Bappy Chowdhury

Bappy Chowdhury (born Bappy Kumar Saha; 6 December, 1982) is a Bangladeshi actor who works in Bengali films. Referred to in the media as "The Sultan of Dhallywood", he has starred in over 45 films in a decade-long career, and is one of the country's most popular actors.^[2][3]

Bappy Chowdhury
বাপ্পি চৌধুরী
Chowdhury at Jago FM station, 2019
Born	Bappy Kumar Saha (1982-12-06) December 6, 1982 (age 42)[1] Narayanganj, Greater Dhaka, Bangladesh
Nationality	Bangladeshi
Education	University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2012–present
Works	Full list

Chowdhury began his acting career with the box-office hit Bhalobasar Rong (2012). He went on to star in successful films including Prem Prem Paglami, Tobuo Bhalobashi (both 2013), Sweetheart (2016), Apon Manush (2017), Nayok (2018), Daag Hridoye and Paglami (both 2019). He also played Sultan in the 2017 film Sultana Bibiana, which initially underperformed but has gained public recognition over years. In 2021, Chowdhury won a Dhallywood Film and Music award in Best Actor category.

Early life and other works

Chowdhury was born on December 06, 1982 in Narayanganj, Greater Dhaka, Bangladesh.^[1] His father Noni Gopal Saha is a businessman and social worker,^[4] and mother Swapan Saha (d. 2024) was a housewife.^[5] Since his childhood, Chowdhury aspired to be an actor, inspired by Salman Shah and Nayok Raz Razzak.^[1]

Born in a Hindu family, Chowdhury describes himself as a religious individual who believes in God.^[6][7][8] He studied journalism from University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh, and joined NTV as an apprentice journalist in 2018.^[9]

Acting career

Chowdhury made his acting debut in 2012 with Bhalobasar Rong, opposite Mahiya Mahi. The film was a major financial success.^[10] For his 2013 works—Onnorokom Bhalobasha, Prem Prem Paglaami and Tobou Bhalobashi—Chowdhury earned three Freelancer Rubel nominations in Best Actor category.^[11][12][13] The 2013 commercial success Jotil Prem starred him opposite Achol.^[14] Two of his subsequent films, Lover Number One and Ajob Prem (both 2015), were remakes of Indian movies.^[15] In 2016, he starred with Bidya Sinha Saha Mim in two films: Sweetheart and Ami Tomar Hote Chai; the latter was a moderate success.^[16][17] The same year, he also featured in Apon Manush with Pori Moni and in One Way with Bobby.^[18][19]

In 2017, he reunited with Achol in Sultana Bibiana; although the film was unsuccessful,^[20] he ranks Sultan amongst the most memorable roles of his career.^[21][19] Chowdhury starred opposite Adhora Khan in Nayok (2018), which became a box office hit.^[22] The thriller Dongiri (2019) saw him switch from romantic to action roles; the film proved popular with the audience.^[23] His other two releases of 2019 were critical and financial successes: Daag Hridoye and Paglami.^[24][25] Chowdhury's role in the liberation drama Priyo Kamala (2020) was well-received by critics.^[3] He did not have any other releases in 2020–21 due to COVID-19 pandemic. He returned to screen in 2022 with Shoshurbari Zindabad 2, opposite Apu Biswas.^[26]

Chowdhury then collaborated with director Kazi Hayat on Joy Bangla (2023; co-starring Zahara Mitu). It was a highly anticipated release,^[27] based on Muntassir Mamoon's novel of the same name.^[28] However, the film failed to attract an audience,^[27] and so did his other release of 2023, Shotru.^[7]

December 2024 saw the release of Chowdhury's delayed thriller film, Danger Zone, which was awaiting release since seven years.^[29] Directed by Belal Sani, it stars Chowdhury opposite Falguni Rahman Jolly.^[30]

Upcoming projects

In February 2022, New Age reported that Chowdhury is simultaneously working in eleven productions.^[3] He will be playing the leading role in Ashraf Shishir's under-production film, 570, based on the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.^[31] His other upcoming films include Kustigir which pair him with Zahara Mitu.^[28]

In the media

Chowdhury is frequently referred to in the media as "The Sultan of Dhallywood", a nickname he has earned from his character in Sultana Bibiana (2017).^[19][25][32] Shah Alam Shazu of The Daily Star describes Chowdhury as "one of the film industry's most sought-after names [who] created a craze around him[self] in a relatively short period of time."^[33] Most of Chowdhury's films have been commercially successful.^[22]

