Sainik fights on with his tunes

"No matter what I did, it never seemed to matter to some people. I heard from a close source that BDT 8.5 Crore were raised by Telcos from ringtones alone from my songs, from which I did not get a dime. I was dejected and angry. I will never release an album again. However, I will release music on my own terms."

It was 1989 when T W Sainik first came from Nilphamari to Dhaka, as a culturally active young man. Even after two decades of successful work as a cinematographer – more than 500 tele-fictions, 40 TVCs and 4 films, we know the artiste as the voice behind "Tumi Amar Ghum", a song that captured the hearts of music listeners regardless of taste.

Sainik, after his arrival to the city, was involved in theatre through Momtajjudin Ahmed's theatre troupe, and music through Chhayanaut. However, his turnabout came when he starred in an ad film as an extra.

 "I was awestruck after I watched cinematographer Samir Kushari – his poise, personality and dedication. At that moment, I knew that I wanted to be in the entertainment industry, in whatever medium. "

When he did pick up the camera, the artiste was exposed to many stars in the industry, who encouraged him to sing. 

"I started working in Eju Audio Video, where I got exposure to the entertainment business. We did musical programmes for many companies like Benson & Hedges, who was doing a 'star search' at that point."

The likes of Ayub Bachchu, Naquib Khan, Foad Nasser Babu and Labu Rahman encouraged him to sing. Sainik thus contacted Sohel Arman, with whom he had worked on many television projects, to write a lyric for him.

"He brushed me off at first, but I persisted, and he finally wrote 'Tumi Amar Ghum' for me," he said.

The album, which went by the same name, was composed by Ibrar Tipu. Two of the songs were written by Sohel Arman, two by his father, Abdul Wahab, and five by Zulfiqer Russell. "The album was a revelation for me, as everyone in the industry started to admire me."

Owing to the song's popularity, Sainik went on to win the Popular Choice Award at the Benson &Hedges Star Search, the Channel i Music awards, among many accolades.

"Kumar Bishwajit da was instrumental in encouraging me to finish the album," continued the singer.

However, the success that Sainik saw did not translate into any monetary benefits. "We did not sign any written agreements with the company which released the album," says the disappointed artiste. "I did not receive any money from the album, that resonated in arguably every household in the country."

The rift between music labels and artistes is a problem that plagues the industry, especially when many artistes cannot even upload their own tracks to streaming services.

After "Tumi Amar Ghum", Sainik's second album "Ghumer Por Megh" came out in 2015, almost a decade after his first hit. After that, "Monchora", a mixed album featuring Sainik, Chanchal Chowdhury and Fazlur Rahman Babu was released.

"No matter what I did, it never seemed to matter to some people. I heard from a close source that BDT 8.5 Crore were raised by Telcos from ringtones alone from my songs, from which I did not get a dime. I was dejected and angry. I will never release an album again. However, I will release music on my own terms."

Despite all that, Sainik fights on for his own music, with songs featuring Hridoy Khan, Sumon Kalyan, Partha Majumdar and Yousuf Khan on the horizon. The music he releases is fuelled by passion, if nothing else.