Chanchal Chowdhury

Suchinta Chanchal Chowdhury was born and raised in Kamarhaat village in Pabna, Bangladesh.^[9] His father, Radha Gobinda Chowdhury (died 2022)^[10] was a teacher, while mother Nomita is a housewife.^[11] Chowdhury passed his SSC examination from Rajbari Government High School in 1990 and HSC examination from Rajbari Govt. College in 1992.^[12][13] In the same year he applied for admission in the Department of Fine Arts at the University of Dhaka and gradually developed an interest in acting.^[13]

In 1993, Chowdhury settled in Dhaka. As a third year student of DU, he joined Aranyak, a theater group headed by Mamunur Rashid. He would go on to work in the theatre for 10 years.^[14] During this period, he played minor roles in different television dramas as well. His first leading role came 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.^[7][15][16]

It was in 2004 that Fazlur Rahman Babu (actor) 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 Chanchal's life took an upward surge towards success as the commercial gained him immense popularity.^[17]

One day Mostafa Sarwar Farooki asked me to meet him. He explained the script for the advertisement to me and I soon agreed as I felt that I could realise the emotion in the script

— Chanchal Chowdhury

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 Hemanta 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 (a Bengali Theatre production), 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, AKM Hasan, Mosharraf Karim, Shamim Zaman, Anisur Rahman Milon, Nusrat Imroz 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.^{[citation needed]}

He has also been a playback singer, along with Meher Afroz Shaon, in the 2012 war film depicting the Bangladesh Liberation War, Pita.^[18][19]

Also known for famous children show "Sisimpur" where he played the character of "Mukul".{{citation needed|date=April 2024}}

In 2024, Chowdhury starred in the Chorki web production The Last Defenders of Monogamy, as an unhappily–married boss who finds himself attracted to his much younger secretary.^[20] Directed by Farooki, the film opened to mixed reviews, with critics finding Chowdhury's character to be poorly written.^[20][21] He subsequently made a cameo appearance in Raihan Rafi's top-grossing crime thriller, Toofan (2024).^[22]

Chowdhury next will be playing director Mrinal Sen in the biopic Padatik (to be released on August 15, 2024).^[23]

Chowdhury met his wife, Shanta, in his struggling days. They got married legally on August 7, 2007, and later on August 22, had a Hindu wedding ceremony. They have a son, Shaishob Rudra Shudda (b. 2009).^[24] Shaishob made his debut in the 2022 drama Sushil Family playing a minor character.^[25]

• Chanchal Chowdhury at IMDb