Through the story of a particular jatra company, The New Shobuj Opera depicts the colourful lifestyle of the jatra artistes. This new venture, by Manunur Rashid, reveals the decay of this art form. For the shooting, the team has set up a realistic ambience of a jatra, which includes a ticket counter and a stage at the shooting spot.

Performers as well as the technical crews have been staying near Kaliakoir, Gazipur, for 20 days for the shoot. The interiors of the zamindar palace and the nearby lawn are being used for the shoots.

October 21 was the 20th day of the continuous shooting slot On this day, a few interesting sequences were shot. For instance, a duel sequence between AKM Hasan and Shamim Zaman was shot. During the shoot out, the actors sometimes became so involved in their roles that some of them sustained injuries.

AKM Hasan has already established himself as a comic actor in Ronger Manush. He said, 'I play the role of a chef in the jatra company. My character is quite an interesting one. I play the role of a sycophant of the owner of the jatra company ; and in his absence in the scene, I enact his role.'

In the next shot, Fazlur Rahaman Babu, who plays the role of a quarrelsome fellow, was filmed in a cooking scene brawling with the chef.

Like the other performers, Jayanto Chattopadyay is also racing against the clock to complete the shooting. As he said, 'One night I had to change my make-up four times for six sequences.' He gives credit for this feat to the make-up artiste M Ali Babul.

In The New Shobuj Opera, a good number of young artistes appear on the screen for the first time. The debut artistes--Rubli Chowdhury, Joyeeta and Shurobhi--are also enjoying their experiences in the course of the shooting.

Shah Alam Dulal, who plays the role of the manager of the company, said, 'I had no idea at all as to how interesting the role of a jatra manager is! In the serial, we had to work with a professional jatra team. I picked up many nuances of acting from them--much of which I had not learnt in my 25-years as a stage artiste.'

Director Mamunur Rashid said, 'Zamindar Afzal Chowdhury is helping by allowing us to use his palace. It is only nature that is hostile to us. During these 20 days, we could not work for more than 10 days.' Regarding the introduction of many new artistes in the play, he said, 'During our next slot, which starts from November at the same place, a few more new artistes will stage an entry in the serial.'