Riya as Bangabandhu’s daughter-in-law Sultana Kamal

In the 1970s, where the number of women going to university was few and far between, Dhaka University student Sultana Kamal was a star player. He was one of the frontrunners, especially in the long jump and hurdles, winning numerous medals.

Riya Ghosh, a young actress from Kolkata, will be seen on screen as Bangabandhu’s daughter-in-law Sultana Kamal. A short film in the docu-fiction genre is being made on the life of Bangabandhu’s daughter-in-law Sultana Kamal called ‘Athlete Sultana Kamal’. Riazul Haque Imran is directing this film with government grant.

But how did this Kolkata-Dhaka communication develop? Ria Ghosh said, ‘I came to Dhaka to study in 2022. He had a habit of drawing since childhood, and wanted to study art college when he grew up. I didn’t delay after getting the opportunity to do my master’s degree in Fine Arts Faculty of Dhaka University.’

One day I met Suraiya Rahman, the project manager of the film, in the room of Dhaka University Film Council. He said, Sultana Kamal’s looks very similar to mine, especially in lips, eyes, nose,’ he said.

But Rhea has never acted before.

I used to do theater since childhood. Always had an interest in acting. So I happily agreed to the offer of acting,’ he said.

Riya said, ‘First I trained for about 10 days. Trained by an experienced sports trainer. Then the shooting started. I am very thankful to my directors and producers for trusting me and believing that I can do it.’

Currently, the post-production work of the film is going on. The first work is already memorable, even not in my own country – while saying this, Riya said, ‘I don’t think of Bangladesh as a separate country. I feel part of my country. I am very grateful that the people of Bangladesh have accepted me so much.’

Author: Asif Karim Chowdhury