Bashir Ahmad (singer)

Bashir Ahmad
Also known as Ahmed Rushdi of Bangladesh[1]
Born (1940-11-18)18 November 1940
Kolkata, Bengal Presidency, British India
Died 19 April 2014(2014-04-19) (aged 73)
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Genres Ghazal, playback singing
Occupation(s) Singer, composer, lyricist
Years active 1960-2014

Bashir Ahmad (11 November 1940 – 19 April 2014)[2] was a Bangladeshi playback singer who started his career from Pakistan film industry.[3] Born in British India, he migrated to then East Pakistan during the Partition period and started his singing career. He is known as East Pakistan's Ahmed Rushdi because his singing style is inspired by Ahmed Rushdi.[4] He was awarded Ekushey Padak in 2005 by the Government of Bangladesh and Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer for his performance in the film Kokhono Megh Kokhono Bristi (2003).[5][6]

Career

Ahmad was born in Calcutta in 1940. He was accepted as a pupil by Ustad Vilayat Hussain at the age of 15. Later, he came to Bombay, and became a student of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan.

Ahmed performed along with Geeta Dutt.[2] Around the 1960s, when the film producer and owner of Gulistan Cinema Hall, Dosani invited Talat Mahmood and Ahmed to East Pakistan to perform. After their tour of Chittagong and Mymensingh, Mahmood returned to India but Ahmed decided to stay back.[2]

In Dhaka, his mentor and brother-in-law, Ishrat Kalkatvi introduced him to Robin Ghosh. Kalkatvi was writing songs for the film Talash (1963), although eventually, Suroor Barabankvi contributed more songs to the film. Ghosh was making tunes for the film. Ahmed sang some numbers for Talash, including soft romantic one, titled "Kuch Apni Kahiyye Kuch Meri Sunyey, Yeh Sham Yeh Tanhai Youn Chup To Na Rehiyye". Ahmad sang another song titlted Main Rickshawalla Matwala. He had two other songs in the film, both duets.

Ahmad was also a poet and a lyricist, with a pseudonym B. A. Deep. Film-maker, Mustafiz, they contacted Bashir and asked him to write a song for his film, Saagar (1965 film), which he did, titled Ja dekha pyar tera, and sang it too. Similarly in Robin Ghosh's another lilting offering, Karwan, in 1964, Bashir wrote and sang Jab tum akele ho gay hum yaad aaein gay. He wrote film songs, as B. A. Deep, and also continued to sing as Bashir Ahmed for films like Saagar, Karwan, Eindhan, Milan (1964 film),[7] Kangan and Darshan (1967). The songs from the films were Yeh sama pyara pyara, yeh hawaein thandi thandi (singer Mala), (Yeh mausam yeh mast nazarey, pyar karo to in say karo), (Tumharay liyay iss dil mein itne mohabbat hay, itne mohabbat kon karaya ga kahaan pao gay kis dil main ho ge), (Din raat khayalon mein tujhay yaad karoon ga, par naam tera lay kay main aawaz nah doon ga), (Hum chaley chor kar teri mehfil sanam, dil kahin nah kahin to behal jaey ga), (Gulshan mein baharun mein too hai), and (Chun liya ik phool ko), with Madam Noor Jahan.

In 1971, when the situation worsened in Pakistan, he was not encouraged in the industry as music directors considered him a pale version of Ahmed Rushdi (who remained the greatest singer in the history of Pakistani cinema) and the film Hill Station's songs, namely Mera dil na janey kub say tera pyar dhoondta hai and Mere seene per sar rakhdo remain his only contributions in this period.[8]

A film that was made on the Dhaka Debacle in the late 1970s, called Sangtarash, also included his numbers, namely Bol Zara Kuch Duniya Walay and Mukhrey Mein Chand, but the film, despite pleadings of the film-maker to the military regime of Zia, remained unreleased. So, he went back to Bangladesh in 1975 and continued his music career there.

Personal life and death

Ahmed was married to Meena Bashir, a singer. Together they had a daughter, Humayra and a son, Raja Bashir.[8]

Ahmad died on 19 April 2014, aged 74 at his residence in Mohammadpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh. He had been suffering from various diseases including cancer.[8]

References

  1. ↑ http://topstars.com.pk/legend-dieslollywood-singer-bashir-ahmed/
  2. 1 2 3 "Bashir Ahmed - Taking pride in our past". The Daily Star. 2017-11-24. Retrieved 2017-11-23.
  3. ↑ "The Legendary Singer Bashir Ahmed Passes Away". Fashion Central. Retrieved 2017-11-23.
  4. ↑ "Bashir Ahmed, famous singer,musician passed away in Dhaka". reviewit.pk. 2014-04-26. Retrieved 2017-11-23.
  5. ↑ "একুশে পদকপ্রাপ্ত সুধীবৃন্দ" [Ekushey Padak winners list] (in Bengali). Government of Bangladesh. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  6. ↑ Rashed Shawon (14 August 2012). চার দশকে আমাদের সেরা চলচ্চিত্রগুলো [Best films of four decades] (in Bengali). bdnews24.com. Archived from the original on 27 January 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  7. ↑ "MILAN". citwf.com. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  8. 1 2 3 "Bangladesh Legendary singer Bashir Ahmed laid to eternal rest". bdnews24.com. 20 April 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
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