Dhaka, Jan 14 (bdnews24.com) – Playwright Selim Al-Din died in hospital from cardiac complications Monday at the age of 58, a LabAid spokesman said.
The critically ill playwright was scheduled to be transferred to a Thailand hospital Monday for better treatment.
LabAid media coordinator Mesbah Azad said Selim died at 2:10pm at the coronary care unit of the hospital.
Selim's condition deteriorated Sunday.
The Jahangirnagar University drama and dramatics professor was rushed to BIRDEM Friday evening after he suffered respiratory trouble. He was transferred to LabAid after doctors diagnosed cardiac problems.
Born on August 18, 1949 and named Moinudddin Ahmed, Selim was the founding chairman of the Dramatics Department at Jahangirnagar University.
He was also the president of Village Theatre Project under Dhaka Theatre.
One of the finest playwrights the country has ever produced, he wrote Charkankra in 1977, which makes one of the first street plays in Bangladesh.
His most important plays include Muntasir Fantasy (1976), Kirton Khola (1980), Keramat Mangal (1984), Chaka (1990), and Jaibati Kanyar Mon (1991).
His other dramas Bashon, Atotaiee, Saiful Muluk Badiuzzaman and Hat Hodai established him as a dramatist extraordinaire.
He produced epic drama "Nimojjon" at the last stage of his life and had also written a number of TV dramas and serials.
Selim did a PhD in "Drama in the Middle Age of Bengali Literature" in 1995.
He received Bangla Academy Award in 1984 and other awards from different organisations in Bangladesh.
As a young boy he travelled widely thanks to his father being a civil servant. He was a avid reader from an early age and would finish a new book in one sitting.
He also started writing from early age.
Selim enrolled in Dhaka University in 1966 and got involved with Dhaka Theatre. He made up his mind to become a writer and wrote his first drama in 1968.
It was under his tutelage that the Gram Theatre under Dhaka Theatre started its journey.
The drama he penned in his early days as a playwright included "Sharpa Bishoyak Golpo", "Jaundice O Bibidho Baloon" and "Mul Samashya".
Selim was among those who helped dramas flourish after 1971 with innovative ideas, political awareness, skill in form and use of refined language.
The plays of this time were based on the people's movement and the liberation war as well as the erosion in social values and the despair of the masses.
Symbolism and folk heritage were also used in many of the plays. Many foreign plays were translated at this time.
Selim was among those who made the drama movement forceful.
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