Kamruzzaman: The man who played a police officer 2000 times

Kamruzzaman. Photo: Noor-A-Alam

It has been almost 34 years since Kamruzzaman Kamrul began his acting career, over the course of which he was cast in two thousand separate films.

Interestingly, he always played the same character: the police. Most of the time he did not have any dialogue. And much like the popular joke, he was the policeman who would arrive at the end of the movie to take away the bad guy. After the climax in whichever movie, he would always be the man to yell "Sentry! Arrest him" and villains and his cohorts would be handcuffed and taken away to movie prison. Most people in the FDC know him as FDC's Kamrul, the FDC Police or Costume Kamrul since he supplied the police costumes for movies.

A few days ago, The Business Standard had a conversation with Kamrul at his FDC office. The office is a warehouse for keeping police uniforms. Except for a chair, a tool and a small table, the room contained only police uniforms and other equipment needed to create a movie. I wanted to know if they had guns. According to Kamrul, there are hundreds of garments, badges and weapons for different police posts.

Hundreds of junior artists also worked under his supervision to play the police's character. His primary job now is to recruit make-believe police officers and supply them with their on-set wardrobe.

Kamruzzaman. Photo: Noor-A-Alam

When asked about the initial days of working at the FDC, Karumal said, "My hometown is in Bhanga police station in Faridpur. In 1988, I came to visit Dhaka. Actress Rozina's brother had a friendship with one of my close relatives. I shared my wish to visit FDC. The day after I told my relative about that, I went to see FDC from Mohammadpur in Rozina Madam's car. I was fascinated the moment I entered FDC. Seeing the heroes and heroines from the movie screen in front of my eyes made me fall in love with FDC."

Recalling his early days in acting, Kamrul said, "I was admitted in Jagannath College, as it was known back then and frequently travelled to FDC. At that time the FDC was inundated with people wanting to make productions, that is where I met a man named Azad who was also from Faridpur.

We fostered a strong bond and he was the first person to cast me as a policeman. From that opportunity I began my career as an artist."

Kamrul does not clearly remember his first performance. He does not even remember the name of the film. However, in the first movie, Rubel and Kabita were the lead actors. Kamrul has been prolific ever since. He shared that in the last 34 years, he has played the role of a policeman in more than 2,000 movies.

From Razzak, Shabana, Kabari, Rozina to Jasim, Rubel, Salman Shah, Manna, Riaz, Shakib Khan, he has been in productions alongside huge names. "I have received affection and love from many people. However, even though I was part of more than 2,000 films, there was virtually no dialogue for my role.  Even if I had dialogues, it was just limited to a simple "yes sir","

While acting, he understood that supplying actors to play police and providing costumes can be a great idea. Furthermore, by that time everyone in FDC knew him. He said that in the last 25 years, 90 percent of the actors who played in the movie were provided by him.

"I have worked as an actor but I also rent everything necessary to make a movie look realistic, like hospital costumes and such. Every artist who has made movies in the last 34 years respects me. Many great artists appreciate and love me, that's what I get as a reward. Moreover, I do not have any financial problems. I am satisfied with what I have achieved in this life."

Kamrul is the father of three children. His wife has never seen his performances but his children have. Kamrul wants his children to grow into great human beings. Kamrul shared that his children can explore his own profession or strike out on their own. He does not worry too much about that.