TBT DESK

Shihab Shaheen’s new web film explores love, misunderstandings and the complexities of relationships through four couples

Love stories are filled with sweet moments, emotional ups and downs, misunderstandings and a wide spectrum of emotions. Exploring these diverse dynamics of relationships is ‘Lux Presents Cafe Umbrella’, a new web film written and directed by acclaimed filmmaker Shihab Shaheen. The web film is available exclusively on iScreen, Channel i’s OTT platform, from 29 October.

Produced by Impress Telefilm and presented by Lux, ‘Cafe Umbrella’ features four distinct love stories involving four couples. Alongside the sweetness of romance, the film explores relationship struggles, emotional conflicts, misunderstandings and the many facets of human emotions through different narratives. These individual stories eventually come together in a common storyline.

One of the key attractions of the web film is the acting debut of the top three contestants of Lux Superstar 2025—Bidushi Barnita, Nazah Nawar and Amina Islam. Tawsif Mahbub stars opposite Bidushi Barnita, Partha Sheikh pairs up with Nazah Nawar, and Arefin Zilani appears opposite Amina Islam. Another couple is portrayed by Saidur Rahman Pavel and Sanjida Tasnim. The film also features prominent actors Saberi Alam and Shirin Alam in important roles, along with others.

To prepare the newcomers for their roles, director Shihab Shaheen arranged a special acting workshop before filming began. Bringing together fresh faces and experienced actors, the production aims to present familiar emotions associated with love and relationships to audiences from a fresh perspective.

Speaking about ‘Cafe Umbrella’, director Shihab Shaheen said that the web film features multiple parallel narratives, highlighting different aspects of human emotions, love and relationships. He expects the diversity of the stories and the chemistry among the cast members to offer viewers a distinctive viewing experience.

With the debut of three new actors, four couples’ stories and Shihab Shaheen’s distinctive storytelling, ‘Lux Presents Cafe Umbrella’ has generated interest among audiences.

‘Lux Presents Cafe Umbrella’ is available exclusively on iScreen from 29 October.