Canberra’s own Sadia Nabila is set to grace our silver screen once more in the upcoming Bangladeshi action-thriller, Mission Extreme (2021).
This will be her second film screened in Australia, the first being her Bollywood premiere, Pareshaan Parinda (2018).
Nabila told Canberra Daily she’s thrilled to finally be catering for both her hometowns at once, with Mission Extreme filmed in her home country of Bangladesh, and to be Xtreme-screened in Canberra on Saturday 4 December.
“You feel closer to a project when you’re speaking to your people,” she said. “And I can’t say how excited I am that the movie’s going to be shown in Canberra, which has been my home for nine years.”
Mission Extreme is directed by real-life police officer Sunny Sanwar, inspired by several of his lived encounters.
“Usually when we watch a film, it takes two and a half hours of our lives and then we leave the theatre,” said Nabila. “With this film, many won’t realise that these incidents are taken from real life. People have really gone through these situations.”
Mission Extreme is part one in a duology taking place after the events of hit Bengali film, Dhaka Attack (2017), which Sanwar co-wrote.
Nabila said she was attracted to the role of police officer, Era, by her power in a male-dominated field. Although in completely different fields, Nabila shares a common drive with her character, that she rode all the way to Dhaliwood.
She was just five years old when she first took to the stage.
She had always gazed up at the glamorous women on TV, insisting to her mother, and military father, that would be her someday.
Nabila made it her mission to prove to everyone, including her small town of Saidpur, that she was meant for the spotlight.
“I was such a drama queen,” laughed the now 26-year-old actress and model. “But I just knew that’s what I wanted to do, and I was blessed that my parents supported me, despite no one in our family being in entertainment.”
Nabila started modelling after high school. In 2017, she was the only Bangladeshi contender selected for Miss India Worldwide. With her piercing eyes and unwavering confidence, she walked away with the prize for first runner-up, and an offer for her role in Pareshaan Parinda.
Bangladesh’s entertainment industry, known as Dhaliwood, lies separate from India’s Bollywood. Nabila, who also models in Australia, jetsetted between the three prior to the pandemic.
Now Nabila is a household name in Saidpur. However, she confesses, there will always be naysayers.
“Saidpur was a small city, a lot like Canberra. Everyone knows everyone.
“I had people telling my parents, ‘You shouldn’t let your daughter be in media, why are you doing that?’ Questioning my intelligence, this and that.
“Particularly as Asian women, the arts career path can be very hard at times. We won’t always get support, from either our families or our societies.
“You will have your own doubts about your future too, time to time, because no one knows what is going to happen.
“I just want to say to girls like me: the best version of yourself can’t be living someone else’s life,” she said.
“Outsiders are outsiders for a reason. You will always have bad feedback, and good feedback. As much as we can, take the good things from others, and put it in ourselves, and discard the rotten.
“Once your family sees you following your passion and working hard, eventually they will understand. Just keep on following your heart, and don’t stop. Just keep on going.”
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