The musician, renowned for his fluid, mellifluent solos and roaring riffs, was one of the core contributors to Artcell’s seminal albums “Onno Shomoy” and “Oniket Prantor”. After periodically releasing singles like “Fight Back”, “Shobdahoron”, and “Haranor Gaan”, he is now embarking on a new journey with his band EZ, composed of young and energetic musicians.
It is rather telling of the people when the army has to show up because of how people behave at a concert. “They brought an international band to a mall to perform,” said Sakib, who had attended the concert with high hopes. “It was a total joke. Organisers started taking selfies with the band mid-show, while Jal had to ask 20 times for a light to be turned off.”
Dhrubo Hasan’s “Fatima” is an ambitious undertaking, with the director’s passion clearly visible in the script – the aspects of our Liberation War and how we are all fighting our own inner wars, the torment that women still go through for being a woman, the extent to which a close one’s betrayal could be delusionally overlooked.
On May 5, Toronto’s Hamilton saw what was the largest audience for a band in decades. To everyone’s surprise, it was not a North American band, but a Bangladeshi one, celebrating 25 years of their glorious music on tour.
On a day when the rain gods smiled favorably upon the hopes of about ten thousand people, barricades were broken, a stampede nearly ensued, and some logistical issues nearly ruined the experience for those holding general tickets at "Rock N’ Rhythm 4.0" in the capital’s International Convention City Bashundhara. However, for five men who have dedicated their entire lives to music, none of this could dampen the emotional reunion of Black's original lineup.
“I could have bought a very nice phone with the money I bought this guitar with,” said Joy Shahriar in The Daily Star’s canteen, proudly flaunting his baby Taylor guitar. “But I chose this expensive guitar. I don’t have unlimited funds, but I know my priorities.” In a way, this sums up the “Shotti Bolchi” singer’s entire career – a story of passion, strife, and street smarts.
Music in Bangladesh was never the same after Black launched “Amar Prithibi” in 2002. Taking off the much harder edge brought in by the rock bands of the ‘90s, it was Black who arguably popularised alternative rock in the country, along with acts like Nemesis and Stentorian.
So, what is the artiste looking for in a partner? “Well, she has to be a good, honest person, and that’s pretty much it.” While we are yet to have found the lucky woman with a lifetime of free passes to Minar’s concerts, here’s to hoping that we can finally write ‘original’ news about his wedding.
You might know him as the drummer for Chirkutt, but Pavel has been especially prominent in the music industry as a music producer, dominating the ad film market and lending his talents to films like “Saturday Afternoon”, “Television”, “Doob”, “Piprabidya” and more.
After studying from grades one to four in New York, Syed Mohammad Sohel came back to Bangladesh, carrying a distinct passion for rap in his heart. Aiming to accustom his people with the previously unknown craft, the boy reinvented himself over the years and became Mc Mugz, and went on to be part of two of the biggest rap crews in Bangladeshi history: Deshi MCs and Jalali Set. On the brink of releasing his first solo album, we catch up with the pioneer himself.
Truly a ‘jack of all trades’, Rafiath Rashid Mithila is a generational talent. Very active now in Tollywood, Kolkata’s film industry, she reached new heights with last year’s “Myself Allen Swapan”. The actor, development worker, singer, writer and PhD student drops by The Daily Star for a candid shoot and a chat.
In a recent episode of The Daily Star's podcast, "Daraz presents A Peek Inside with Sadi", the “Kuhelika” actress discussed her journey in showbiz and her latest endeavours.
Even though she started her journey in “Close Up 1” in 2006, Abanti Sithi finally gained the recognition that she deserved in 2018 in Kolkata’s “Sa Re Ga Ma Pa” in 2018. Besides her prodigal singing prowess, she is also known as the ‘whistle-queen’ because of her pitch-perfect whistling skills. From a simple cup to a foil-paper, Sithi can make random paraphernalia sing as well. She has entered a new phase of life, and talks to The Daily Star while on the runway to Sylhet.
It is usually a good sign when a director acknowledges the intelligence of his target audience, respects it when putting the finishing touches on a story. While entering Mohakhali Cineplex to watch the premiere of Shihab Shaheen’s “Baba, Someone’s Following Me”, the pessimist in me instantly assumed that it’d be a straightforward tale of racism faced by South Asian students in Australia. In reality, the Binge original takes a more nuanced task to convey much more than that.
“I don’t know how else we can help a nation that is repeatedly being wronged other than through our art,” said Ahmed Hasan Sunny, a rising star in the music industry. “We’ve remained an audience, helpless after seeing bombs dropped on civilians, hospitals and innocent children in Gaza. We decided to do something about it.” The young artiste took the challenge to organise a concert in support of Gaza’s hand-in-hand with artist Morshed Mishu, who was already planning to make graffiti to speak up for the oppressed people of Gaza.
Intense, passionate, riveting – the trailer of Badrul Anam Saud’s new movie, “Shyamakabbya”, is likely to invoke these feelings within any reader. While the seasoned director’s vision goes a long way toward making this possible, much credit will also go to the leads, Shohel Mondol and Neelanjona Neela.
Karnival started as a passion project between friends Tinu, Sabbir, Tonmoy and Sunny in 2006. Together, they made their debut album, “Indraloy.”
Action-packed, fantastical, nail-biting: Mizanur Rahman Aryan’s Punormilone is none of those things. In spite of that, or perhaps because of that, the family drama succeeds in subverting audience expectations amidst OTT’s “Thriller Fatigue”, with a powerful reminder of the age-old phrase la familia es todo (Family is all).
