Committed to PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO KNOW
Vol. 4 Num 190 Sun. December 07, 2003  
   
Culture


Music
'No' to 'commercial' songs
Face to face with Fahmida Nabi


Inspired by her father, famous singer Mahmudun Nabi, Fahmida Nabi started to sing when she was very young. Although her mother never performed in public, she was a good singer as well. But it was not family influence but an urge for music from within which attracted Fahmida to enter the world of music. She learned her initial music lessons under Ustad Amanullah Khan. Fahmida remarks, 'I had a matured taste for music from my very childhood. My favourite track was Lata Mungeshkar's Na Mono Lagey Na.'

She says, ' Feelings must be deep rooted in all songs. Emotional tunes and lyrics should be able to stir the listeners to a melancholic state of mind. I am proud to say that my father was adept in doing so and it is from this feeling that I am inspired to keep away from rendering 'commercial' songs. The Carpenters is my favourite, their lyric and music are still my favourites.

Samina Chowdhury, her sister, has the same feeling towards music like Fahmida. When Samina sang the popular song Ekbar Jodi Keu Bhalobashto for a film and drew the attention of the audience Famida fell behind. But Fahmida says, 'I don't feel it as an obstacle to fame since our main target is to sing really good songs.'

Fahmida is basically a presenter of modern songs. . She also performs Tagore songs on request of her listeners. She plans to release a mixed cassette containing songs of Tagore, Nazrul, Lalon, Atul Prashad, Rajanikant, modern and folk shortly.

'Music videos are important for exposure of music,' she says, 'Because of the diffusion of the satellite culture into ours, time is changing fast. Therefore, we must keep up with new trends and styles. Music has taken the audience to a point where the visual is very important for both the singers and the listeners. People don't listen to the radio as much as before. Now television is a big medium, even vaster than the cinema. A good music video reaches the audience very easily. But, the videos should have a story behind them. The concept of music video here is still not up to the mark.'

Fahmida is working on her new album which will be released next Eid. It is a duet with a promising singer Nipo with whom she released another album Yusuf Julekha which was well appreciated by the critics and listeners. The new album contains songs that are Ghazal based. Songs like Shararat Kedechhi, Ja chale Ja, Palabe Kothay Tumi Bolo Na will attract the listeners.

Picture
Fahmida Nabi