Mahmudur Rahman returns with a new album
Karim Waheed
Mahmudur Rahman, widely known as Benu, is an authority on classical music. However, he has not limited himself only to that genre of music. Benu's versatility is evident through his immaculate renditions of Nazrul, Tagore and classic Bangla songs. The artiste's new album, Bhalobashibey Boley was released on August 21 at the Bengal Shilpalaya, Dhanmondi.Presented by Bengal Foundation, this is Benu's second album. About the lengthy gap between his first and latest album, he says, "Even though I've been away from the country, in London, I've tried to find producers for my album but the response I received was 'You're a great artiste but there is no audience for the type of songs you perform'. My friend Asaduzzaman Noor suggested that I should contact Bengal Foundation regarding my album and I'm glad that I did." Benu was also a member of the group of artistes who went from one refugee camp to another during the Liberation War to motivate the people. His contemporaries and people who had survived the War still remember his contribution to the movement. During his speech, when classical music exponent Azad Rahman requested the artiste to come back to Bangladesh for good, an emotional Benu couldn't hold back his tears and said, "It breaks my heart to see the current state of my country, it truly does. I would try to return home permanently as my family and friends are still here." Before his performance, the artiste explained that the songs in his album are Nazrul songs that are not widely known and classic Bangla songs that had influenced Nazrul. He started with a devotional piece, translated from Sanskrit. The composition narrates the relationship between the Creator and mankind. Chief guest of the event, actor Aly Zaker said in his speech, "Artistes are the conscience of a nation and Benu's voice has always influenced us profoundly. I hope his new album will be well received." Resuming his performance, the artiste rendered a composition based on Raaga Shankara, followed by a Nazrul song Tomar beena tar-er. The latter is based on Raaga Khamaaj. Benu then rendered Jarey haath diye mala ditey paro nai and a Nazrul song Bhoriya poraan shunitechhi gaan--a fusion of Raaga Behaag and Vasanta (the traditional style). Following that, the artiste performed Amar jibon nodir padey. Nidhubabu's romantic song Bhalobashibey boley was rendered next. Benu said, ...Nidhubabu's romantic songs were introduced at a time when devotional songs were reigning supreme. Quite a few people didn't take to the songs too kindly." The artiste ended his performance with Ami jogot-er kachhey ghrinnyo hoyechhi, tumi jano ghrina koro na, a Raaga Bhairavi based number and "an immortal song" according to him. Shujeo Shyam is the music director of the album, Bhalobashibey Boley. The album has 12 tracks.
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Mahmudur Rahman performing at the event |