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Film director Ehtesham dies at 75 - Leading director and producer Ehtesham, died in Dhaka at the weekend due to old age complications, family sources said. A family member of the 75-year-old film maker said Ehtesham died in his sleep on Sunday, 17 February 2002. Ehtesham is also credited with discovering many cinema talents, including Pakistan's leading actor Nadeem, who later became his son-in-law marrying his only daughter. Born as Abu Nur Muhammad Ehteshamul Haq in Dhaka in 1927, Ehtesham joined the local film industry in 1950 as a cinema distributor. Six years later he set up his own cinema production company and launched his first film "Ae Desh Tomar Amar" (This country is yours and mine). Read the details (in Bangla - .pdf format)

Tom Cruise due in Dhaka next month
M:I-2 to explode on silver screen in the city

Dhaka's movie buffs will toast the romantic action thriller M:I-2, end result of a team effort of Tom Cruise and John Woo, two of the most compelling figures in the world cinema, in May.

" For the first time the city's cinema-goers will see Tom Cruise in action on big screen," said M. Iftekharuddin, managing director of Modhumita Movies Ltd, the biggest importer of foreign films in the country. He expressed grave concern about the rampant piracy that virtually destabilized the entertainment industry in Bangladesh. " We can no longer in a position to import good movies because of the piracy menace. Cheap and X-rated movies are smuggled into the country almost unabated and are running in our cinemas day in and day out. When I import a film I have to pay duty and the price for procuring a Hollywood movie is quite high. How can you expect me to bring in latest blockbusters from the world movie capital. I'm handicapped despite my all good intentions," lamented Iftekharuddin.

He also said that, " If it continues like that I'm sorry to say I might have to stop importing movies for good."

Even though the premier cinema hall of the country, Modhumita, struggling to survive they are still desperately trying live up to the expectations of the movie-goers by importing quality movies. Thanks to Modhumita we were able to see the mega-movie Titanic and X-Files, among others, in Dhaka.

Still they have an impressive list of movies to hit the screen in the coming months. After M:I-2, the battles of the ancient Roman arena take the city's audience in a sweeping story of courage and revenge in Gladiator.

The first movie to enchant Dhaka's movie audience M:I-2 is a big screen version of the Mission: Impossible TV series, which ran on CBS Television in the late 1960s and early 1970s. A fan of the TV series, Tom Cruise, stars in M:I-2, dreamt of translating the TV serial into a movie. His dream came true with the release of the movie in 1996 with a worldwide box-office success.

Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner are the producers of the film, which is written by Robert Towne based on the television series created by Bruce Geller.

Master of the action genre John Woo is the director of this blockbuster. Born in Guangzhou, China in 1946, Woo moved to Hong Kong with his family at the age of four. He was educated at Matteo Ricci College and, at the age of 19 began making experimental films. In Hong Kong he spent two decades at the centre of a thriving film industry directing nearly 30 feature films.

Woo made his US feature film debut with Hard Target, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. He had his first Hollywood hit Broken Arrow, starring John Travolta and Christian Slater. His third Hollywood film Face/Off, starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage, broke box-office records for the Hong Kong director and was praised by critics worldwide.

The soundtrack for M:I-2 includes Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer's score, which incorporates the instantly recognizable Mission: Impossible signature tune, and songs by some of the most exciting recording artists working today.

In this super action thriller special agent Ethan Hunt ( Tom Cruise) plunges into an international crisis of terrifying magnitude. With computer genius Luther Stickell ( Ving Rhames) at his side and a beautiful thief on his maid, Hunt races across Australia and Spain on what seems like an impossible missionto stop a villain before ha can fulfill his own destructive mission.

