Shahriar Nazim Joy: I work for money

A recently released Chorki original 'Guti', directed by Shangkha Dasgupta, saw Shahriar Nazim Joy return to acting in the role of a central character after a hiatus. 

"It was very challenging. I had to stay out of Dhaka for a long time to shoot Guti. Good acting comes naturally if the script and the director are up to the mark, and both of them were great this time round. Hopefully, Guti's popularity will grow with time," he said.

Having earned his hay in three stages - acting, directing and presenting, Joy now has his eyes set on something else. He, very bluntly, stated, "I work for money. Your work must generate income. But when do we make more money? Only when we do high-quality work."

Joy has modelled throughout his career. He began his acting career on TV, starring in 'Godhuli Logno' on BTV, which earned him recognition as an actor. Afterwards, he appeared in a number of dramas directed by prominent actor Bulbul Ahmed. Joy kept making a name for himself and his acting skills also kept improving over the years.

In 2006, at the height of his fame, Joy starred in the movie 'Jiboner Golpo', directed by Gazi Mazharul Anwar. The same filmmaker later directed two more movies, 'Ei Je Duniya' and 'Pashaner Prem', which featured the actor. 

Joy was also featured in Ananta Jalil's 'Most Welcome 2' and Azadi Hasnat Firoz directed 'Graam Gonjer Piriti'. 

However, despite his success in movies, Joy did not stop acting in dramas. He has also directed several single episode and serial dramas. Joy's directorial debut was 'Golir Morey CDr Dokan'. He has since received accolades for his work. 

He then transitioned into directing movies. Joy made his directorial debut in 2015 with 'Prarthona'. 'Amar Ma', 'Priyo Komola' , 'Arpita', and 'Papkahini' were also directed by him. 

Joy expanded his horizons again by becoming a TV anchor. After working for Asian TV, Ekushey TV, and ATN Bangla in the interim, he is currently a regular anchor at Channel I. 

In recent years, Joy has stayed away from acting and directing in order to focus on anchoring. He did not star in any TV dramas or movies either. But his involvement with Guti put an end to this hiatus. However, Joy has no current plans of directing again. He is presently keeping himself busy with YouTube and OTT projects. 

"I will be starting projects that generate a high number of views and clicks. I'm not worried about the quality or the standard as long as it brings in views. But I certainly won't be producing anything weird or outlandish. Apart from maintaining quality, engaging the audience is one of my main goals."