Shimul Yousuf

Yousuf was born in Dhaka on 24 March 1957 and is the youngest of seven siblings. Odissi dancer Minu Haque is her sister. Her father Mehter Billah from Bikrampur was a singer in Kamlapur. Shimul started singing at the age of five. She performed on radio and television and went on to sing in a children's show named "Kochi Kanchar Mela". She trained in classical and traditional songs from Ustad Helaluddin, P C Gomez, Altaf Mahmud, and Abdul Latif . Shimul completed her Honours in Social Science. She was admitted to the Institute of Fine Arts and also went to Baroda School of Fine Arts for schooling.Yousuf first appeared in theater in one of the Abdullah Al Mamun's plays to raise funds for the freedom fighters in 1972. In 1974 she incorporated her in Dhaka Theatre after her siblings asked to be a proxy for another actress. Shimul began to take acting seriously after her 1975 drama "Muntasir Fantasy". She worked on Kasai (1976), Char Khakra (1977), Shakuntala (1978), Phani Monosa (1980), Kitton Khola (1981), Keramot Mongol (1985), Hat Hadai (1989), and Chaka (1990). During the 1990s she performed in Joiboti Kannyar Mon (1995) and Bono Pangshul (1998).