Following his debut in 2012, Chowdhury went on to act in 16 films in the first three years of his career, breaking the record of actor Salman Shah, who earlier had starred in 13 films in the same timespan.^[1] While he initially became known for playing romantic roles,^[3] he later expanded to negative characters with One Way (2016) and in the action genre with Dongiri (2019).^[34][23] Critics have nonetheless derided his lack of versatility; the actor has expressed his wish to play more experimental roles in future.^{[32][3][35][21]}

Chowdhury has advocated the upliftment of Bangladeshi art and cinema at multiple occasions.^[21][15] When Dhallywood faced financial adversity during COVID-19 pandemic, he was among the highly-paid actors who lowered their fees to keep the industry afloat.^[36] In 2021, he and Shakib Khan co-jointly won a Best Actor award at the Dhallywood Film and Music ceremony.^[37] In 2023, Chowdhury was awarded in special category at the 20th Tele Cine Awards, held in Kolkata.^[38]

On the behalf of BRAC, Chowdhury visited the Rohingya refugee camps in 2018. He later described the visit as "one of the most eye-opening experiences of [his] life".^[21]

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Director	Notes
2012	Bhalobasar Rong	Bappy	Shaheen Sumon	Debut film[39]
2013	Onnorokom Bhalobasha	Shuvo	Shaheen Sumon
	Jotil Prem	Jibon Chowdhury	Shaheen Sumon	[14]
	Romeo	Romeo	Raju Chowdhury
	Prem Prem Paglami	Romeo	Shafi Uddin Shafi
	Tobuo Bhalobashi	Songram	Montazur Rahman Akbar
	Ki Prem Dekhaila	Sami	Shah Mohammad Songram
	Inchi Inchi Prem	Shuvo	Raju Chowdhury
2014	Ki Darun Dekhte	Apon	Wajed Ali Sumon
	Dobir Saheber Songsar	Kuddus	Jakir Hossain Raju
	Honeymoon	Rusho	Shafi Uddin Shafi
	I Don't Care	Surjo	Mohammad Hossain Jaimy
	Love Station	Nibir	Shahadat Hossain Liton
	Onek Sadher Moyna	Moti	Jakir Hossain Raju
2015	Gunda: The Terrorist	Jibon	Ispahani Arif Jahan
	Lover Number One	Badshah	Faruk Omar
	Ajob Prem	Rafi	Wajed Ali Sumon
	Epar Opar	Shimul	Delwar Jahan Jhantu
2016	Sweetheart	Zishan	Wajed Ali Sumon
	Onek Dame Kena		Jakir Hossain Raju
	Baje Chele: The Loafer	Reshad Chowdhury	Monirul Islam Sohel & Rahim Babu
	One Way	Emon	Iftakar Chowdhury	[34]
	Ami Tomer Hote Chai	Abir	Anonno Mamun	[16]
2017	Koto Swapno Koto Asha	Jibon	Wakil Ahmed
	Missed Call	Roman	Shafi Uddin Shafi
	Sultana Bibiana	Sultan	Himel Ashraf	[20]
	Dulabhai Zindabad	Sagor	Montazur Rahman Akbar
	Apon Manush	Robi	Shah Alam Mondal	[18]
2018	Poloke Poloke Tomake Chai	Tamim	S.M. Shahnawaz Shanu
	Nayok	Abhi	Ispahani Arif Jahan	[22]
	Asmani	Azad / Asman	M. Shakhawat Hossain
2019	Daag Hridoye	Shohag	Tarek Shikder	[24]
	Paglami	Prem	Komol Sarkar	[25]
	Dongiri		Shah Alam Mondal	[23]
2020	Priyo Komola	Priyo	Shahriar Nazim Joy	[3]
2022	Shoshurbari Zindabad 2	Abir	Debashish Biswas	[26]
2023	Joy Bangla		Kazi Hayat	[28]
	Shotru	Durjoy	Sumon Dhar
	570 †	TBA	Ashraf Shishir	[3]
	Danger Zone †	TBA	Belal Sani
	Kustigir †	TBA	Shaheen-Sumon	[28]

Awards and nominations

Year	Awards	Category	Film	Result
2013	Freelancer Rubel	First Stage Nomination for Best Film Actor[11]	Onnorokom Bhalobasha	Nominated
		Second Stage Nomination for Best Film Actor[12]	Prem Prem Paglaami	Nominated
		Third Stage Nomination for Best Film Actor[13]	Tobou Bhalobashi	Nominated
2021	Dhallywood Film and Music Awards	Best Actor[37]		Won
2023	20th Tele Cine Awards Kolkata	Special[38]		Won