Dhaka's cinema audience will be counting down from the day one of May for the big day to come and take them to an all-action mission impossible ride.

anif Sanket: Witty all the way

Hanif Sanket: Witty all the way

HE is a comedian, a playback singer, a musician, a lyricist, a director, an author... the list goes on. Above all, he is the creator as well as the compere of arguably the most popular television magazine at present. Hanif Sanket is a household name in Bangladesh who has carved a little nook for himself in the entertainment industry from which he amuses and amazes, entertains and educates millions. Hugely of Ityadi fame, Hanif Sanket is versatile in the true sense of the word, gliding from one creative medium to the other with enviable ease. We caught up with the personality and managed to squeeze some time off his busy schedule. Though reluctant at self-reflection he told us a bit about himself and his work.

Sanket is not too keen on talking about himself.

"I am a simple, easy-going person who is very much aware of reality. I have no complex philosophies of life and want to lead it in a natural way."

Was he a person with the time?

"No and yes. I go with the time only as far my vision and values intersect with it. Trends are followed as long as they are acceptable to me. See if you can understand this. I would not want to be the good person among bad people; but I would be willing to be the bad person among good people. I am also one believing in the concept of quality and quantity. I would probably produce a single production in several months but it would be quality material as much as possible."

The entertainment industry globally has flourished into a profit-making business with almost everybody who is anybody churning out returns. Sanket eyes these "artists" with a furtive glance; he will not have people bringing together his fame with his fortunes.

"I am not one to make as much money as opportunities present. It does not work for me that way - the position I am in now is one with wealth just waiting to be embraced; I could have swept millions but I like to keep as much as I need to live happily along with my family."

Profit is there, but as with every venture attracting innovation, there has always been risk lurking in our entertainment industry. It is indeed a risky path to expose an audience of the current standards in Bangladesh to newer and diverse forms of entertainment. Many critics are of the opinion that recreation in the media is either too high a "level" for the masses to enjoy or too cheap and crude and without substance. So why did Hanif Sanket take this precarious path?

"First of all I don't think it was a risky undertaking. In the late 1970's television was not a usual home appliance taken for granted. It was new and could be seen at a very few places; at this time I started to get into the entertainment arena in our country. The media is a very unique way to appeal to the people and send across messages. Before and during the early years of my career I had travelled to 35 countries, met peoples and cultures and saw what differences they had with our forms of amusement. Two years of my academic life was also spent abroad so I basically had a broader view and open mind to things. And these opportunities I put into real life; actually what I started out with was not a complex theory or approach or anything like that.

"The trick was to motivate people by using tools which appealed to them. Like the daily events in their lives - they were naturally attracted by it. My purpose was to depict our social troubles humorously so people would take notice and try to correct them. My aim was to bring the people to you rather than go to them. Social issues like water shortages, garbage problems and over-population had people take them seriously when shown in a comical and funny way. Since these were issues they could relate to easily the response was positive; many of my themes involved rural settings like, the countryside, and so villagers had an appeal as well."

Sanket was an artist in other disciplines even before he began work as a comedian. He was a stage performer, shifting to "natok" (drama) where he lost interest. Films were next but that too didn't suit Sanket due to "differences of principles and clash of views with the directors." He also had a stint in directing and producing which were met with similar fates. There was another reason.

"You see when I was in dramas and films I was always aware of the fact that someone else's views and ideas were expressed through me; I was a mere puppet being told to carry out certain scenes. This was not a way to get my ideas, ideals, thoughts to the other side. So I decided to take up an objective of my own. And it worked! The message got through. As I said earlier the tools were simple. The basic social issues, the problems we face in our daily lives."

And why was the message well received?

Sanket is not too keen on talking about himself. "After I had won acclamation for Jadi Kichhu Mone Na Koren, people took to me. For example when I was preaching about how we can make a difference to the water crisis by switching off the taps when brushing our teeth, people would actually remember me when they were brushing their teeth! 'Hanif Sanket had said not to waste water when brushing so I will not.'"

The comedian warns, though, that his approach should not be interpreted as lectures or sermon-like, rather it is a learning one through comical instances.

As with all famous personalities who have some sort of yardstick in their chequered careers, we asked Hanif Sanket about the inspiration driving him. Surprisingly the answer was short and distinct.

