Playwright Selim Al Deen: The Visionary Who Reshaped Bangladeshi Theatre Aligning With Postmodern Themes

This year marks the 76th birth anniversary of the illustrious theatre personality and founding pillar of post-independence Bangladesh’s theatrical movement, Dr. Selim Al Deen. Defying colonial literary conventions, he revitalized Bengali theatre, reconnecting it with the timeless currents of Bangla culture. Through rigorous exploration of theme, form, and language, he reflected scholarly research within his plays. The post-independence resurgence of Bengali theatre bears his indelible imprint. Immersed in the roots of classical and medieval Bengali literature, Selim Al Deen emerged as the most formidable dramatist of the post-Rabindranath era and he affiliated Bengali drama with the core aspects of postmodern literature. 

Selim Al Deen was born on 18 August 1949 in Senerkhil, Sonagazi, Feni. He was the third child of Mofizuddin Ahmed and Firoza Khatun. His childhood and adolescence spanned in Feni, Chittagong, Sylhet, Brahmanbaria, and Rangpur, following his father’s government postings. He completed his SSC from Mangalkandi High School, Feni, in 1964 and his HSC from Feni Government College in 1966. In 1967, he enrolled in the Department of Bengali at Dhaka University but later transferred to Sadat College in Tangail, completing his undergraduate degree before returning to Dhaka University for his MA. In 1995, he earned a PhD from Jahangirnagar University, researching medieval Bengali theatre.

A passionate reader from childhood, Selim Al Deen made his literary debut in 1968 in the daily Pakistan, publishing a Bengali essay on African-American literature titled ‘Negro Literature’. While still a student, he engaged with theatre through Dhaka Theatre. After completing his institutional studies, he worked as a copywriter at BTP before joining Jahangirnagar University as a lecturer in 1974, the same year he married Begumjadi Meherunnesa. Their only child, Moinul Hasan, tragically passed away at an early age.

Dr. Selim Al Deen not only pioneered theatre writing but also founded Bangladesh’s only theatre encyclopedia, the Bangla Natya Kosh, and introduced neo-ethnic theatre centered on indigenous life. Under the title of  ‘Upanyaser Manchabhromon‘, he adapted novels such as Kando Nodi Kando for the stage. A searcher of Bengali theatre’s roots, he integrated traditional subjects and forms into his own plays, reinforcing the distinct identity of Bengali theatre.

Through Selim Al Deen efforts, Jahangirnagar University became the first institution in Bangladesh to offer Honours and Postgraduate degrees in theatre and dramatic theory. He was the founder and first chairperson of the university’s Department of Drama and Dramatics. He launched the journal ‘Theatre Studies’ and mentored numerous researchers who completed MPhil and PhD degrees. A founding member of Dhaka Theatre, he co-founded the Bangladesh Graam Theatre in 1981–82 alongside director Nasir Uddin Yusuf, establishing the first rural theatre group, ‘Taluknagar Theatre’, in Manikganj.

Selim Al Deen’s first one-act play play, “Biporit Tomosay”, appeared in 1968 in the daily Purbodesh periodical. His first radio drama (Biporit Tomosay) was broadcast in 1969, and his first television drama, “Librium” (later Ghum Nei), aired in 1970. His first stage adaptation of “Sarpo Bishoyok Golpo”, directed by Amirul Haque Chowdhury, premiered in 1972. Beyond playwriting, he compiled, edited, and curated the Bangla Natya Kosh. His play “Hargoj” was translated into Swedish and staged in Hindi in India.

Regarding his own theatre, Selim Al Deen said: “I have always felt that the intensity of theatre surpasses that of Bengali poetry, and its constraints exceed those of the novel. To overcome these, I must discover new lands, new people, and new artistic philosophies. In uncovering this territory, I have had to rigorously discard conventional frameworks. As a result, my writing may not immediately appear as ‘theatre,’ yet the truth remains—I have always intended to write plays.

In my theatre, the essence of drama takes precedence over lyricism or ornamentation. I aim to intertwine everyday prose with the profound currents of life, integrating dialogue with the elation and sorrow of the characters.

