Photo: Ridwan Adid Rupon

“Modeling is all about passion and bringing an extravagant presence on the stage,” Riba Hasan said during a chitchat with The Daily Star. In the glam world since 2010, this gorgeous lady unfailingly sets the ramp on fire with her magnetic aura.

“I started out as a billboard model for IFIC Bank. My mother encouraged me every step of the way, and it is because of her love that I am here. She is my inspiration and led me to pursue my dream…my passion. But I don't perceive modelling as a career. It would be unwise, especially in our country. People often tend to blur the lines between ramp and TVC models. Quite frankly, a person who does TVCs is an artiste not model,” she said.

“You may wonder why you haven't seen me in a TVC. The reason is simply that I love the ramp and I am very comfortable with it. The monetary return for a TVC artiste is below my expectations. Yes, it's true that you do get a lot of exposure when you do a TVC, but again as I said they are not models. And it was my passion and dream that made me achieve the title of a model.”

“Everyone in this glamour world tends to forget their priority: education. You need education even if you are famous. The glitter and glam will only stay for a while but education is one thing that will always carry a person ahead to their pinnacle. Upcoming stars forget that their real calling is education. No matter what, fame and popularity last only  a short time and a model must accept this hard truth.”

She adds,” Of course there are other factors like height, posture, grace, body language, looks et al. But these days we are getting to see a different trend on the ramp as people's height is not all that important anymore.” 

“Every day we all encounter fans and fanatics. Some are easy to deal with and some are not. Working with Aarong for so long, I faced both. I love it when people acknowledge me as 'Aarong's model.” The tough ones to deal with are those who constantly ask irrelevant questions or have conversations or try to have conversations with me on Facebook.”