Juggling school and showbiz: Inside the lives of Bangladeshi child artists

Dukhu, a 10-year-old boy, finds himself disembarking from a train at an unfamiliar railway station. His life has been marked by hardships ever since his father passed away, and his mother's remarriage has made it impossible for him to live with her. 

Faced with these circumstances, Dukhu endured countless struggles, and one day, he decided to run away from Dhaka.

Dukhu is a character in the Bengali movie 'Kalo Megher Bhela,' released in 2019 and based on a novel by poet Nirmalendu Goon. Portrayed by the then 13-year-old child artist Naimur Rahman Apon (19 now), Dukhu captured the hearts of audiences with exceptional acting. 

In recognition of his brilliant performance in the movie, Apon was honoured with the Best Child Actor award at the National Film Award in 2019.

According to a survey by Teenagers, a Bangladeshi youth magazine, the local cinema, TVC and television drama industry boasts nearly 100 child artists. These young performers often prove that they have the capability to make films more captivating and bring an added sense of realism to the screen.

However, one may wonder how these child artists kick off their journey. How do they balance their studies with demanding shooting schedules? How much extra care has to be taken for them? How do they acquire such remarkable patience? What is their remuneration?

Russel Farazi (left) and Nurul Islam Babu starred in Matir Moina in 2002. Photo Collected

From schools to screens   

Aria Aritra is a 10-year-old child actress who dreams of becoming a pilot. Currently studying at Hurdco International School in the capital, Aritra made her acting debut at the age of four in a TV commercial for Grameenphone, directed by the renowned filmmaker Amitabh Reza Chowdhury.

"When Aritra was three or four years old, she used to imitate advertisements on television. It was then that we realised she might have a talent for acting," said Aritra's mother, Farzana Nasrin. 

In 2016, Nasrin saw a post on Amitabh Reza's Facebook profile, where he sought child artists. After Nasrin submitted Aritra's photo, the four-year-old was selected for the audition. On the very first day of the audition, Aritra got selected for the TV commercial.

"Nowadays, social media is the easiest way to find child actors and actresses. Also, many directors or casting directors are contacted by their parents in some way," said Kamrun Nahar Koly, a casting director who has been working in the industry for the last eight years.

However, most of the time, Koly seeks out talent from various places frequented by children such as schools, parks, theatres and performance academies.  

"When we put out an artist's call on Facebook, many parents bring their kids only for their own wish. They kind of force their child because the parents want fame. At the end of the day, it turns out that the kid really has no interest in acting," Koly explained. 

To enter the acting world children's theatre plays a vital role for many artists. Such was the case of Naimur Rahman Apon, who used to learn dance at the capital's Pidim Theatre.

"One day, Amitabh Reza came to Pidim Theatre to select a few children to act in one of his TVCs. They asked me if I was interested in acting. I said yes. After the audition, I was selected and my acting career started from there," said Apon. 

Apart from social media and field visits, directors also find talent through personal connections.

Mahmudur Rahman Anindo's entry into the acting world happened like this. He was close to a casting director named Hemanta. Anindo was only six years old then so according to him it was quite challenging to convince his family. "When Hemanta bhai gave the proposal to my mother, she refused," said Anindo. 

Photo Collected

After some time, Hemanta made a request again as Anindo really wanted to act. Finally, his mother agreed and Anindo's acting journey started with a TVC in 2009.

Previous work experience is also very important in showbiz. For instance, Anindo got the opportunity to work in 'Matir Projar Deshe' because of his previous work. He started to work in that movie in 2012 and the shooting ended in 2014.

The shooting of this movie took two years because of the difference in his character. He was nine years old in 2012 but towards the end of the movie, his character demanded more age. For that, the director waited for Anindo to grow up.

Anindo's patience at such a young age has paid off. In 2018, he won the National Film Award for Best Child Actor for the film.

Although he is studying at United International University in the BBA department, he wants to be a full-time actor. However, Anindo finds it very difficult to balance shooting with his studies. Although he got some concessions from his school in this regard, he had to hear many bitter words from many teachers such as "You will be acting all your life, do you need to study anymore"? 

"These words made me break down sometimes, but I never stopped," he said.