I have never attempted to write in European styles. Therefore, the rigid structures of tragic dialogue are unnecessary in my plays. The sensibilities of the Bengali audience cannot be grasped through European notions of tragedy. All attempts at European-style tragedy in Bengali theatre have ultimately failed.

If my plays do not deeply embody the struggles, grief, and downfall of the people of Bangladesh, they will merely be consigned to the archives of history—nothing more.

I am a child of post-war Bangladesh. The literary conventions of a well-established democratic and rational society cannot define Bangladeshi prose. Our prose must carry the cry of murder, the pulse of fresh blood.

I reject the polished, elitist prose—Babugoddo, in my theatre, rather I seek the language of the people of Bengal. Moreover, I was born on the shores of the Bay of Bengal, where the waves and the fury of the sea shaped me from birth. Thus, imitations of mosaic, dry, or monotonous prose traditions are impossible for me.”

On the international dimension of art, Selim Al Deen stated: “No art possesses a truly universal form. Art is always rooted in the geography of a particular time, place, religion, and culture. Latin American artistic traditions may inspire me, and art can attain a global resonance, yet it remains fundamentally grounded in the geography to which it belongs.” 

His notable works include: Jandis o Bibidho Belun, Muntasir Fantasy, Shakuntala, Kittankhola, Keramatmangal, Jaiboti Konyar Mon, Chaaka, Hargoj, Prachya, Hathhodai, Nimajjan, Dhabman, Putro, and Bonpanshul. Research-based productions include Mahua and Dewana Madina, drawn from Mymensingh Gitika. Several of his plays, including Chaaka and Kittankhola, were adapted into films.

Selim Al Deen rejected all divisions of Western art through the lens of the Bengali aesthetic cultivated over a thousand years, pioneering a novel artistic methodology he termed “Dwaitadwaitavadi Art Theory (Dualistic Theory of Art)”. In the plays written under this dualistic framework, the multilayered realities of the lower strata of society emerge vividly against a social-anthropological backdrop.

Among his most celebrated works is Chaka (The Wheel), which earned international acclaim and has been staged beyond Bangladesh, notably in India and the United States. Its first performance took place in the U.S. in 1990, with an English translation by Syed Jamil Ahmed. In 2006, India’s National School of Drama in Delhi produced the play.

The creation of this play was deeply influenced by a political incident. Around 1987, during the movement against autocracy in Bangladesh, a young, almost unknown man named Noor Hossain marched in the streets bearing the slogan: “Down with autocracy, let democracy be free (Shoirachar Nipat Jaak, Gonotontro Nipat Jaak).” He was killed suddenly by police gunfire on November 10. This event profoundly affected Selim Al Deen. Questions haunted him: Who will take responsibility for this corpse? What will become of this unknown youth’s body? How can it be delivered to his family?

The anxieties and moral turmoil arising from this bewildering state action are reflected throughout the play. Lines such as: “A government corpse has arrived from the city,” “A welfare state means delivering the corpse to its destination,” or references to Rehana, a 19-year-old female student of Nayanpur College, who secretly works with a political party, clearly indicate the playwright’s engagement with these tragedies, their injustices, and the human cost they entail.

The distinguished son of Feni, dramatist par excellence Dr. Selim Al Deen, was posthumously awarded the Independence Award in Literature in 2023. Notably, Selim Al Deen’s birth name was Muhammad Moinuddin Ahmed. He is far better known by his pen name, Selim Al Deen, under which he created his remarkable body of work.

A recipient of the Independence Award, the Ekushey Padak, the Bangla Academy Award, and the National Film Award, Dr. Selim Al Deen passed away on 14 January 2008 at a private hospital in Dhaka, casting a profound shadow over Bangladesh’s theatrical world. Reflecting on death in his play “Dhaboman”, he wrote: “Let his death be triumphant over suffering, let it be victorious over grief; may he traverse sorrow with steadfast steps….” He rests in eternal peace beside the central mosque of Jahangirnagar University.


Emran Emon is a journalist, 
columnist and a global 
affairs analyst.