Hasan Masud explains why he quit acting

Veteran actor, director and writer Hasan Masud has disclosed that a profound religious and psychological transformation, culminating in his recent performance of Hajj, lies behind his near-total withdrawal from acting, a craft that once made him a fixture on Bangladeshi screens.

Speaking in a recent interview with a private satellite channel, Masud explained that he had deliberately retreated from public life, no longer accepting roles in television dramas or films save for the occasional advertisement that appeals to him. He traced the shift to an inward turn towards spirituality and religious devotion that had, in fact, begun well before he undertook the pilgrimage, describing himself as someone who has "completely changed" following 41 days spent in Mecca and Medina.

Read More: Record load-shedding plunges nation into darkness

The actor also reflected on an earlier chapter of his life defined by voracious reading, a habit he ultimately abandoned after it left him feeling emotionally depleted and mechanical; he eventually sold off his personal collection of roughly 1,200 books at Nilkhet and has not picked up a book since. Before his rise to prominence as an actor -- beginning with his 2003 debut in Mostofa Sarwar Farooki's Bachelor and continuing through popular dramas such as Housefull, Graduate, and Taxi Driver -- Masud served in the Bangladesh Army from 1985 to 1992, retiring as a captain, before building a substantial career in journalism, including a stint as BBC Bangla's correspondent from 2004 to 2008.