Spreading the gospel of Nazrul

In a bid to preserve the creative legacy of Kazi Nazrul Islam, Dr Al Amin Khan has been working on several projects related to our beloved National Poet for years. Al Amin, a singer and organiser, founded the 'Nazrul Centre' a few years back.

"We have established the Nazrul Centre in Dhaka to spread the Rebel Poet's creations among the masses," said Al Amin. "I had a dream to make the creations of Kazi Nazrul Islam available online. Towards this end, I coordinated with Nazrul Institute in Bangladesh and other concerned bodies to make this happen."

A documentary film titled "Biography of Nazrul", portraying the life and work of Nazrul was premiered at Blockbuster Cinemas, Jamuna Future Park. The 94-minute long documentary—that received the censor clearance certificate on July 29, 2020—brings to light the life story of our National Poet.

Under the banner of Nazrul Centre, the visual was directed by Ferdous Khan. Al-Amin Khan is the producer of the documentary, while Ekram Ahmed—former Executive Director of Nazrul Institute—acted as an advisor for the overall production.

On the occasion of the 46th death anniversary of Nazrul, a screening of the "Biography of Nazrul", along with a discussion, will take place at the premises of Rabindra Maitree University, Kushtia, at 11:30 am on August 27.

Featuring Nazrul's Islamic songs, Al Amin has two albums "Elo Khushir Eid" and "Kamliwala" to his credit. The singer recorded Nazrul's Islamic songs in acapella style. His unique effort evoked a great response from aficionados of Nazrul Sangeet.

"Kazi Nazrul Islam has composed almost all genres of Bangla songs. His Islamic songs attract me a lot. As a tribute to the poet, I recorded his Islamic numbers," said Al Amin Khan.   

Nazrul Institute brought out five CDs, each containing 100 songs, from the original Gramophone Company so that Nazrul's songs were preserved. Al Amin Khan supported the music project with overall coordination.

Kazi Nazrul Islam translated 38 Surahs of the 30th Para of the Holy Quran into Bangla verses. The creation, called "Kavya Ampara", is a unique offering of Nazrul, keeping the meaning and sense intact. Presented by Nazrul Centre, the audio recording of the work was done by the 23 elocutionists from Bangladesh and India.

Marking the centenary of the composition of the poem "Bidrohi" (The Rebel), the Nazrul Centre published an exclusive book titled "100 Years of the Poem Bidrohi", with Al Amin Khan ideating the production. The book contains paintings conferring the meaning of each of the 141 lines of the poem along with its English translation by Sajed Kamal.

"I personally regard the poem 'Bidrohi' as one of the most powerful creations of the Rebel Poet," said Al Amin Khan. "To arrest the attention of wider readers, I have incorporated the English translation of the masterpiece along with visual interpretations so that everyone can understand it very easily.

The centenary celebration of the poem also marked the publication of a memorial book titled, "Bishwa Chharaye Uthiyachhi Eka", where 25 Bangladeshi and foreign writers have written about the poem. The book also includes the translations of the poem in Bengali, English, Spanish, Italian, French and Portuguese.

Al Amin Khan is currently the Head of Sales and Marketing at ATN News. The Azaan that airs on the channel is recorded by him. He has received several awards for his renditions of Hamd, Naat and Islamic songs at national level competitions.