Chanchal Chowdhury is a Bangladeshi actor. Critically acclaimed for his performances in Monpura, Aynabaji, and Debi, he has received two Bangladesh National Film Awards for Best Actor and three Meril Prothom Alo Awards for Best Actor. A household name in Bangladesh, Chowdhury started his career in 1996 in the theaters of Bangladesh. He joined famous theaters such as Aranyak Natyadal and performed in stage plays like Prakritojoner Kotha, Joyjoyonti, Ora Kodom Ali, Mayur Singhason, Songkranti, Rarang and Che-er Cycle. Albeit a prolific actor in TV series and films, he appeared in six movies as of 2018.
Early life
Chanchal Chowdhury was born and brought up in the village of Kamarhaat in Pabna. He was born in Hindu Family. His father's name is Radha Gobindo Chowdhury and mother's name is Nomita Chowdhury. He passed his SSC examination from Udaypur High School in 1990 and HSC examination from Rajbari Govt. College, Rajbari in 1992. He came to Dhaka in 1993 to apply for admission in the Department of Fine Arts at the University of Dhaka. His parents wanted him to be an engineer but an innate urge for art and culture drove him to become an actor. Chanchal Chowdhury settled in Dhaka in 1993 and dived headfirst into as much culture as possible. As a third year student of DU, he joined the theater group Aronnok. He then worked on stage for 10 years continuously. During this period, he played minor roles in different television dramas as well. His first role as a hero was in the drama Grash directed by Faridur Rahman. Meanwhile, Chowdhury pursued his profession in UODA as a lecturer of Fine Arts from 2001 to 2006.
Career
It was in 2004 that Fazlur Rahman Babu introduced Chowdhury to Gias Uddin Selim and Mostofa Sarwar Farooki. Chowdhury then started working more and more in television dramas. His initial works are Shurjer Hashi with Gias Uddin Selim, Talpatar Shepai, Nikhoj Shogbaad and a TV commercial, Maa with Mostofa Sarwar Farooki. At this point Chowdhury's life took an upward surge towards success as the commercial gained him immense popularity. Even the advertisement's jingle was sung by Chowdhury. Though he never had any formal singing lessons, he is gifted with the talent to sing. "I always listened to Hemanto Mukhopadhdhay and Bhupen Hajarika and sang those songs to myself; I told Mostofa Sarwar Farooki bhai to give me a chance to sing the jingle because I really thought that my voice would suit the song. Ayub Bachchu and Mostofa Sarwar Farooki then listened to my singing and later let me know that my song had been selected." Chowdhury later won the Meril-Prothom Alo award as the best model 2006 for this commercial.Chowdhury came into the spotlight for the first time as a model in the commercial of Grameenphone which became immensely popular at that time. Pother Klanti Bhule - a very popular song of Hemanta Mukherjee attracted some more attention onto the advertisement. Eventually, that advertise brought him the prestigious Meril-Prothom Alo award in "The Best Model - Men" category in 2005. The commercial was directed by Mostafa Sarwar Farooki, with whom, Chowdhury worked with on the serial 'Talpatar Shepai'. After the commercial, Chowdhury's acting career started moving forward at a very good pace. He then worked with Salauddin Lavlu, Saidul Anam Tutul, Golam Sarwar Tutul and so on. Some of the dramas that Chowdhury specially likes are Vober Hat, Bongsho Rokkhe, Talpatar Shepai, Nikhoj Shongbaad, Ami Tumi Shottojit, Boral Parer Shitlai Gaon, Akjon Durbol Manush and also many more. The busy actor is also seen frequently in Eid-special TV plays. Chowdhury plays a key role, called ‘Laley’, in Aronyak's popular production Shangkranti. In Che-er Cycle, he plays six different characters including those of Fidel Castro and a peace-loving young boy, Shubhro — demonstrating his versatility. Chowdhury considers his performance in Che-er Cycle as one of his best works on stage so far. On his contemporaries, the actor says, several artistes are doing well. Among them, A.K.M Hasan, Mosharraf Karim, Shamim Zaman, Anisur Rahman Milon, Tisha, Chandni and Richi Solaiman have done some impressive works. Chowdhury says that performing in front of the camera is relatively easy for him, thanks to his experience on stage. He adds, acting in films is more challenging than TV plays because of its duration and format. Chowdhury loves playing characters that are little rustic as he can relate his roots to such characters. In his list of favourite roles are the characters of Fiza Master, Japan Doctor and Shonai among others. "I spent my childhood in a village, so I am more comfortable portraying the rural types," he says. Chowdhury spent a quality childhood in his village Kamarhaat. He was hydrophilic and so restless that made his name, "Chanchal" very apt. "Right after my school was over I used to hurry back home to keep my schoolbag and then rush out to bathe in the pond. I used to stay in the pond for two or three hours making my eyes all red and my father used come to collect me from the pond with a stick in his hand. I got beaten up several times in my childhood for that," reminisces Chowdhury. Though initially Chowdhury's family was not happy with his decision to study fine arts, they are now happy to see him so successful. ‘My parents live in Pabna. After the release of Monpura I was talking to my father over the phone and he told me that people in our village are talking about me and my film "non-stop". My father was so proud that he almost cried as he spoke. "I can’t tell you how soothing it is to see your success," he said to me. In His Short Film Career He Already Got Two Blockbuster Film
