Ehtesham

Ehtesham (1927-2002) was an acclaimed film producer, director, distributor and screenwriter.

He was born in Dhaka on 12 October 1927 of then British India (now Bangladesh). His full name is Abu Nur Muhammad Ehteshamul Haq but he was commonly known as Ehtesham. His father, Mohammad Yusuf, was a professor at Islamia College and his mother's name was Mosammat Kaniz Fatema. Popular film director Mustafizul Haq is his younger brother.

In 1950, Ehtesham started his career as a distributor in the film industry.

In 1956-57 he formed a film distribution company named Leo Films.

His directorial debut film, Ae Desh Tomar Amar (1959), was premiered on 25th December 1959. Zahir Raihan and Kamal Ahmed was his assistant directors in this movie, both of whom became famous film director later on. At the beginning of the history of film industry in Bangladesh, this movie was very popular and earned him fame and awards. This movie first introduced the tradition of romantic pair in Bangladeshi film by pairing Khan Ataur Rahman and Sumita Devi. Through this movie, Shabnam, Rahman and Subhash Dutta made their debut in the film and contributed to the growth of the film industry throughout their career.

In coming years, he made films like Rajdhanir Buke (1960), Harano Din (1961), Chanda (1962) (first Urdu movie in Bangladesh), Notun Sur (1962), Talash (1963), Sagar (1965) (second coloured movie in Bangladesh after Zahir Raihan's Sangam (1964)), Chakori (1967), Pitch Dhala Path (1968), Chand Aur Chandni (1968), Payal (1968), Anari (1969), Daagh (1969), Shakti (1984), Chandni (1991), Chandni Raatey (1993), Moumachi (1996) etc. Ehtesham produced films in a time of tough competition. At that time there were plenty of Indian Bangla/Hindi and Pakistani Urdu movies in vogue in Bangladesh. He broke some long-established customs of Bangladeshi films. Rahman was the villain in his first film but was cast as hero in his next film - this heralded a new trend in Bangladeshi film.

He choose relatively unknown singer Nadeem Baig to play the lead role in Chakori (1967) as Anu. Nadeem shot to stardom in both Pakistan and Bangladesh after this film, cementing his career as film hero in Pakistan.

Nadeem Baig later became Ehtesham's son-in-law, marrying his only daughter Farzana Baig (née Ehtesham) in 1969. He enriched the film industry of Bangladesh by introducing a number of talents through his films. He gave breakthrough to producers/directors like Zahir Raihan, Mustafizul Haq, Azizur Rahman, IR Khan, Kamal Ahmed, Shibli Sadique, music director Robin Ghosh, singer Shahnaz Rahmatullah, introduced actors and actresses like Shabnam, Rahman, Nadeem Baig, Shabana, Chitra Zahir, Shabnaz, Nayeem, Shabnur, Sabbir, Shams, Munmun and many more. Ehtesham played a leading role as the organiser of 'Purba Pakistan Chalachchitra Samiti' (East Pakistan Cinematic Society). His pioneering efforts led to the establishment of film studios and other technical facilities in Dhaka which is now known as Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (BFDC).