Biography

‘It was during my HSC, in 1996 that, I came across a Desh Natok advert in the newspaper, Bhorer Alo. They were looking for young artists and I immediately applied with my friends,’ says Hillol. With that came a host of successful plays like Dorponer Sharat Shoshi, Loha, Nitto Puran. ‘I had my first lead role in Loha, which I feel, was my best work so far. The play required me to be on stage for an hour and half, with no breaks at all,’ he says.

If an artist must suffer for his art, Hillol’s been there. ‘Although that was the period I was most passionate about my work, it was also the most difficult time of my life,’ he says of the initial Desh Natok days. His parents were completely against his newfound passion, which hardly earned him money. ‘Since they were against it, I could not take any money from them for this purpose, and theatre is a kind of work where you have to spend a lot as well. There were days I spent eating two dal puri and walk to and from [Dhaka’s] Panthapath, where the rehearsals were held, to my house in Rajarbagh, sometimes returning at ten thirty at night.’
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hillol grew up in a conventional middle-class Bengali family, with no predecessors who had ventured into theatre or film. ‘My father had a job which required him to move from place to place: from Chittagong to Khulna and so many other places. In that process, I changed school eleven times!’ he laughs. ‘I never thought I would end up as an actor. But, what perhaps drew me closer to the theatre life was the environment- it’s colour and exuberance. I grew up learning to sing. By the time I was eleven, I had learnt to play the harmonium and even some stuff on the guitar.’

In 2003, Hillol passed from Dhaka’s Independent University of Bangladesh, with a BBA degree and, surprised no one by ditching the well paid jobs the degree could fetch him, started worked as a full time actor instead. ‘It was Gias Uddin Selim who offered me to work on TV, around 1999.’

Despite the evident disappointments of his family, he continued his work. ‘They accepted it only when I started earning, and of course, when Baba saw people appreciating my work.’