'We had a lot of disagreements, but they subsided and we made classics'

Today marks the 11th death anniversary of legendary writer, playwright and filmmaker Humayun Ahmed. Noted actor Abul Hayat had worked in numerous films and plays directed by the writer himself. The two also shared a powerful bond of friendship.

In a candid chat with The Daily Star, Abul Hayat reminisced some of his fond memories of legendary writer and director Humayun Ahmed.

Abul Hayat said, "Humayun Ahmed's first play was called 'Prothom Prohor'. The play was produced by Nawazish Ali Khan. I still didn't know him (Humayun Ahmed) at that time. The first time I saw him was at the shooting spot."

"He came to watch the shoot with his three daughters and wife that day. On the first day, I noticed that he was very quiet. He did not talk unless it was absolutely necessary and only interacted with Nawazish Ali Khan," noted Abul Hayat.

Before seeing him for the first time, Abul Hayat was already aware of Humayun Ahmed as a famous writer. He had also acted in a tele-fiction based on Humayun Ahmed's renowned book, "Nondito Noroke". The actor shared, "At that time, Humayun Ahmed was studying in America and had already earned his fame amongst the Bangladeshi readers."

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 "After 'Prothom Prohor', Humayun Ahmed kept on writing more tele-fiction and I kept acting in those projects. Soon, he started to design characters with me in mind, even wrote down my name on the top of his scripts. Gradually, we became close, and our relationship became like a familial bond," added Abul Hayat.

Abul Hayat had worked in many of Humayun Ahmed's noted productions, such as "Aaj Robibar", "Bohubrihi" and "Nokkhotrer Raat", among others. He shared, "Humayun Ahmed liked me very much and loved my acting. I also liked him quite a bit. Later on, he made his film debut and I got to work on an extraordinary project, based on our Liberation War, 'Aguner Poroshmoni'."

He continued, "In fact, Humayun Ahmed was an incredibly powerful playwright, filmmaker and writer. We had worked together for a long time and it's not that we never had any disagreements. Once, I even refused to portray one of his roles, as I felt perplexed after reading the script. He was even a bit angry at me due to that. However, his anger quickly subsided and we worked on many more projects afterwards."

Abul Hayat concluded by saying, "On his death anniversary, my prayers and love are with him, wherever he may be."