Mohammad Zakaria was a Bangladeshi actor and producer. In 1970–90 he had a strong presence in Television, Radio and Theatre. His astonishing story telling voice could grab the attention of the listener so easily.

Early life

Zakaria was born on 22 February 1932 to a

Bengali Muslim Bengali Muslims (; ) 'Mussalman'' also used in this work./ref> are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising over 70% of the global Bengali population, they are the second-largest ...

family in the village of Sekeddaha in

Birbhum district Birbhum district () is an administrative unit in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the northernmost district of Burdwan division—one of the five administrative divisions of West Bengal. The district headquarters is in Suri. Other impo ...

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal until 1937, later the Bengal Province, was the largest of all three presidencies of British India during Company rule in India, Company rule and later a Provinces o ...

. He was the son of Mohammad Ali Birbhumi. At a young age, he learnt the

tilawa The Tilawa () is a recitation of the successive verses of the Qur'ān in a standardized and proven manner according to the rules of the ten recitations. Presentation # The ''Tilawa'' of the Quran is given in terms and meanings, because the Qi ...

of the

Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...

. He studied at a

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...

in Birbhum until sixth class. His father wished for him to become a hafiz i.e. memorize the entire Qur'an off by heart. However, his mother desired for him to enrol at the Mallarpur English School which he eventually joined. From there, he studied at the Suri Senior Benimadhab Institution where he passed his

matriculation Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term ''matriculation'' is seldom used no ...

. He completed his

Intermediate of Arts Intermediate Arts (IA) is an academic diploma awarded by a high school or junior college after the completion of 12th grade or equivalent in some countries like India and Nepal. However, as for Nepal, the usage of IA, ISc, and the like has become o ...

from the

Krishna Chandra College Krishna Chandra College, commonly known as Hetampur College, established in 1897, is a government-affiliated college located at Hetampur in the Birbhum district of West Bengal, India. It claims to be the oldest college in the Birbhum district ...

.Bose, Anjali (ed.), সংসদ বাঙালি চরিতাভিধান, vol. 2, Sahitya Sangad, Calcutta, January 2019 page 324, ISBN ৯৭৮-৮১-৭৯৫৫-২৯২-৬

Career

Works

Awards

* National Drama Festival Award (New Delhi, 1954) *

Ekushey Padak Ekushey Padak () is the second highest civilian award in Bangladesh, introduced in memory of martyrs of the Bengali language movement of 1952. The award is given to recognize contributions in a number of fields, including culture, education, and e ...

(1981) * Kazi Mahbubullah Zebunnesa Trust Medal (1983) * Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Prize (1978) * Bangladesh Film Journalist Association Prize (1985) * Sequence Award of Merit (1980) * Sammilita Sanskritik Jot Padak (1992)

References

1923 births 1993 deaths Bangladeshi male film actors Recipients of the Ekushey Padak People from Birbhum district {{Bangladesh-actor-stub