"First it is part of my conscience. In the beginning it kept telling me to do something for the people and reminding me of the responsibilities an artist has to the society. Also in the young entertainment industry of Bangladesh I noticed a peculiar thing. A section of society (not wanting them printed), particularly those a bit conservative saw wit and humour as a lowly practice and unhealthy entertainment; I had a growing feeling of rebellion against them and worked on my goal. Another inspiration was obviously Fazle Lohani, the eminent journalist who made television reporting popular in Bangladesh, from whom I learnt a lot."

Hanif Sanket is divided over the prevailing standards in the entertainment industry here. It seems to him that there is enough facilities, scope and support for the performers. But among these many are sub-standard and so are their programmes. For audiences who enjoy wit and humour with substance there are glaring infrastructural obstacles. For example, he opined, censorship is unregulated and too harsh for many types of programmes.

Red tapism is the biggest harassment which can kill off budding artists; this sort of attitude in the field of art and culture, especially, is a threat to the healthy growth of a nation, he believes. Sanket expressed his frustrations at the state-controlled media saying co-operation from the sector was wanting badly along with a restructured policy to protect interests of the artists.

Not having a little discourse about the two productions that made Hanif Sanket what he is would have been injustice indeed. So we braced ourselves and asked him why viewers sometimes allege that present-day Ityadi might be a cut-and-paste job of Jadi Kichu Mone Na Koren.

"These 'viewers' in question are either disgruntled competitors or those with a personal grudge. Just compare the two programmes. Jadi Kichhu Mone Na Koren had only a few jokes and songs in-between; the number of items on the list was but a handful. But in Ityadi you have about 30-35 categories of jokes, parodies, songs, focus stories and role-playing. Here we have to cater to viewers already aware of the other forms of entertainment available on other channels. So we have a harder task of drawing viewers to our show from the other ones. Ityadi is different and more diverse."

The discourse was rounded up with a reflection on the advent of satellite channels in the country. Sanket finds most of them, though not all, airing hollow amusement and too much foreign culture.

"Apart from a very few, the other satellite channels that do air Bangla programmes have completely alienated the packages. Plagiarism is the order of the cyberwaves with no protection such as intellectual property rights. Westernised anchors don't even hesitate to groove to adverse un-cultural body language. Generally the satellite channels are not heading in the right direction."

And so Hanif Sanket ended with a message to fulfilling his responsibilities to the people who have given him so much affection and support.

Bomb kills nine at the Ramna park Bangla new year open air concert

A bomb explosion at an open-air concert in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, has killed at least nine people and injured several others. - Photo: BBC
Traditional Bangla New Year celebrations turned into a gory tale of deaths on Saturday, when a devastating bomb explosion left seven people killed on the spot, and at least 20 injured at Ramna Batamul in the city.

The death toll rose to nine within hours, as two more died at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).

Shilpi, the 18-year-old from Kashipara, Patuakhali who is the only female victim of the bomb blast, is now fighting for life at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University. Shilpi came to Dhaka to visit her relative at Indira Road on the occasion of the Bangla New Year.

Just before 8:00am, as the Chhayanaut programme neared end at the Ramna Batamul, a group of about half a dozen men started pushing their way from the southern side of the stage, hardly ten feet away from the press gallery. According to a number of witnesses, one of them held 'a gift box wrapped in silver and red papers'.

A bamboo barrier, erected to separate the sitting spectators from the standing ones, slowed down the group's progress. Nearly 15 feet from the main dais, the intruders started pushing one another, sometimes keeping the 'gift box' aloft.

At exactly 8:05am, a huge explosion rocked the area and smoke started to pour out into the air.

"For a few minutes we thought one of the large sound boxes exploded or an electric short-circuit caused an explosion. Nobody even thought for a second that a bomb had gone off," said Tajul, who sat 15 feet away from the spot of the blast.

Witnesses said although the performers and the child artistes on the dais looked shaken for a few minutes, someone appealed to the audience through the loudspeaker to stay calm, as 'they planned to continue the function.'

