A three-day Selim Al Deen Memorial Festival 2018 will begin at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy in the capital Friday (Jan 12). Troupe Dhaka Theatre in association with Bangladesh Gram Theatre has been organising the festival to mark death anniversary of Natyacharja Selim Al Deen on Jan 14.
As part of the festival, a seminar will be held on the first day in the conference room of the National Theatre where Masum Reza will present the keynote speech. Yusuf Hasan Arak, Sadhana Ahmed, Masud Imran Mannu, Sohel Hasan Galib, Abu Saeed Tulu and Altaf Shahnewaj will join the seminar as discussants. The organisers will place wreaths at the graveyard of the playwright at Jahangirnagar University.
Dhaka Theatre will stage Selim Al Deen's play ‘Nimajjan’ directed by Nasiruddin Yusuf and ‘Dhaboman’ directed by Shimul Yousuf in the evening at the National Theatre Hall of Shilpakala Academy on Jan 13 and 14 respectively.
Selim Al Deen (1949-2008) was a playwright and theatre artiste. He was the founder chairperson of the Department of Drama and Dramatics at Jahangirnagar University. He made significant contribution to Bangla drama. He is also considered as one of the pioneers of street theatre in Bangladesh.
Selim Al Deen was born to Mofizuddin Ahmed and Firoza Khatun in Shenerkhil village of Sonagazi Upazila of Feni on Aug 18, 1949. His school life started in 1954. He travelled with his father to different parts of the country and received education in a number of institutions, as his father was doing a transferable government job.
He passed SSC in 1964 from Manglakandi High School and in 1966 he passed ISc from Feni College. In 1967, he was admitted into University of Dhaka to study Bengali literature. But later, he moved to the Karatia Saadat University College in Tangail and graduated as a student of that college. He came back to the University of Dhaka and obtained his MA degree from the Bangla Department. In 1995, he obtained his PhD degree from Jahangirnagar University for his dissertation on ‘Bengali drama in mediaeval Bengal’.
Selim Al Deen started his career joining as a copywriter of Bitopi advertisement agency. In 1974 he joined Jahangirnagar University as a lecturer in Bangla department. He joined Drama and Dramatics department in 1986 and discharged the responsibility of its founder chairman.
He achieved Bangla Academy award for literature in 1984, National Cinema Award for best dialogue in 1994, Munier Chowdhury Sammanona by Theatre in 2003, Alokta Sahitya Puroshaker in 2007 and some more recognitions.
Selim Al Deen died in Dhaka on Jan 14, 2008.
