Then and now
In conversation with Latifa Helen
Cultural Correspondent
Latifa Helen became a familiar voice and face in the early '80 with her skilled renditions of folk and adhunik songs. Between 1979 and '84 she sang many popular songs. Her songs have been aired on BBC Radio, Manchester Radio, DW and she has performed in many countries like India, England, Germany, North Korea and others. She has been an enlisted artiste of both Bangladesh Television and Betar since 1968. The Daily Star caught up with the artiste. Excerpts from the interview: What attracted you to the world of music?
I was born in Barisal. When I was a child I used to listen to musical programmes on Akashbani, which ignited a deep interest in music in me. Shawkat Anwar from "Khelaghar" (a cultural organisation in Barisal), my uncle and Narayan Chandra Shaha -- my first music instructor -- all inspired me to take music seriously. How did your music career begin?
In 1968, I participated in "Pakistan Arts Council", a district level music competition where I competed in three categories and secured the first position in two of them. Following that I competed at the divisional level, which was obviously difficult. I was content with my performance in the presence of judges like Nina Hamid and Farida Yasmin. That year I also auditioned at Radio Pakistan and was enlisted as a regular singer. In 1969 I started performing on TV. You have worked with quite a few noted lyricists and composesr...
I have worked with Satya Saha, Subal Das, Abdul Latif, Ustad Barin Majumder, PC Gomez, Sheikh Sadi Khan, Debu Bhattacharya, Khurshid Khan, Anwar Parvez and several other noted lyricists and composers. Since the '80s I worked with Selim Ashraf, Ali Akbar Rupu, Lucky Akhand, Abu Taher and others. Are you working on an album currently?
I'm busy with BTV and Betar. I have also performed on ATN Bangla, Channel 1 and Rtv. I'm currently working on a music album and it's in the preliminary stage. Some of your popular songs...
Amakey dukkha na diye, Antobiheen raatri amar, Tomar asha na ashaye, Tomaye jetey debo na, Jiboner bahu path periye eshey are some of my favourite adhunik songs, while folk songs -- Shona bondhur khabor, Ghar-e amar mon tho boshey na, Ashtey nodi jetey nodi, O mon majhi rey -- rendered by me became quite popular. Who are your favourite singers?
I love to listen to Lata Mangeshkar. In our country late Nilufar Yasmin, Samina Chowdhury, Kanakchapa, Bappa Majumder, Habib, Monir Khan and Asif are my favourite singers. What is your impression of today's singers and the music scene?
Nowadays upcoming artistes are getting more opportunities that we did when we started. They now have a certain platform. In 1969, when I was enlisted in Radio Pakistan, I used to come all the way from Barisal for recordings.
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