Minutes later, as the smoke cleared, the extent of the devastation became clear. Seven people lay dead, their bodies showing horrendous injuries. Also, there were about 20 people, injured and pleading for help.

Within minutes shocked and panic-stricken people started leaving the area. Hundreds of thousands of people, unaware of the terrible explosion at the Batamul, started to pour into the celebration arena that stretched over the entire length of Ramna Park, Suhrawardy Uddyan and Shahbagh. The main roads remained swarmed with people in festive mood. Even on-duty policemen near the Baishakhi Gate were not aware of the explosion.

Before the police arrived at the scene, some volunteers took up the responsibility of sending the injured for medical attention. They grabbed rickshaw-vans from outside the gate and took the injured to the hospitals. Meanwhile, a police van from the Ramna police station arrived there to pick up the injured. As police tried to help the injured a second explosion took place which injured sub-inspector Shariful and two others.

The badly deformed bodies of the seven victims lay amidst shocked onlookers and volunteers when riot policemen arrived. Some plain-clothed policemen were seen trying to contact higher officials over phone and wireless sets.

About an hour later, an ambulance of the Fire Service arrived to remove the dead. At least two of the bodies were so badly mutilated that the ambulance men needed to wrap them up before boarding the vehicle.

The injured and the dead removed, riot policemen cordoned off the area while some police officials started to pick up bits and pieces of the carnage. The area was littered with shoes, slippers, optical glasses, watches and bits and pieces of cloths.

The evidences included the remainder of the bomb, which looked like a metal water pipe about six inches long with two inches in diameter. A part of the gift pack was also found.

From the pockets of the dead, police also recovered an application to the Home Minister by an unnamed person from Dohar, under Keraniganj thana. The application pleaded with the minister to help the person withdraw a false case under the Public Safety Act. Also found was the photocopy of a First Information Report (FIR). Police also found several telephone numbers including a mobile number, which The Daily Star also obtained.

Meanwhile, at round 10:45am two army officers of bomb disposal unit arrived there and declared a discarded container on the ground harmless. But a police officer soon informed the unit that an abandoned packet was found near the Baishakhi Gate. The army experts rushed to the gate and defused the bomb as thousands of people looked on.

The explosion seemed to have baffled the police officials. Some of them said that a suicide squad had carried out the bombing, while others said the explosive had gone off accidentally. A top police official said that the powerful "pipe bomb" was strapped to the body of the bomber when it went off.

"We found wires around the body of a victim," said a plain-clothed police official.

The army experts refused to make any comment on the type of the bomb. "We would have to examine everything to be able to determine the nature of the bomb," said a major of the armed forces.

As hundreds of thousands of people started to pour in to celebrate the Bangla New Year, police and other security agencies checked different premises with metal detectors.

Hundreds of anxious relatives poured into the DMCH to look for their dear ones.

Police strongly believe that some of the dead and injured are the members of the gang which carried out the explosion. Police arrested three of the injured from the Combined Medical Hospital yesterday where they had been shifted from the DMCH. Police said as per confession of one of the injured, they arrested Swadhin, a student of Dhaka College and an active member of Jamaat-Shibir. (The Daily Star)

The variety of Bangla music ranges from Rabindra Sangeet to the Bengali band music of today. It may be just a source of entertainment, or a means of keeping us connected with our culture back home. It can bring pleasure to our lives and carry us through times of stress. The new topic of Bangla Music is proposed in response to suggestions that we should move on to a "new subject," and that many of our topics were "serious." Over the next month we invite postings on the following issues:

* the roots of Bangla music
* the instruments characteristic of our music
* attempts to classify our music
* the singers who appeal to us
* the songs we like
* how to select from the wide variety of music available today
* how to train for playing and singing Bangla music

We welcome both "facts" and "entertainment." We hope to keep the discussions light, simple, and easy to read. Even lyrics to our songs are welcome. We also seek contributions which can be used for building a database or an FAQ on our music and its musicians. We may perhaps create on the internet a large source of information on Bangla music.

