Nazrul songs more popular now, says Khairul Anam Shakil

Shakil, accompanied by his wife Kalpona, talks to The Daily Star

Having an educational background in engineering, Shakil however has had a favourable environment for music. 'Music has been in our family', he says. Especially his maternal uncles and aunts, along with his mother, were all involved with music. His mother was a pupil at the Bulbul Lalitakala Academy, and later at Chhayyanaut. Masuda Anam Kolpana, Shakil's wife, is also a well known Nazrul singer.

As a child he loved music and often entered in musical competitions. On one such occasion he won a prize, which acted as a driving force in music.

But it was Shakil's uncle Mahmudur Rahman Benu who had inspired music most in Shakil. 'My uncle, a student at Chhayyanaut, got me admitted there. Often he would arrange musical soirees at our house', Shakil recalls. After the Liberation War, Shakil came back to Bangladesh and got admitted at the institution 'anew' as he puts it. In 1975, however, he went abroad for further studies. 'I was lucky that my uncle was in London at that time, and as a result, my music lessons went on unhindered.'

Talking about his teachers, 'Apart from Mahmudur Rahman Benu', Shakil says,'I went to Narayan Chandra Basak of Pabna to learn classical music. After that I took lessons from one of the most reputed gurus in India Ustad Sageer Uddin Khan.'

Asked how his interest in Nazrul Sangeet had begun, Shakil says, 'As a student of classical music, I was already introduced to Nazrul Sangeet since these songs have a strong classical base. I used to be delighted by the Kabyageeti and Ghazal of Nazrul Islam due to their pure propensity to the Kheyals.' Later Shakil studied under the guidance of eminent Nazrul artistes like Sheikh Lutfur Rahman, Sohrab Hossain and Anjalee Ray.

Regarding the purity of Nazrul songs, especially in case of the tunes of these songs, Shakil opines that there has been much more authentic authority now than before. 'Institutions like Nazrul Institute, Nazrul Academy, Chhayyanaut and Bulbul Academy of Fine Arts have been doing a lot of research work on Nazrul. The archive of Nazrul's songs with their notations is getting enriched everyday. Moreover, eminent Nazrul singers are also teaching and creating young performers.

There is a common point of confusion regarding Nazrul Sangeet, that often a same song is sung in two tunes. Shakil justifies that it was Nazrul himself who used to experiment with tunes. 'Sometimes, he used to give the lyrics to others for composing the music. People are divided into opinions both in favour and against these tunes.'

Shakil believes that Nazrul Sangeet is enjoying increasing popularity at present. It is because the presentation of Nazrul songs has changed to an effective extent. 'Music video of Nazrul songs is quite a revolutionary idea itself, and it hasn't failed to popularise the music,' says Shakil. Besides there are the facilities of modern instruments like sound systems, recording and preserving media.

Asked how he evaluates the present practice of Nazrul Sangeet, he replies, 'Given all this, I must say that the practice of Nazrul Sangeet is quite satisfactory at present. The scene was rather frustrating even a few years back.'