lit a candle 10h agoMy mum called me this morning and I almost didn't believe her. I only knew Tulona through her Instagram, all those bright ramp photos, but I followed her for years from here. She always wrote that she was self made, no one sheltering her path, and you could feel that in every picture. Thirty nine is nothing. Sending love to her mother.
Their story
Tulona Al Harun was a Bangladeshi model, actress, television presenter, fashion choreographer and stylist whose career in Dhaka's entertainment and fashion worlds spanned more than fifteen years. She died of cancer at a private hospital in Dhaka on the night of Friday, 23 October 2026, at the age of 39.…
Tulona Al Harun was a Bangladeshi model, actress, television presenter, fashion choreographer and stylist whose career in Dhaka's entertainment and fashion worlds spanned more than fifteen years. She died of cancer at a private hospital in Dhaka on the night of Friday, 23 October 2026, at the age of 39.
She was the daughter of Abdullah Al Harun, a younger brother of the celebrated playwright, actor and filmmaker Abdullah Al Mamun, one of the defining figures of Bangladeshi theatre and television drama. Her mother, Amena Begum, is a lawyer at the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. In a 2019 interview with RTV Online she recalled that she lost her uncle while she was still a school student, in class eight, so although the family included one of the country's best known dramatists, she never had the chance to train under him. She described herself as "self made", saying she had never had anyone to shelter her on her path.
Accounts of her start differ slightly. A 2017 report in Risingbd said she entered the entertainment media through a beauty and talent contest called You Got the Look in 2007 and became a Grameenphone brand ambassador that same year. RTV Online, profiling her in 2019, dated the start of her career to 2009, again through work as a Grameenphone brand ambassador. After some early work she completed her graduation in Thailand and then returned to the Bangladeshi media scene.
Over the following years she became a familiar face in television drama. RTV described her in 2019 as the actress of more than a hundred natoks (television plays), and she also appeared in telefilms. She worked steadily as a ramp and print model, including for fashion houses such as Manyavar and Nabarupa, and became known in the industry as a fashion choreographer and stylist who organised and styled shows. Her own Facebook page described her as a model, actor and anchor, a fashion choreographer, and the owner of a team called Tulona nD TeamZ.
In 2016 she began presenting a cooking programme on RTV, and she went on to host several other television shows. She was also a regular guest on lifestyle and talk programmes, including Bangla TV's Celebrity Adda, DBC News' Choturongo, GTV's wedding styling programme Saj Sojja and Asian TV's Make Me Beautiful.
Her big screen debut came with Gohiner Gaan, a full length musical film written and directed by the novelist Sadat Hossain and built around nine songs sung by Asif Akbar. Described as the first feature musical film of Bangladesh, it was released nationwide on 20 December 2019. Tulona played a character also named Tulona opposite her longtime friend Kazi Asif, in a cast that included Syed Hasan Imam, Toma Mirza, Tanzika Amin and Aman Reza. RTV wrote that the role broke her tomboy image, casting her as a gentle woman of the 1970s, and that her performance was praised. She credited the director for the transformation and said she wanted to keep working in different, realistic films where everything served the story.
Her public life also included a widely reported controversy. On 23 June 2017 police from Banani Police Station in Dhaka arrested her and her younger brother, Layek Ali, at their Banani home in a case filed two days earlier under Section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act. The complainant, a fellow model, alleged that she had been socially humiliated through Facebook posts. The free expression group ARTICLE 19 listed the case among Section 57 prosecutions of women media workers in its 2017 report on Bangladesh. The outcome of the case was not widely reported.
Despite the ups and downs of her personal life, she kept a lively presence on social media, where she shared her modelling, styling and television work with tens of thousands of followers.
According to her family, a tumour was found in her breast about six months before her death. Her treatment began at Ahsania Mission Cancer and General Hospital in Dhaka, she was later moved to another facility, and she was then treated at a private hospital in Panthapath. She underwent surgery on 20 October 2026, and a biopsy afterwards confirmed cancer that had already spread through her body. Her mother said she was doing relatively well for two days after the operation, talking and laughing with the family, but her condition worsened quickly from the morning of 23 October. She suffered a heart attack while undergoing treatment that night and doctors declared her dead at about 11pm. Some outlets, citing her younger brother Ayaz, reported the time as 11:05pm at BRB Hospital and described the cancer as having developed from a brain tumour; her mother's account to Prothom Alo and UNB described a breast tumour.
Her janaza (funeral prayer) was held on Road 3 of Mansurabad Pisciculture Housing in Mohammadpur, and she was buried at around noon on Saturday, 24 October 2026, at the Rayerbazar Martyred Intellectuals Graveyard in Dhaka. Colleagues, fashion choreographers, designers and fans shared their grief on social media, remembering her as a bright, energetic presence in Bangladesh's modelling and entertainment industries.
Biography adapted from Prothom Alo (24 Oct 2026); UNB and The Financial Express (24 Oct 2026); Channel i Online; RTV Online (26 Dec 2019; 24 Oct 2026); Daily New Nation; Risingbd and Priyo (23 Jun 2017); DMP News; ARTICLE 1.
In their own words
“I call myself self made. I never had anyone as a shadow on my path. I have come this far through my own effort.”
Interview with RTV Online, 26 December 2019 (translated from Bengali)
“I want to work in different kinds of films, where everything will be there for the needs of the story, made in the light of reality. I am always dedicated to films like that.”
On her plans after Gohiner Gaan, RTV Online, December 2019 (translated from Bengali)
“I acted in director Bunty bhai's natok. One day he told me Gohiner Gaan was going to be a different kind of film and that I could talk to director Sadat if I wanted.”
On how she was cast in Gohiner Gaan, RTV Online, December 2019 (translated from Bengali)
“For the two days after the operation she was quite well physically. She talked with us. My daughter was cheerful.”
Her mother, Amena Begum, to Prothom Alo, 24 October 2026 (translated from Bengali)
Photos
1by People Forever
she really did glow in every photo, so sorry for your loss too even from far away