21 min | 28 Feb 2024

Dilruba Yasmeen Ruhee speaks to the Bangladeshi actress and producer Novera Rahman Orishi about her career.

Novera Rahman Orishi is a Bangladeshi painter, actress and producer whose career began as a child performer in television programmes and commercials. From her earliest roles she demonstrated a natural aptitude for the visual and performing arts, transitioning effortlessly between mediums as her interests deepened.

Raised in Dhaka and having spent formative years in the United States, Orishi is fluent in several dialects of Bengali and English. This bicultural background has enriched her artistic perspective, enabling her to bring nuanced layers of authenticity to every project she undertakes.

She rose to widespread acclaim by starring in and co-producing Amitabh Reza Chowdhury’s film Rickshaw Girl, in which she mastered a 1970s Bangladeshi accent to lend genuine period detail when it finally premiered in Bangladesh following pandemic-related delays. Beyond the screen, Orishi explores Bangladeshi folk art and visual storytelling, fusing her painterly practice with her cinematic work to champion unconventional, rebellious characters.