All my hard work finally paid off: Chanchal Chowdhury

When "Karagar" premiered on Hoichoi last year, Chanchal Chowdhury as the mystery guy left an indelible effect on viewers and critics alike. The story of the strange man who appeared out of nowhere in cell 145, which had been sealed for 50 years, along with Chanchal's performance, made it one of the most critically acclaimed series.

The noted actor took home the Best Actor (Male) award in the Critics category at the Blender's Choice-The Daily Star OTT & Digital Content Awards 2022.

"The Daily Star has consistently maintained quality by rewarding the best works in OTT this year. 'Karagar' is close to my heart, and I don't think I will ever get a story and character as wonderful as this web-series. I am proud of winning the award for 'Karagar', and our project winning nine awards really made my heart swell with pride," said the actor.

At the event, Chanchal Chowdhury's mentor, Gias Uddin Selim, handed him the award. The acclaimed actor and director sang a song from their film "Monpura" as the room full of the crowd cheered on throughout the performance.

"It felt great to receive the award from Selim bhai because we have a long history of working together. Selim bhai offered me the opportunity to work on his projects when I wasn't that famous in showbiz. Our first film together, 'Monpura', is still fresh in the minds of the audience. After such a long time on stage, I felt nostalgic when we sang "Nithua Pathare Nemechi Bondhu Re" on stage. It brought back some beautiful memories. He was instrumental in my career, and I will be eternally grateful to him," stated the actor.

When asked about the most challenging part of "Karagar", the actor said that the whole series itself was fully challenging for the artiste.

"We had to showcase a cell which was sealed for fifty years. I had to get ready for the makeup as early as 3-4 am in the wee hours of twilight, where I had to sit for almost two hours to penetrate into the skin of the character. It wasn't easy to portray a dumb and mute prisoner who could interact with sign language, but at the end of the day, all of my hard work finally paid off when the audience and jury appreciated my acting," added the artiste.

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When "Karagar" was released on Hoichoi, it created a strong fan base in both Kolkata and Bangladesh.

"At that time, it was the most talked-about series in Kolkata. Coincidentally, both 'Karagar' and 'Hawa' were released in Kolkata in the same year (2022) on OTT. I don't think I have met any such directors or artistes in Kolkata who didn't mention 'Karagar' to me. I remember when I went to shoot for 'Padatik' in the city of joy, the audience would come up to me and talk about the project," concluded the actor.

Chanchal Chowdhury will be seen in Mostofa Sarwar Farooki's "Last Defenders of Monogamy", which is one of the anthology films from Chorki's original production "Ministry of Love". He will play the role of Shafqat, a devoted father of two teenagers and a loving husband who strongly upholds the principles of monogamy. However, his beliefs face a significant challenge when changes in his life come into play.