keratmangal and Dhurto Uwi, as an artiste of Dhaka Theatre. He left theatre in 1992 and started acting for television.

Humayun Faridi
Collected

He even tried for ‘jatra’ (local opera) after independence, for rather painful reasons. However, he started acting in the period 1965 to 1968. After passing Masters, he realised that he was not made for business or any regular job. He did not know anything except acting. So he wanted to make a living from acting. After conquering theatre, television and silver screen he left acting too. He said that he quitted acting due to the lack of quality cinema and television drama. He was asked whether there was any chance for his return to theatre?

Humayun Faridi with Afzal Hossain during a Prothom Alo photoshoot

Whenever asked about how he started acting, he would relate how he once stole Tk 10 from his father’s pocket. When caught, he acted like he could never do such a thing. He considered that as his first acting role. However he truly started acting while he was in Madaripur during a theatre festival in his college. He forgot the title of that drama.

He was 58 when he said he had lost the ability to return to the stage. His health was in a bad state. His lifestyle hardly permitted him to stay with the elevated form of acting in the theatre. He acted in more than a hundred films.

He started his career in celluloid with film named “Shantrash” directed by Shahidul Islam Khokon. No one ever gained such popularity as Humayun Faridi as an antagonist. He once said in this regard, “It is easy to act as a villain. A villain can do whatever he wants. A hero cannot hurt his mother, but a villain can easily beat his father.” He even produced a film along several, but the film, "Palabi Kothay'', was a flop.

Humayun Faridi with Abdul Quader and Subarna Mustafa in a play
Collected

Humayun Faridi was a soft hearted man. One of his university friends reminisced about him after his demise. He said that one day Faridi saw an old man suffering for cold by the roadside. He stopped the car and gave the shirt and blazer he wore to the elderly man. He returned home bare bodied.

Humayun Faridi was a student of the Jahangirnagar University then. One day, a sound of gunfire woke him up in the morning. He asked the security guards about it. Later, he came to know that some people were hunting birds on the university campus. Faridi said to the guard, “Bring them to me.” The guard named Rustom literally brought two gentlemen before him. They were scared and their faces turned pale. Faridi felt sorry for thim. He brought them breakfast from the canteen and said, “It is not right to kill the birds. They are our guests. They are also important for the environment.” Since then, hunting birds in Jahangirnagar University has been banned.