Shawana in ‘Jadukar’: From behind the camera to lead

Filmmaker, writer and actor Shawana is set to take on the lead role in the upcoming web film “Jadukar”, directed by Mostafizur Noor Imran. She will be seen opposite actor Sharif Siraj in the project.
For Shawana, Jadukar marks a significant shift in perspective as she moves from working behind the camera to stepping into a central character herself. “In Jadukar, I play the lead character. It is a very different experience from directing because instead of observing a character from outside and guiding it, I have to completely inhabit the character myself,” Shawana said.
Describing her character, she said, “It is an interesting character who is deeply connected with nature and is based in a village. But we have never really seen a character like this in Bangladesh before, especially a female character. I cannot recall much about my character and the look yet.”
The role also required Shawana to make significant physical and behavioural changes. “The character required me to move away from my own everyday mannerisms and embrace a much more raw and natural physicality. I had to put on weight for the character and do a lot of new and different things that I had never done before,” she added.
For Shawana, the transition from filmmaker to actor was challenging but also offered a new way of understanding storytelling. “It was challenging, but at the same time, it was a very unique experience. I think the transition from director to actor has allowed me to understand storytelling from a completely different perspective,” she said.
“As a director, I have always thought about how a character should be portrayed, how a scene should work from behind the camera, and how the character I have written would translate onto the screen. As an actor, I just had to focus on being the character and becoming that person; nothing else,” Shawana shared. 
Shawana is a filmmaker, writer and actor whose work is rooted in cinema, storytelling and the arts. She studied International Relations and Cinema Studies at Stockholm University. Her filmography includes “The Road to My Father” (2025), “Mystery in Bloom” (2026), “A Cup of Change”, “Bhalo Lagena Kichui” and “Lonely Time”. Her film “The Road to My Father” has been selected for 12 international film festivals around the world, marking another significant milestone in her filmmaking journey.