Toya and Shawon: From ‘Nine and Half’ to eternity

On February 29, small screen actors Mumtahina Toya and Sayeed Zaman Shawon tied the knot on a leap year after being in a relationship for half a year – which no one was aware of.

The Business Standard sat down for a casual interview with the newlywed couple on March 6 while they were at the shooting spot for a TV serial in Uttara.

Asking Toya and Shawon about their first interaction, relationship and marriage, Toya, without any hesitance, spoke about her and Shawon's relationship prior their marriage.

"We met for the first time four or five years ago while shooting for Mabrur Rashid's TV serial 'Nine and Half'. We did not talk to each other that day since we had only just met," she said.

"I had only one scene with him in the serial. There was no need for me to speak to him more than reciting the rehearsed dialogue from the script," Toya added.

But two years later as Toya returned to Bangladesh from a trip to Thailand, she saw Shawon standing beside the plane while getting down from the flight. "I ran and embraced him. But I later understood that I should not have done so as his colleagues were there with him," Toya said, laughing.

Shawon was one of the cabin crew members of Biman Bangladesh Airlines. "We were not even close. But I still don't know why I embraced him."

Hearing stories of the past, Shawon smiled. The slight smile playing at the corner of his mouth indicated to the truthfulness of the stories. For the next two years, they did not work with each other on any project. As a result, the two did not meet or converse with each other.

Two months later, Toya and Shawon were scheduled to work together in a short film. That is where the duo got the chance to indulge in a conversation and exchange phone numbers.

And with a few meet ups, trips and one more shooting together, they fell in love – despite not knowing when, or how.

What happened next is known by everyone. Amid several incidents, Toya and Shawon got married. Recalling those memories, Shawon said, "My plan was to propose her on January 28, which is my birthday. That is how we got engaged – through the surprise I planned for her."

Toya and Shawon were married on a leap year. When this correspondent asked them why they chose to get married on a leap year, Toya explained, "My family is very concerned about fixing dates. This is just a result of that concern. Our anniversary will be celebrated once every four years and everyone will be very hyped and excited about the anniversary because of this."

"Toya is very loyal, plain and simple, not complicated and very caring," Shawon said when asked why he chose her as his significant other.

Answering the same question, Toya said, "He's very friendly, caring, funny and I've always wanted a man as my husband who will love and care the same for my parents as he would for me. And I found all these qualities in Shawon."

The couple wants to spend the eternity of their lives together, asking for prayers and blessings from their fans and well-wishers, while the couple's fans describe their story as nothing short of fairy tale.