Anjan Dutt's biography published in Dhaka

Surrounded by die-hard fans, seminal Indian singer-songwriter Anjan Dutt tirelessly signed autographs in Dhaka on Tuesday, as a biography on him, titled “Anjanjatra”, was launched at the capital's Bishwa Sahitya Kendra. Some fans came with guitars and ukuleles to be autographed on by their favourite singer, while some others were busy taking selfies with him.

Anjan Dutt flew in from Kolkata to launch the book, written by Sajad Hussain on true stories of Anjan's life and brought out by new publishing house Chhapakhanar Bhoot.

Sajjad Hussain opened the ceremony with a few words on how he roped in Dutt as  subject for his book.“The first name that came to my mind while choosing a person to write a biographical book as the first publication of Chhapakhanar Bhoot was of Anjan Dutt. I was fortunate that he was not as busy after shooting of his upcoming movie. It was a rare experience to travel all the way together with Anjan Dutt from Kolkata to Darjeeling to break the ice and dig down into his life. I grabbed his plan for a Darjeeling trip together as a means of sharing the stories. He was more open to me than ever in Darjeeling, his birthplace,” said Sajjad.

“Anjan Dutt appeared with his 'Shunte Ki Chao' album and drew me towards his soft melody during the early 90s; I was mad for songs like 'Tomake Chai',” said writer Anisul Hoque, speaking at the event.

Anjan Dutt then came on stage, and began by welcoming questions from the audience resulting in an enthusiastic question-answer session. Excited to see his biography published from Dhaka, Anjan Dutt expressed his wonder over the fact that the bigger half of his fans are from Bangladesh. He said, “Sajjad is the best interviewer I have ever met. Sometimes I was shaky to share personal matters, but eventually I surrendered to Sajjad's approach,” he said. He urged all to read the book to know a real Anjan Dutt, and said he would not mind if anybody felt hurt or honored to know the real stories.

Chhanda Dutt, wife of Anjan Dutt said, “The reason of my excitement today is that Anjan's biography is being published in Bangladesh, the country of my maternal uncle.”  She expressed her gratitude to all for the arrangement.

Fariha Rubayat, the publisher of the book, said, “A long cherished dream of mine came true by the inauguration of Chhapakhanar Bhoot with launching of Anjanjatra.” She greeted the audience for being the readers of the very first publication of the house.

The writer is a contributor at The Daily Star.