Forever #minarforever

Tell us about your recent works.

Baba Maar Jonno and Eka Din are two of my latest releases currently trending countrywide. I sang another song titled Keno Bolte Parina for the Basic Ali series. These will be available on YouTube as well as on GP music, Banglalink Vibe and some other web portals.

You are equally famous within and outside Bangladesh. Tell us about your experience of performing outside the country.

The support I get from outside the country is amazing. Recently, I toured in Australia and London. The Bengali community in Australia gave me a warm welcome; I had a great time there. The show in London was rather for a small group of audience. Not many of our artists tour abroad. So when we do, the expatriates become very emotional.

Your song Jhoom has now over 25 million views, and many of your other songs are popular on YouTube as well. How do you feel about this?

Definitely, it is a wonderful feeling. YouTube is a global platform. It is helping music gain colossal reach. It is an effective platform for artists to promote their contents. Other than this audio-visual platform, there are many solely audio platforms like GP Music, where my songs are getting excellent response. It is not as if CDs are not sold anymore, but the number has decreased significantly. Our easy access to YouTube is playing a significant role in connecting the artists with the audiences.

From your 2008 debut album Danpite to your smash hit Barabari in 2018 – how would you evaluate this decade long journey?

It has been a journey worth remembering forever. Shada from Danpite was the song that brought me to a whole new turn in life. I was fortunate to have been able to deliver up to my audiences' expectations ever since. Now when I perform live, even in foreign countries, I would sing only one line, and the audience would sing along to complete the rest. And I think this is the best feeling for any singer. Now I have a huge fan-base in Kolkata. Recently, I was informed that my song was being played at a puja mandop in Mumbai. A YouTube follower from Brazil commented that although she did not understand the lyrics of Jhoom, she fell in love with the song anyway. On the contrary, I have not lost much to mention. I would rather highlight what I have learned so far. I have always been experimenting with styles. Breaking my inner-self to rediscover, and exploring newer musical and lyrical dimensions have been challenges that I took deliberately.

Of course, I have to have my own style. Minar has to sound like Minar, that's the only way people would accept me. But the expression could be, and should be diverse. Shada had a completely different expression than Jhoom. I love to play with new instruments, new rhythm patterns. I was only 16 when I released my debut album. It consisted of compositions done mostly during my school life which preeminently sounded acoustic. My perspective has changed with time and maturity, which is reflected in my later compositions. An artiste's perception plays a very important role behind their compositions.

Tell us about your inspiration.

I am grateful to my parents and sisters; it is because of them that I read a lot of story books in my childhood.  I used to listen to a lot of songs as well. The variety in story books and songs helped me to think deeply about my surroundings. Observing people and their lives inspired me to draw cartoons. I had already developed an omniform imagination. I feel deeply moved to write something, say – when it is raining, especially at night. Maybe there is someone who is rushing home from office in this heavy rain. Maybe there is another one, who is letting their tears wash away with the icy drops.  Or say – when it is Friday, and everyone is feeling lazy. Someone is laying back idle, while someone else is on a beautiful date with their lover. So, even a day can have its own aura, which could be put in a song.

Tell us more about your passion for drawing cartoons.

I started working as a cartoonist for Unmad. Recently, I did two cartoons for the 40 year celebration exhibition of the iconic magazine. I also worked at The Daily Star, did the cartoon series Gablu for the Rising Star supplement. A comic book of that series was published during the Ekushey Boimela of 2012. I even received an award from TIB for one of my works. Now that I am primarily focusing on music, I cannot find much time for this passion. But my love for comics has not died. I am trying to continue, perhaps through drawing my own album covers. I am planning to release a batch of t-shirts with my drawings imprinted. I also plan to do an exhibition with all my artworks so far. Although I still have no clue when I might do this.

What is your future plan regarding music?

I am not into making long-term future plans. I am comfortable with how I am doing right now and I want to continue just the same way. Many have told me that I have introduced a different flavor to Banglapop. I have been appreciated by seniors for my diverse take on writing lyrics. For example, Jhoom is a word very close and dear to our heart. We often love to say, 'Ki jhoom brishti hocche!' Or Ahare, as we say, 'Ahare bechara!' very casually. I want to make my lyrics close to heart and easily relatable. For me, music has to be refreshing. I want to keep this spontaneous, experimental approach. It would be a lie if I say I have never applied any marketing strategy or didn't have any commercial purpose. But even then, my primary focus was on making it life-like. I have an upcoming song which I have dubbed Thakurmaar Jhuli. It is particularly written for the audiences of my own generation. For those who grew up within the pages of Himu, Misir Ali, Feluda, Professor Shanku, Harry Potter, Chacha Chowdhury, Billu-Pinky and Tin Goenda. I incorporated all these childhood companions together to make a song that is bound to give a trip down the memory lane. I also have an animated music video planned for this song, which I am still working on. Another thing, I have started this hashtag #minarforever, and I want to make it a regular thing! (Laughter) This might help me develop my own fan culture. Now if you search this hashtag on Facebook, you will see all my activities and fan involvements in a single page. How wonderful is that!

Message for the readers and fans

Please be with good music, be with Bangladeshi music. We have gone through some transition periods, rather tough times, and we still have a lot to overcome. But now there are ample platforms where the artists and listeners can collaborate to create something beautiful. And hopefully this will continue to become better with time. Now we are witnessing innovative projects like Gaanbangla's Wind of Change, where I have performed as well. Our music is now gaining global recognition. So we also need to be big and bold with our own culture. There is no more space for small-time criticism.