Dolly Anwar remembered at Shilpakala Academy

Entertainment Desk
The late actress Dolly Anwar, who got popularity acting in “Surja Dighal Bari”, was remembered by directors, cine critics, Dolly’s friends and well wishers at the memorial meeting. The event was recently held at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Segunbagicha in the city.On the occasion of the 70th birth anniversary of Dolly Anwar, Moviyana Film Society in collaboration with Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy organised the event.
Renowned filmmaker Masihuddin Shaker, who directed Dolly’s first film ‘Surjo Dighal Bari’, discussed about Dolly’s life and works.  Presided over by Director General of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Liaquat Ali Lucky, Moinuddin Khaled, Mahmudul Hossain Dulal, Belayet Hossain Mamun, Hashem Sufi, among others, were present at the event.
Dolly Anwar was a stage, television and film actress and writer and editor of Saatdin magazine. She was awarded Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Actress in 1979 for her role in the film Surjo Dighol Bari.
Anwar was the daughter of Nilima Ibrahim, a political and feminist activist, and Mohammed Ibrahim, M.D. She was the former sister-in-law of film director and journalist Alamgir Kabir. She earned a Bachelor of Arts with Honors in Bengali Literature from the University of Dhaka in the early 1970s.
Anwar began her career on stage at the age of 13. At 16, she played one of the principal characters on Bangladesh Television’s teleplay Aktala Dotala by Professor Munir Choudhury. She began acting in films in the late 1970s, collaborating most frequently with the directors Sheikh Niamat Ali and Mohiuddin Shakir. Her film debut was the 1980 award-winning Surjo Dighal Bari. She also acted in Dahan (1986) and a variety of documentaries. Due to her stance against the political regime in Bangladesh during the 1980s, she was often blacklisted and prevented from working as an actress. It was during this time that she became an editor and contributor to the weekly magazine Saatdin from the late 1980s to the early 1990s.
Dolly received many awards including Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Actress, Bangladesh Journalists Association’s Award for Best Actress, Photography award by the Asia/Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO and others.
Dolly married Rajiuddin Ahmed in 1966. Ahmed was a student leader and later became a politician. They had a son Rajib Ahmed Partho. The couple got divorced in 1979. She then married Anwar Hossain, a photographer, and cinematographer.
Dolly committed suicide on July 3 in 1991. After she was rushed to the hospital, suffering from severe stomach pains at her home in Dhaka. She was pronounced dead at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital later that night.