The ever-evolving Safa Kabir

Safa Kabir, the renowned model and actress of our generation, has gracefully navigated the entertainment industry for nearly a decade. Captivating audiences with both glamorous and natural roles, she recently gained praise for her portrayal of a female bus conductor in drama "Parul", and the character Dr Maha in Vicky Zahed's drama, "Bed Number 3".

In a recent episode of The Daily Star's podcast, "Daraz presents A Peek Inside with Sadi", the "Kuhelika" actress discussed her journey in showbiz and her latest endeavours.

There was a time when you used to get trolled for your acting, and now you have evolved into an actress who is donning different kinds of roles. How did you navigate this evolution?

I started with a girl-next-door character in "@18: All Time Dourer Upor". After that, the audience loved seeing me in such mellow roles. Then came the 'selfie queen' phase, as I did a campaign for a mobile phone and took a selfie with almost two thousand people in the background. After that, I used to get approached for such roles in dramas and TVCs. But eventually, I was done portraying the typical characters and wanted more. I aimed for mature roles and to portray diverse stories of women. Convincing both the audience and directors during that challenging period was tough, and I'm grateful to those directors who took a chance on me.

You approached directors to cast you. Did your ego try to hold you back?

The word 'ego' doesn't exist in my vocabulary, despite working in the showbiz industry. My parents raised me to be humble. I never felt competitive with others.

How do you handle fans? Do you get annoyed when they approach you for photos?

Not at all. I love it when people come to talk to me or take photos with me. This is something I enjoy and cherish. Sometimes, when I am in the middle of a scene, and someone approaches me for a photo, it distracts me from my role and at that time, I might say no to the person. But generally, I never reject someone who approaches me for a photo.

You claim to be a self-made actress. Why do you consider yourself so?

From 2013 to 2023, noticeable differences in my work reflect my learning curve—reactions, actions, dialogue delivery, pronunciation, expressions. People can only criticise, but there are barely a few who would teach you how to do it. I learnt things from my senior co-artistes and mostly by observing. I always consider Apurba and Nisho bhai as 'schools', from whom you can always learn things. I also got the chance to share screen with Chanchal dada, and I got to learn so much from him. Siam is also very supportive and helps me comprehend things.

You proved yourself in Vicky Zahed's 'Bed Number 3'. How did you prepare for the character?

An artiste needs to explore different characters. Like the character, I also do have anxiety and a while back, I was deeply depressed. So, I knew how it felt, and I tried to portray that feeling on screen. My director probably doesn't know it, but I didn't sleep two nights straight. It makes your under-eye nerves come out a little bit. Obviously, there was an effect of make-up, but I really wanted to get into the shoes of the character. During that time, I barely used to talk to people, trying to immerse myself into the role of Maha.

What are you currently working on?

I can't reveal the details now. All I can say is I'm going to play the role of a tokai (garbage collector) this time!

Transcribed by Mahiya Tabassum