“I always try to spread the words of Nazrul”

Eminent Nazrul exponent Ferdous Ara is driven by the passion to uphold and spread the words of Kazi Nazrul Islam across the world. Throughout her illustrious career, she has been working to promote Nazrul Sangeet and archive his works in different ways.

The singer will travel to USA in May to participate in Nazrul Sammelon in New York. She will also perform at Book Fair in NY before performing in Boston. The artiste recently talked to The Daily Star about her current projects and more. Excerpts: 

“I work on Nazrul throughout the year. I took up an ambitious project of recording 1000 authentic songs of Nazrul. So far I have recorded 200 songs and released six CDs.

This is the first time such a projector is being done in Bangladesh. It is challenging to research on Nazrul Sangeet and record them keeping their originality. I am getting positive feedback and this project is continuing to be successful over the last few years.”

There are motives behind the project. One is making Nazrul Sangeet available to the audience in their original tunes, as the original songs are not available in many recent recordings.

I am recording those songs and making them available on currently popular platforms so that the young generation can access it easily. Also, I am working to archive those songs so that they stay forever.

Impress Audio Vision is assisting me in the project. The album project is named 'Nazrul Sangeet Shomogro'.”

“In addition, I have also done a collection of patriotic songs recently. These songs are high in spirit, and are in demand. But there was no complete collection of these songs.

So, I have done a collection of Deshattobodhok songs, and released a CD of this collection. Popular music director Ibrar Tipu has done the composition of the collection.”

“This is the first time I will be seen in a film singing my self-composed song. The film, 'Bastobota', encircles mentally challenged children. Previously, I lent my voice in numerous Nazrul Sangeets in films. I have also penned two books: 'Sangeet-er Bhubone Nazrul' and 'Sanchitar Kothabarta'.”

“I have travelled to many countries in different continents to present the creations of Nazrul. I always try to spread the words of Nazrul everywhere. In recognition to my contribution, I have received numerous awards in Bangladesh which includes a number of Lifetime Achievement Awards as well.”

“I taught at the Music Departments at Dhaka University and UODA, and was a trainer at the Nazrul Institute. In 2000, I established my own school Sur Soptok which offers coerces on music, dance, art, guitar, tabla and other instruments.

This year, we started offering Diploma in Classical and Nazrul Sangeet at Sur Soptok. We are also trying to introduce this type of course abroad.”