We do have lofty goals like fostering an appreciation of Bangla music, and promoting an understanding of our culture. If we dont succeed at that, we hope at least to make ourselves better able to select from the large variety of music available today.

It is a pleasure for me to accept this special role in this month's discussion topic. Needless to say, my own enthusiasm for our music far exceeds my knowledge of the subject, or my talent for music. We do invite responses from accomplished musicians, but it is also my belief that laymen should not be prevented from participating in discussions on specialized topics. Frankly, all we ask of those who wish to post on music, is that they share some enthusiasm for our music as well.

- Shahriar Khan, Initiator, Topic of the Month (Alochona discussion forum)

Abbasuddin (folk) - Shaped Bangla music as one of the earliest Bengali singers, whose recordings are still available. Father of Ferdousi Rahman, and founder of his "Gharana" of music.

Anjan Datta - From West Bengal, India. Built on style started by Shuman Chatterjee. Rich voice. "Anti-institutional" lyrics. Few from Bangladesh come close in his class of music. Nochi keta of India has similar style.(Songs: 244-1139)

Azam Khan - Undisputed "Guru" of Bangla pop music. Guru even to other bands. Energetic, sometimes off-tune voice. Plenty of drums and electric guitar. Strong loyal following. By far the most popular pop-singer. Has both romantic songs and songs inspired by pessimism and futility. Depicts real-life rather than make-believe optimism. (Songs: Bangladesh)

Baby Nazneen - Rising star of Bangla music (pop and aadhunik). Ranks high in popularity if not in talent. Good rapport with audience in live performances. Second perhaps only to Runa Laila. Brought to Dhaka as child singer by late president Ziaur Rahman.

Bhupen Hazarika - Although non-Bengali, has contributed much to Bangla music over two decades. "Leftist" lyrics. Good stage performance, and highly respected.

Cryptic Fate - New band, has recorded English songs. Webpage now available.

Different Touch - Gained poplularity in mid-eighties. Most songs in their first album were good.

Dolly Shayontoni - "Aadhunik" singer - became popular within last few years. Sweet and natural voice. Easy lyrics and catchy music. First album was good. Second album could not do full justice to her voice. Download some hit songs of Dolly from here.

Fakir Alamgir, Feroz Shahi, Ferdous Wahid, Azam Khan are sometimes knownas the Four "khalifas" of pop music because of their pioneering contributions after independence.

Fakir Alamgir (pop) - Voice known more more for strength rather than being on tune. Lyrics brash and down to earth, and identifies well with the masses. Still actively tours U.S.

Farida Parveen - Unrivalled in Lalon Geet of folk music. Known for two decades.

Feedback (band) - Active for more than 20 years. Good musicians. Very professional and polished band.

Ferdous Wahid (pop and aadhunik)- Good voice. Toured U.S. recently - sang with recorded background music, as many singers do nowadays. Started as pop singer, but gravitated to aadhunik. Good voice. Has some classical training.

Feroz Shahi (pop music) - Accomplished singer with good voice. Well-suited to singing folk songs, which he is famous for. Country mourned loss when he passed away in 96, while singing "Ek miniter nai bhorosha.."

Hemanta Mukherjee (aadhunik and Rabindra sangeet)- Illustrious vocalist and music composer. Recorded numerous songs over many decades. Never had any classical training - all talent. Most respected singer of all time. Demise in 1992.

James (band music) - Vocalist and Guitarist of Feelings, a popular band. Became popular recently after several new releases. Energetic, excellent rock vocals. Pessimistic lyrics. Plenty of electric guitar and drums.