Aritra also has to face similar challenges. She already works in many TVCs, television dramas, web series and movies. 

When shooting begins, her mother has to talk to the school authority and take permission. "Thankfully they are very kind and give priority to my request," said Nasrin. 

However, it is not always easy. For instance, during exams, Aritra and her mother would have to rush to the shooting spot right after school. 

"It is really difficult. Luckily, Aritra is very passionate, which is why she can take the pressure. Once she even had to study while on the set because she had an exam the next day. As we had made a commitment, I could not say no to the shooting because it was a team effort," said Nasrin. 

During his SSC exams, Apon had to be very attentive to his studies. As a result, he took a break from acting for more than a year. Currently, he is an intermediate first-year student studying at Mohammadpur Kendriya College. "Because of my academic pressure, I can't work regularly now. I know if I want to survive respectfully, I have to complete my studies," said Apon. 

Casting director Koly also agrees that managing school can sometimes make acting difficult because a child artist may not act for the rest of their life. 

"So we try to fix the shooting schedules according to the artist's class or examination. Every child artist has to juggle their regular activities with shooting."

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Nap times and shooting delays

Koly sighed as a three-year-old child burst into tears just as they were about to start shooting for a TVC. The team attempted various methods to calm down the child and coax him into acting, but all efforts were in vain. The child simply refused to cooperate. 

Koly realised they had no choice but to find a replacement. It was a difficult decision to make, as they had already invested time and effort into preparing for the shoot. 

Unlike adults, managing child artists from the audition to the shooting set poses a lot of difficulties. 

Sankha Das Gupta, who has directed a notable number of around 150 commercials and several television drama series, said, "I have to be very sensitive when I work with children. If an adult artist makes a mistake, I can tell him a bit strictly but I can't tell a child that. Because once they lose their mood, it's hard to bring it back. Sometimes it may not be possible. So it's a big challenge for us to handle a child." 

And apart from being sensitive during the shooting time, they also have to arrange a lot of extra care for the children before and after the shooting. "Children have certain times when they do certain things. For example, afternoon naps or meal times, which impact their mood. Whenever I work with children, I try to keep these in mind," said Koly.

However, there are situations when these schedules cannot be maintained. Late shooting is nothing new, but when it happens to children, it becomes an extra pressure and headache for the artist.

Anindo was eight years old at the time. He reached the set to shoot a TVC scheduled to start at 3 pm. But due to various reasons, the shooting started at 9 pm. "It almost always happens with us that the shooting ends way after the specified time. So I had a lot of trouble that day. It was almost 3 am when the shooting ended," said Anindo.

Amitabh Reza Chowdhury spoke about late shootings, weather, shooting duration and the special care they have to take when working with child artists. 

"Child artists are a special thing in showbiz. We must maintain certain principles while working with them. For example, how many hours a child can work in a day, in what kind of weather they should work or not; including these rules, there should be a strict policy or act. In my experience, most of the time, no such rules are followed when shooting with children," he said.

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Burgers for pay

One day, a casting director came to Anindo with an offer to act in a TVC. When asked how much he would pay, the director said, "We will pay you something respectable."

Then the casting director and his team took Anindo and the other child actors to a restaurant, treated them to burgers and drove them home. 

"I can't name the casting director and the company because if I mention them it might hinder my future work. Such stories have happened to me several times," Anindo said.

Aritra's mother also said that there was once an agreement to pay a sum which was later not paid. 

"In all types of shootings, a child artist is paid about less than half and sometimes less than a third of a senior artist's pay. Sometimes there are requests to work for free from many places. It is not a stable industry for child actors and actresses," she said.

Apon also experienced similar types of circumstances. 

"In the early days of my acting career, I used to get work in various places through Pidim Theatre but as far as I remember, they didn't pay me any kind of remuneration, they kept it all. And when they started to pay, they used to take a big cut, and gave me Tk3,000-4,000 for a TVC."

Amitabh Reza thinks that parents should be more aware of the remuneration of child actors and actresses. He said many parents bring their children to acting without listening to their thoughts and they are not aware of the remuneration; they only want to see their child on the TV screen. 

"So I am always in favour of a specific law in the state where how much work a director can do with a child and their remuneration is specified," he said.