A tale of four: Upcoming singers to watch out for

Tutul
'It's so ironic!' exclaims Tutul. 'All the members my family used to sing except for me. But, as fate has it now, I turned out to be the professional one!'

Tutul spent around six to seven years in Kushtia, the birthplace of Lalon Shai and met several musicians, who really inspired him. After returning to the city where he grew up, Chittagong, in 1986, he worked in different bands like Sparks, Feelings and finally got into LRB. He was the keyboardist and the second vocal of the band for a long time. Some of his songs like Shesh chithi, Mon re, Shonyiashini and Pashani were huge hits in the mid- 1990s.

Eventually, he began to compose music and made a big name by composing background music for various television dramas and movies. Meanwhile, he kept on singing and got requests to do more which made him take singing seriously. His solo album is Buker Shahore Tumi and among his other seven or eight mixed albums, he has some really popular songs. Rupom is also the composer and singer of the title composition of Ronger Manush a popular mega serial. He has sung in the recent widely-discussed movie Bachelor and has also composed songs in the movie.

According to Tutul, if cassette companies can dedicate 30 cassettes out of 100 in a year, to the younger and upcoming musicians and artistes, then at least 10 will emerge as stars in the country . He feels that there is a great inflow of money in the cultural field, but the prosperous businessmen just have to realise it. 'They can buy the cinema halls and with good security measures, the young people of the different universities, could be drawn towards a better environment. This way, along side doing good business, they should be able to contribute towards enriching our cultural environment necessary for quality films,' he maintains.

Tutul also feels that the media should strive for honesty in society. 'People who are independent and free should encourage others to follow in their footsteps,' says Tutul, who adds, 'We really don't want any more corruption in our culture. Instead of providing ridiculous titles to the undeserving people, lets make it a point to claim real artistes.'

Mimi
Known as Mimi to her family and her friends, Mimi Farhana Haque began the ABC's of singing even before she learnt to speak properly. Her parents, teachers in institutions, had always encouraged her passion for music. Along the way, she won several prizes: 12 national awards, Champion in the National Children Artistes Award 1990, the Best Female Vocal Award in the Benson and Hedges Star Search 2001 and many more.

She began her career as a playback singer with a number for the movie Nil Daria. Till date, Mimi has sung in at least 30 movies. Among her six released albums, she has one solo album, two albums filled with remakes of old Bangla numbers and compositions in three mixed albums. She has also sung three jingles so far. She is now working with her new remix album, with Chandan, the popular composer. Mimi has been inspired by the redoubtable and evergreen Lata Mangeshkar.

Mimi has done a number of stage shows. However, she evades the all-night shows, avoiding excessive strain of the voice. According to Mimi, the visual presentation of music compositions in Bangladesh are actually degrading the quality of the songs. 'We are badly in need of people who are able to use their imaginations and work creatively, thus inspiring the younger generation,' she says.

Rupom
Inspired by his father Amjad Hossain, Rupom began to sing folk songs from an early age. He was an active member of the band Windsome from Khulna where he performed in many shows. After moving to Dhaka, he began singing in various kinds of live programmes and eventually became one of the best 15 in the first Benson & Hedges Star Search Contest 1999.

A major watershed in his career was in 2001 when Ayub Bachchu gave him an opportunity to sing in a mixed album titled Mon Jawle, where the title song was sung by Rupom.

So far, Rupom has released seven mixed albums and one solo album titled Rodela Meye. He is also a familiar name in catchy advertising jingles. Cute Shampoo, Ruchi Chanachur and Dutch Bangla Bank are a few of his 30 jingles sung so far. In 2002, Rupom began his playback singing and till now has sung in 30 movies.

Rupom says, he has had a good experience performing Bangla songs for suburban spectators rather than the city folks who only listen to Hindi music. He recalls the high points of his singing career, such as the spontaneous singing of Kal ho na ho, by 700 students at Dhaka Medical College.

Rupom says, he draws inspiration from the works of artistes such as Mohammad Rafi, James and Ayub Bachchu. 'The market in Bangladesh is small and that's why the music selection is sometimes very difficult,' he points out, adding that, 'I select songs according to the audience. The older crowd yearns for the songs of the yesteryears. I try to keep the original tunes intact and often use a modern touch to attract the audience. The younger crowd however, wants to listen to Hindi numbers during stage shows.

The videos that are based on these shows are quite unappealing. I feel that lively presentation and videos will enhance the public taste for our melodious Bangla songs,' says Rupom

In conclusion, Rupom compliments directors such as Ferdous Bappi, Zubair Babu and Ringo who has left for India.

Tanima
Tanima Hadi, daughter of the celebrated artiste Abdul Hadi, was inspired into music while listening to her older sisters' music lessons with their Ustads. 'My father never really had the time to actually sit and teach me,' said Tanima. 'I would listen to a lot of music tapes, folk songs and a variety of compositions. That's how I actually learnt music. Later on, my father realised my intense interest in music. He then began to train me, emphasising on style, pronunciation and expression.' She also received her formal training from Ram Gopal Mahato and Leo J Baroi.

A graduate from the Independent University of Bangladesh (IUB) in Communications, she plans to leave for the University of Hawaii very soon to begin her post-graduate studies in communications. 'I never considered myself to be a part of any competition, since I was never really in the commercial market in the first place,' Tanima continued. 'When I was in standard 10, a production company invited me to sing for an album. Though I recorded the remake of my father's compositions, for some reason, these numbers were never released. Later on, Channel i came out with the music videos of these compositions and telecast them.'

Besides her father, Tanima has been inspired by Sabina Yasmeen and Shahnaz Rahmatullah. One of the problems that Tanima faced was acceptance in the music industry as a new artiste. 'The market in Bangladesh is very small,' maintained Tanima. 'Since I could not come up with any commercial numbers, I was not immediately accepted in the industry. I also feel that my compositions were not marketed in a proper way,' she added. Tanima claims that she was actually brought into the limelight by the popular singer and composer Ayub Bacchu.

'At the time when I was completely sure that I wanted to get into professional singing, I mentioned it to my father,' she exclaimed. 'That's when he spoke to Ayub Bacchu who helped me out with my career.'