Fan mail

We take you closer to your favourite artistes and celebrities. Our readers will be able to fire away all their queries to cultural personalities fortnightly and we provide the platform for you to do so.
Your name has figured in the Guinness Book of World Records for the highest number of albums in the shortest time, an honour for Bangladesh. What are your feelings?
Abdul Jabbar, Dhanmondi, Dhaka

Momtaj: It feels great. I firstly thank God, and next my listeners as without my fans it wouldn't have been possible. It was in 2005 that I got my name in Guinness. From 1992 to 2005, I did 500 albums. At present, after five years, the number has risen to 750. Also the work of processing and compiling those albums has begun so that they are not lost--- like before there were audios but now things have changed. Very soon we would have put them in order.

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Who influenced you most in life?
Arifa, Dhanmondi Dhaka
Bari Siddiqui: Firstly my mother had a major influence on my musical endeavour. Then it was the amazing tunes of the Biyer Geet (wedding songs) that I heard from my grandmother, when I was only five years old. Even my elder brother who plays the flute had a tremendous impact on my career. Apart from him, my grandparents have had an immense influence over me. My grandfather was a noted sarod player and an expert singer.

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After the success of “Third Person Singular Number” do we expect to see more of you on celluloid?
Abida Shabnaz, Dhanmondi, Dhaka

Topu: I would always love to act in quality movies. Soon after the release of "Third Person Singular Number", I was approached by several other filmmakers but unfortunately the storyline did not appeal to me. I want to contribute to the entertainment industry by acting in quality productions. Currently I am working on an album of music video featuring five songs which is scheduled to come out on Pahela Baishakh.

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What do you enjoy most about acting?
Champa Baidya, Green Road, Dhaka

Chanchal Chowdhury: For me, the most enjoyable part of acting is characterisation. When I can successfully set apart different characters as they are thought to be, my joy knows no bound.

Who are your favourite directors?
Chanchal Chowdhury: Mamunur Rashid in theatre, Gias Uddin Selim and Mostafa Sarwar Farooki in film and Salahuddin Lavlu in TV plays. .

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You have recently participated in a music festival along with Miles, Black, Bohemian and artists from other countries like Mitali, Nochiketa, Srikanto Acharjo, Alamgir (from Pakistan) etc. What was the experience like?
Shamima Perveen, Mohakhali, Dhaka

Mehreen: It was really great to be there. The ambience, the feel was just excellent. Young people, old people, individuals of high calibre, experienced personalities-all kinds of music lovers were there. As it was a live setting, there was a bit of tension, but the crowd was so vibrant and live.
In other countries, they have such festivals and it's really important that we do too, they should get bigger and bigger.