Tauquir made me cry a lot: Abul Hayat

Tauquirr Ahmed and Bipasha Hayat are widely regarded as an ideal couple in the country’s showbiz arena. Over time, the colors of life have changed. Popular actor of the 1990s, Tauquir has now crossed six decades. Marking the occasion, an event titled ‘Chhoy Doshok Periye Toukir Ahmed’ was organized at Dhaka’s Shilpakala Academy. Prominent theatre personalities of the country attended the event. Among them was Abul Hayat.

Tauquir married actress and painter Bipasha, daughter of Abul Hayat. At the event, Abul Hayat spoke about Tauquir on various occasions and praised him with different attributes.

Speaking about Tauquir, Abul Hayat said, ‘To his mother-in-law, he is the best son-in-law. Because he eats whatever she asks him to eat. My wife keeps serving food on his plate. Take another piece of hilsa; okay, you liked that very much, take another piece. And he is a good man too—since “mother is serving,” he keeps taking it. I do not know, maybe he has no other option to avoid eating, but he eats to make her happy.’

Expressing admiration for Tauquir Ahmed’s interest in studies, Abul Hayat said a creative person can only emerge when they have education. Education develops different faculties. However, education for a creative individual does not only mean formal education; it also includes other forms of learning. And this is one of his greatest qualities—he reads books. He reads different kinds of books. If I sit with Tauquir for an hour and chat, I feel like I learn a lot.

Abul Hayat remains deeply impressed by Tauquir for many reasons. He said, “Whenever Tauquir comes to my house or I meet him, our conversations feel like a class—I learn a great deal. Those of us from the older generation grew up with a habit of reading; schools made us read books, and we had to return the next day to recount the stories—those practices have faded. At the same time, I have never seen him return empty-handed from a market. He always buys at least one book.”

‘Bipasha has the same habit. When she was in class ten, she had already finished reading the Quran, the Vedas, and the Bible. It is unbelievable—how does she read so much! Does she stay up all night reading all these books? It is her passion. And she still reads books. She tells me stories from them. So the day these two people came together, I still say that Tauquir has made me cry the most,’ added the veteran actor of the country.

In his speech, Abul Hayat also referred to Tauquir Ahmed as a ‘villain’ with a mix of humor and emotion. He said this because, as a son-in-law, Tauquir had moved him to tears by taking his daughter away. Recalling the moment, Abul Hayat said, “The day he married Bipasha and took her away, I had never cried so much in my life. I have two daughters, and I cried at both their weddings. Among them, Tauquir was the first villain.”

Bipasha and Tauquir married in 1999. At present, Bipasha stays away from acting. Tauquir remains active in filmmaking but rarely appears on screen, while Abul Hayat stays busy with directing and appears only occasionally.

Recalling the day of Bipasha and Tauquir’s wedding, Abul Hayat said the family invited around two thousand guests. However, on the wedding day, more than seven thousand people showed up just to catch a glimpse of them. Remembering that day, he said, ‘All the food remained on the tables; no one could eat. Everyone said the same thing—we did not come to eat; we came to see Tauquir and Bipasha. The crowd became so overwhelming that it became difficult for them to stay. There were thousands and thousands of people! Eventually, Tauquir and Bipasha had to leave the wedding venue to escape the crowd.’