Talking about her career, Poppy says that she came into the limelight after winning the Lux-Anondadhara Photo Shundari, a beauty contest, in 1995. Subsequently she received offers for TV commercials from a number of corporations. To quote Poppy, "My performance in the commercial of Berger Paints gave me much popularity. The commercial of Aromatic Cosmetics not only attracted attention of the press but directors also appro-ached me to work in films and TV plays."

"I used to perform in TV plays in those days, but I was a bit unsure about whether or not to work in commercial movies. My family also had reservations regarding my involvement in films."

How did she become a film actress then? Poppy responds, "AK Siddiqui offered me a role in his film Kuli in 1997. I sought permission from my family as Salman Shah was supposed to be play the protagonist of the movie. He was the heartthrob of millions of young girls, including me, at that time. My desire to perform with him forced me to persuade my family to change their decision. And that's how I stepped into the world of films. However, the sad part was that Salman Shah did not eventually perform in the movie. Omar Sunny and I played the lead characters. However, the movie, and especially my performance in it earned me much acclaim. And eminent directors such as Shiblee Sadiq, Shawkat Jamil and Sohanur Rahman Sohan offered me roles in their movies."

She went on to add at the beginning of her career she used to work in over 30 movies annually. However, this year she has signed 16 films. Poppy explained, "In the earlier stage of my career I was not that selective. I used to accept all the offers that came my way. But, for the last couple of years I have not been taking up offers for that many films. I realised that I should concentrate on quality rather than on the quantity."

Poppy is optimistic about the rejuvenation of Bangladeshi film industry. She thinks that as the celebrated filmmakers such as Shubhash Datta have made a comeback as well as talented younger directors like Samina Zaman, Nargis Akhtar and others are making mainstream films, Bangladeshi films will regain its popularity in near future. Poppy said, "The improvement of the theatres as well as Film Deve-lopment Corporation (FDC) are the fundamental factors in the growth of our movie industry. Otherwise the middle-class will not go to the theatres. And the current milieu of FDC needs to be developed a lot."

Poppy thinks that development of the technical aspects of cinema such as script writing, technical crews including cameramen, makeup artistes and others are also needed. To quote her, "My role in the movie Rani Kuthir Baki Itihash by debutant director Samia Zaman is different from the run-of-the-mill roles in most Dhaliwood movies. The whole package was attractive because of the skilled technical hands working in the film unit."

For her notable appearance on the silver screen Poppy has won several awards, including the National Film Award in 2003 for the movie Karagar.