Khairul Anam Shakil and his wife Masuda Anam will release a new album of Tagore songs today. Khairul Anam Shakil is a renowned Nazrul Sangeet singer. A teacher and the general secretary of Chhayanaut, Shakil is also a familiar name to admirers of ‘harano diner gaan’ and ‘adhunik gaan’. His wife, Kalpona Anam, is also an accomplished artiste. This time, the duo will open up a new horizon in their musical careers with the release of their first Rabindra Sangeet album, titled ‘Ektuku Chhoa Lage’, at the auditorium of Chhayanaut today.
Well-known author Sushmita Islam will attend the occasion as chief guest, while veteran artist Mustafa Monwar, Sultana Kamal and Iffat Ara Dewan will be present as special guests. The album contains 14 songs: of these, six songs are sung by Kahirul Anam Shakil, and seven by his wife Masuda Anam. The album contains one duet titled ‘Tumi robe nirobe’.
Khairul Anam Shakil said with respect to the Rabindra Sangeet album, “Songs, poems, essays of Rabindranath Tagore have become part of the Bengali milieu in such a way that this culture is a valuable property of all of us. We were very serious when we recorded the songs. Our prime concern was about the song’s tune and lyrics.”
Masuda Anam said, “Since we have been involved with Nazrulgeeti for a long time, we were careful about correct pronunciation, tune and lyrics.”
Khairul Anam Shakil grew up in a musically inclined family and, so, it is no surprise that he has been interested in it since he was a child. His mother, Nilufar Khayer, was a student of Rabindra Sangeet in Bulbul Academy of Fine Arts (BAFA), and was also involved with Chhayanaut. Shakil’s uncle, Mahmudur Rahman Benoo, inspired and guided him to learning music, especially Nazrul Sangeet. He used to take Shakil and his siblings to all the Chhayanaut programmes when they were children. Shakil’s first footsteps in the world of music began when he took part in a competition of Rabindra Sangeet in the then Pakistan Television in 1968 and stood first. Till now, Khairul Anam Shakil has released 15 solo albums, including albums featuring Kazi Nazrul Islam’s songs such as ‘Meghe meghe andho’, ‘Gabhir nishithey ghum’, ‘Pashaner bhangale ghum’, ‘Chhilo chand megher parey’ and ‘Benuka’.
Kalpona Anam also has a few solo albums to her credit, including Nazrul Sangeet albums like ‘Jani pabo na tomay’, ‘Usha elo chupi chupi’ and others.
The duo has released two albums—‘Mrittika’ and ‘Shonar Kathi Rupor Kathi’—which are available in the music market. l

Photo courtesy l Alif Hossain Rifat