Jhinga Goshti - one of the earliest "bands" in Dhaka

Kishore Kumar (aadhunik) - From West Bengal, India. Untimely death in the80s came at the height of his career. Playback singer. One of few singers to "yodel." (Songs: Ai Je Nodi)
Kumar Bisshojit (aadhunik) - Good voice, playback singer for movies. (Songs: Choturdola)

Lata Mangeshkar - Has sung many Bangla songs, although famous for having recorded the most number of songs (mainly Hindi) in the world. (Songs: Mor moina go)

Little River Band (LRB) Band by Ayub Bacchu of Souls. Excellent electric guitar, and strong and powerful voice. Performed in local hotels in Dhaka

Manna Dey (aadhunik) Bengali singer from West Bengal, India - still performs in the U.S. Very intricate voice. Has a very strong classical background. Strength is emotional articulation and feeling. Ranks close to or above Lata Mangeshkar in talent.

Miles (band) - One of the first Bangla bands, together with Souls, and later, Feedback. Initially became popular for replaying English songs.Popularity continued after the release of their own Bangla songs. Hamen and Shafen (the main musicians), are sons of Feroza Begum, the Nazrul geeti singer. Toured U.S. last in 1997

Prometheus - Another short-lived band from the early nineties.

Renaissance (band music) - Rock band with Reggae style beat. Two members are MBA professors in Dhaka University.

Rizwana Chowdhury Bonna - Popular for more than a decade for "Rabindra Sangeet." Has toured U.S.

Rock Strata - Emerged in mid-eighties as one of the first hard-rock bands

Runa Laila (aadhunik) Unrivalled as most talented lady singer -an asset to the nation. Songs in numerous languages. Well-known beyond the Indo-Pakistani subcontinent. Sang in the Bombay industry for a while. Tours the U.S.(large audiences, tickets are not cheap)

Sabina Yasmin (aadhunik)- Popular for several decades for patriotic songs. Appears frequently on TV. Most popular playback singer for movies. Hails from "Yasmin" Family of music, which has given rise to Nilufer Yasmin among others. Sweet voice. Tours U.S. often.

Shagor Sen - From West Bengal. Deep voice suitable for the Rabindra Sangeet he is famous for.
Shahnaz Rahmatullah - repectted aadhunik singer for two decades

Shumon Chatterjee - Same type of music as Anjan Datta and Nachi Keta. Excellent voice. Has toured U.S. recently.

Suvro dev (aadhunik and pop)- Good vocals. Nasal tinge. Romantic ballads. Popular with young female crowd. Playback singer for movies. Has toured U.S. in recent years. Download some hit songs of Suvro from here.

Souls - Emerged in late 70s in Chittagong. Gained popularity over more than a decade. Served to launch Ayub Bacchu and Tapan Chowdhuri

Tapan chouwdhuri - Went solo after beginning career in Souls.

War Phase - Emerged in mid-eighties as hard-rock band.
Winning (Band) Popular from early eighties to this day. As in many other bands, most of the founding members have already left.

- Shahriar Khan

Most Bangla music has emphasis on the Harmonium and the Tabla. The harmonium normally follows the intricate progressions of the voice. The Tabla is tuned to the fundamental - a feature of the percussion instrument rarely seen in Western percussions. This type of music has undergone the most change through the ages. In fact, Aadhunik, which means "modern" is actually a reflection of the times.
2. Pop music / Band music
Characterized by presence of drums, electric and bass guitars, and electronic keyboards. The main feature is that the songs are composed and performed by the band members themselves. "Multi-dimensional" music as band members improvise on their own instruments of electric guitar, drums, keyboard, and bass guitar
3. Nazrul Geeti
School of music based on Kazi Nazrul Islam - the rebellious poet. All lyrics and most of the music were written by him. Based on classical / light music. In fact, Nazrul has written all types of classical songs in Bangla, like Khayal, Thumri, Daadra, Ghazal, Toppa, Drupod, Dhamar (you name it).
4. Rabindra Sangeet
School of music by Rabindra Nath Tagore. Today based in the Santi Niketan in West Bengal, India. All lyrics and music were written by him. Well documented. Mostly based on the "structured" type of classical music, like Drupod, Dhamaar, etc.
5. Classical
For the more sophisticated listener. Also used to train the voice. There are two main directions. The structured - Drupod, Dhamaar, etc. and the Free-flowing - Khayal, Thumri, Ghazal, etc.
6. Folk Songs
Traditional music rooted in the villages - this is the mainstay of our culture. In most cases accompanied by traditional instruments like Ektara, Dotara, Khonjori, etc. There are many types - Bhatiali (sung by river folks), Lalon (composed by Lalon Fakir), Bhaowaiya, Jaari, Shaari, and many more

