Popular actress Quazi Nawshaba Ahmed has carved a distinct place in the audience’s hearts through her performances.
Her latest short film, Paint on Dry Leaf, has recently been released. In an interview, the actress spoke about the film, her co-star Imtiaz Barshan and her thoughts on life, death and nature.
According to Nawshaba, discussions about Paint on Dry Leaf began with director Fuaduzzaman Fuad and his wife during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The project was developed with great care over a long period.
“We ordinary people assume that we will live for many years, and because of that, we destroy nature without thinking. We also forget to love ourselves while we are alive,” she said.
The actress said people often create distance from those around them and fail to value the precious relationship between humans and nature.
She added that the film became significant to her personal and artistic journey of understanding that relationship.
Nawshaba described the film as something she would like to experience repeatedly, comparing it to a favourite poem that reveals something new every time it is read.
Speaking about working with Imtiaz Barshan, she said, “Barshan is someone I really like and a very good actor. He was also my co-star in my first film Alga Nonger, although that film was never released. He is a wonderful person and extremely supportive as an artiste.”
She said the film was shot within a short period, but the preparation and journey behind it took much longer.
Reflecting on mortality, Nawshaba said people often forget that death is inevitable.
“We think we will live for a long time, so we struggle to accept death. But once we are born, death is inevitable—that is the eternal truth,” she said.
The film features the line, “There is no magical way to become immortal.”
Explaining her thoughts on it, Nawshaba said people often spend their lives believing they can postpone love, reconciliation or caring for nature.
“We think, ‘I will love tomorrow’ or ‘I will plant a tree again in two years.’ But who can guarantee that I will live until tomorrow?” she said.
“To become immortal, we must live on through love, emotions and protecting nature—not through our physical existence.”
Nawshaba described Paint on Dry Leaf as a psychological exploration of birth, death, love and humanity’s subtle relationship with nature.
Rather than explaining everything directly, the film allows viewers to interpret it in their own way.
She said the film is not very long but has considerable psychological depth, making it the kind of work an artiste would want to revisit and explore again.
Recalling the shooting experience, Nawshaba said the production was carefully planned, with the team knowing exactly what they wanted to achieve before filming began.
The shoot took place in extremely cold weather, with some scenes filmed around 4:30am amid dense natural fog.
“Some viewers may think those scenes were created using AI or a fog machine. But the truth is, we actually filmed in that intense winter environment. We did not use artificial fog,” she said.
According to Nawshaba, the film explores a profound emotional journey that audiences will understand when they experience it for themselves.
