‘I chose my son over fame’: Shanta Islam on stepping away from acting
For audiences who grew up watching Bangladeshi television dramas in the 1980s and 1990s, Shanta Islam was once among the most recognisable faces on screen. She appeared in countless television plays, earned widespread popularity, won the National Film Award for her work in cinema, and also drew acclaim on stage through productions by Aranyak Natyadal, including “Mayur Singhashon”, “Joyjoyonti” and “Agunmukha”.
Yet, despite being at the height of her career, she quietly disappeared from acting more than two decades ago. Twenty-one years later, she says she has no intention of ever returning.
In a candid conversation with The Daily Star, Shanta Islam opened up about the deeply personal decision that changed the course of her life, choosing motherhood over fame.
“I last acted around 21 years ago in a television drama,” she recalled. “I cannot even remember the name of it now. At the time, my only son Soumik was in standard five. I had left Dhaka and moved to Sylhet to stay with my mother. My husband and I had grown apart, and we were living separately.”
Then came a moment she says she can never forget. “One day, Soumik suddenly asked me, ‘Maa, won’t I be admitted to class six?’ That question shook me.” She immediately decided to return to Dhaka.
“I told my mother to book me a plane ticket. I said, ‘I’ll go back to Dhaka and get Soumik admitted to school.’ I remember crying throughout the flight. But when I arrived, I did not even know where we would stay.”
Before returning, she contacted the parents of one of her son’s classmates from Sylhet. They helped her find a place to live in Dhaka. “That was the beginning of the second chapter of my life,” she said.
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Although she was still getting offers for acting, the realities of single motherhood began to outweigh her career ambitions. “I was very busy then. Shoots would often continue late into the night. I kept thinking, if I return home so late every day, what will happen to my child? Who will give him time?” That was when she made the decision that would ultimately define her life.
“I decided to stop acting. My son’s upbringing mattered more to me than my career. I completed the remaining projects I had committed to and then walked away from acting entirely. I stepped away from the familiar world of lights, action and cameras. I chose to take care of my son over fame.”
The years that followed were not easy. “There were days when I walked instead of taking a rickshaw just to save ten taka,” she said softly. “For several months, I would walk to pick my son up from school. But I never let him realise what I was going through.”
At the time, her immense popularity often made ordinary life difficult. “One day, I boarded a public bus from Uttara to come into the city. Soon, I realised people were whispering, ‘Shanta Islam is on the bus!’ I got off shortly afterwards. I understood then that travelling like that would not really be possible for me.”
Looking back, she says those were years when she felt completely ungrounded.
“At that point, I felt as if I had no ground beneath my feet. My marriage had broken down. One day, my mother told me, ‘Just imagine that no one exists for Soumik except you.’ That gave me incredible strength. It felt as though someone from above was giving me courage.”
She became determined to build a stable life for her son, regardless of the sacrifices involved.
“He studied at Scholastica, so I rented a house close to his school. Life simply moved forward from there.”
Eventually, she began exploring work outside acting and later became involved with television talk shows on RTV, taking on roles as presenter, planner, and director.
“I worked around my son’s schedule,” she said. “By then, he had grown older.” Her sacrifices, she says, were worth it.
“My son later achieved excellent results in both O Levels and A Levels. He received a full scholarship to study in Canada. Now he has a job, he is married, and I even have a granddaughter.”
Her voice brightened as she spoke about him.
“His happiness makes me happy. This is exactly the kind of life I wanted for him.”
When asked why she never returned to acting once her son grew up, Shanta Islam paused before sharing another deeply personal memory.
“One day my mother watched a role I had done and quietly asked me, ‘Couldn’t you avoid playing such characters?’ Her words affected me profoundly. From then on, I decided I would not act again.”
She also recalled turning down a film offer from late filmmaker Khalid Mahmood Mithu.
“Mithu bhai once asked me to act in one of his films. I asked him for three days to think about it. I spent those days alone, reflecting deeply. In the end, I realised I truly did not want to return.”
Even now, she continues to receive offers. “People still approach me,” she said. “Some even say they would write stories centred entirely around me. But my heart is no longer there.”
Instead, she says she has found peace in the life she chose. “I am satisfied with my life. I am genuinely happy.” Still, one regret remains. “My mother did not live long enough to see the beautiful part of my life,” she said quietly. “I could not keep her close to me for long enough. That is the one sorrow I still carry.”
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