The twist Behind Famous Celebrity of 1990 Moushumi’s Autograph

• Rashel Ahamed
• November 15, 2024
• Autobiography
• Alamgir, Bangla film, Banglafilm, Celebrity, February, Film, Moushumi, Razzak, Sabana, Shabnaz, Victory day
• 0 Comments

In the 1990s, Bengali movie celebrities were hugely popular among the general public. New stars like Moushumi, Salman Shah, Nayeem, and Shabnaz, as well as established ones like Razzak, Shabana, Alamgir, Bobita, and Jashim, were all highly admired. At that time, I was an avid football fan, busy collecting view cards of players like Pele, Maradona, and Platini. However, during that period, I had an interesting experience involving movie celebrities. Let me share that story.

When we were kids, special days (like February 21, March 26, and December 16) were celebrated to help us understand the significance of the Liberation War. On these days, there were local competitions like poetry recitation, storytelling, quizzes, and costume contests. (In Bangladesh, the Liberation War holds deep emotional value.) I’m not sure if such events are still held, but since I lived in former Mayor Hanif’s area, the events there were grand. Many famous guests would come to hand out prizes because he was in politics.

At one of these events, actress Moushumi came to give prizes. She was very popular at that time (probably in 1995). After the release of her movie Keyamat Theke Keyamat, she was at the peak of her fame. She was sitting in the middle of the stage, and though everyone wanted to approach her, no one could because of protocol. One of the volunteers was my uncle, who took me backstage. I couldn’t speak to Moushumi as she was busy, so I returned to my seat.

Suddenly, I heard someone calling me from behind. It was Mitu Apu, the most beautiful girl in our neighborhood and two years older than us. I don’t know about the older boys, but we boys our age used to sigh and think, “If only we were two years older.”

• “What were you doing on stage?”
• “Just went with Shahin uncle to talk to Moushumi Apu.”
• “So, did you talk to her?”
• “No, couldn’t talk. I’ll try again later.”
• “Could you do something for me? I’ll give you whatever you want if you can.”
• “What is it?” (I felt excited.)
• “I have an autograph book. Can you get Moushumi’s autograph in it?”
• “Is that all?”

Mitu Apu handed me her autograph book. It was beautiful and well-organized, with autographs from many famous people—actors, singers, writers, and athletes. Each page had a single autograph with a short description of the person. Just by looking at it, you could tell girls tend to keep things more organized than boys.

Anyway, I went to Moushumi Apu with the book, and she kindly gave her autograph while asking me my name, school, and class.

I returned the book to Mitu Apu, feeling like a hero. But when she opened it, her happy face turned dark, and I was shocked to see tears in her eyes. I looked at the autograph, and my heart sank. Moushumi Apu had mistakenly written, “Best wishes to Rasel” in her autograph, putting my name instead of Mitu Apu’s. And we couldn’t even tear out the page because on the other side was an autograph from the famous singer Runa Laila. Far from asking for anything, I barely managed to escape.

Since then, I’ve had no interest in autographs. I’ve met many stars, taken photos with them, but never asked for autographs. But this year, I ran into a small problem. I hadn’t done anything to earn an autograph myself, but a story I wrote was published in a book. No one I know wants to buy it, so I’m forced to sell it. Some people are taking autographs from me just to make me happy.

I didn’t want to sign for two reasons: First, people expect something philosophical in an autograph, and I haven’t mastered that yet. Second, my Bengali handwriting is bad, so I’d be caught. But a few people, including Adi Bhai from Addakhana, insisted, and I had to sign for them. Another issue came up at the book fair. As I signed, someone said, “Brother, why are you signing in English in February?” So now I have to practice signing in Bengali too. Am I becoming a celebrity? It’s something to think about!