- Shahriar Khan, - Rezaur Rahman

Begum Akhtar: Classical (deceased), Milia Ali: Rabindra Sangeet (contemprary), Khairul Anam: Nazrul Geeti (contemporary), Angur Bala: Nazrul Geeti (deceased), Laila Arjumand Banu: Nazrul Geeti (deceased), Firoza Begum: Nazrul Geeti (popular in the 1960s), Iffat Ara Diwan : Rabindra Sangeet. (contemporary), Konika Banerjee: Rabindra Sangeet (has been popular at least since the 1950s), Promila Bhattacharya: Atul Prasad (contemporary), Mridula Bhattacharya: Atul Prasad (contemporary), Krishna Chottopadhay: Dwijendra-giti/ Atul Prasad/ Rajani Kanta, Debaproto: Rabindra Sangeet (deceased), Neena Hamid: Folk (contemporary), Khaled Hossain: Nazrul Geeti, Atiqul Islam: Rabindra Sangeet (deceased), Sanjeeda Khatun: Rabindra Sangeet (contemporary, better known as a specialist in Rabindra Sangeet and as the founder of Dhaka's popular music school, Chhayanot)., Fahmeeda Khatun: Rabindra Sangeet, Sadia Mallick: Nazrul Geeti, Shabnam Mushtari: Nazrul Geeti, Dalia Nausheen: Nazrul Geeti, Zahidur Rahim: Rabindra Sangeet (deceased), Rothindranath Rai: Folk, Horolal Rai: Folk (deceased), Shaheed Samad: Nazrul Geeti (contemporary), Papia Sarwar: Rabindra Sangeet. (contemporary), Abeda Sultana: Aadhunik (contemporary), Rebecca Sultana: Aadhunik (contemporary), Kalim Sharafi: Rabindra Sangeet, K.M. Saigal: Classical (deceased).
Some Names of folk artist are presenting here: 1. Late Fani Brua (Popular Singer and composer), 2. Binoy Bansi Das (Rythimist), 3. Kangalini Sufia (folk singer), 4. Late Bijoy Sarker (Jessore), 5. Late Kanai Lal sil (Dotora), 6. Khoda Box Shai (Kustia), 7. Abdur Rahman Bayati, 8. Rowshan Bayati (Jessore), 9. Kutubul Alam (Gambhira), 10. Saydur Rahman Bayati (Manikganj), 11. Abdul Karim (Sylhet), I think if we try, we can make good list of folk singer and musician. We can not forget that, our 90% people enjoy their music and to making list, we should not ignore them.
Abbasuddin: Collected songs by going to many places in the country.
Performed mostly in. Well-known Dotora player. Shaped Bangla music as one of the earliest singers whose songs were recorded. Father of Ferdousi Rahman, and founder of his "Gharana" of music.
Abdul Alim: (folk)
Abdul Karim (folk, Sylhet)
Abdur Rahman Bayati (Folk, Jessore)
Abeda Sultana: (Aadhunik)
Angur Bala: (Nazrul Geeti, deceased)
Atiqul Islam: (Rabindra Sangeet, deceased)
Arjumand Banu: (Nazrul Geeti, deceased)
Begum Akhtar: (Classical, deceased)
Bijoy Sarker (deceased, Folk, Jessore)
Binoy Bansi Das (Folk, Chittagong) Rhythm
Chandidas Mal (19th century) Last of the performers for compositions by Ramnidhi Gupta
Dalia Nausheen: (Nazrul Geeti)
Fahmeeda Khatun: (Rabindra Sangeet)
Fani Barua (deceased, Chittagong) singer and composer of folk music
Farida Parveen - Unrivalled in Lalon Geet of folk music. Known for three decades.
Fatema-tuz-zohura (aadhunik) Respected singer for three decades.
Ferdousi Rahman - Heir to rich tradition established by her father
Abbasuddin. Known for three decades. Has toured U.S. recently.
Firoza Begum: (Nazrul Geeti) Popular in the 1960s
Happy Akhand (pop, deceased) Survived by his brother Laki Akhand, after untimely demise in 80s. (Song: Ai Nil Moni Haar)
Iffat Ara Diwan : (Rabindra Sangeet)
In Dhaka (rock band)
Jewel: (pop, deceased)
Jhinga Goshti - one of the earliest bands (70s) in Dhaka. Stepping stone for many of our early singers.
Kaderi Kibria: (Adhunik)
Kalim Sharafi: (Rabindra Sangeet)
Kanai Lal sil (deceased, Jessore) Played the Dotora
Kangalini Sufia (folk, Chittagong)
Kazi Nazrul Islam (composer and lyricist, deceased) Came during 1910s with genius of song writing and compositions. Apart from traditional Hindusthani classical and western style of music, adapted a lot of tunes from folk music of other places, as well as tunes from Middle east. Through him, Bengali non-folk music first experienced Islamic style of music. Not very organized in recording his music. The songs, which are known as "Nazrulgeeti today, contain songs which are supposedly not his creation. After he took a premature retirement from music, the tunes of some of his songs were tampered with. Popular exponents of his songs include Sachin Dev Burman, Manabendra Mukhopadhyaya, Firoza Begam, and Anup Ghosal. Nazrul's songs reigned supreme, even over Rabindra Sangeet, until 1950s.
Khairul Anam: (Nazrul Geeti)
Khaled Hossain: Nazrul Geeti
Khoda Box Shai (Folk, from Kustia)
Kutubul Alam (folk, from Rajshahi)
Milia Ali: (Rabindra Sangeet)
Mita Huque: (Rabindra Sangeet)
Neena Hamid: (Folk)
Papia Sarwar: (Rabindra Sangeet)
Rebecca Sultana: (Aadhunik)
Rabindranath Tagore - undoubtedly one of the strongest influences on Bengali music. Trained in Hindusthani classical music. Later, during his stay in England came across western style of music, especially operas which had influenced young Rabindranath to write and compose operatic dramas in Bengali. Throughout his life, he was exposed to Bengali folk. Although Rabindranath's father and elder brothers also composed songs, Rabindranath was by far the most versatile with his pen and piano. Wrote almost 2500 songs and a few musical dramas (like operas) which are widely popular more than 50 years after his death. His music was eclipsed by Kazi Nazrul until the 1960s.
Rothindranath Rai: (Folk)
Rowshan Bayati (Folk, from Jessore)
Sadia Mallick: (Nazrul Geeti)
Sanjeeda Khatun: (Rabindra Sangeet) Known for Rabindra Sangeet and as founder of Dhaka's popular music school, Chhayanot).
Sohorab Hossain (Nazrul giti)
Shabnam Mushtari: (Nazrul Geeti)
Shaheed Samad: (Nazrul Geeti)
Shalil Chowdhury - Respected music lyricist and composer from West
Bengal. His songs were sung by Hemanta Mukherjee and Lata Mangeshkar. Saydur Rahman Bayati (Folk, from Manikganj)
Souls - Emerged in late 70s in Chittagong. Gained popularity over more than a decade. Served to launch Ayub Bacchu and Tapan Chowdhuri. Have been less visible in the 90s.
War Phase - Emerged in mid-eighties as hard-rock band.
Tapan chouwdhuri (aadhunik / pop) - Went solo after beginning career in Souls.
Zahidur Rahim: (Rabindra Sangeet, deceased)
- Shahriar Khan, Initiator, Topic of the Month (Alochona discussion forum)

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