Profile of a committed singer

Rukhsana Momtaj

Her melodic voice became quite familiar thanks to the jingle of several TV commercials in the '90s, including Cocola Food Products, Rooh Afza and more. But soon she started to dislike being labelled as just another “jingle singer”. It was a prolonged story of hardship and frustration. But eventually Rukhsana Momtaj managed to carve a niche for herself as an adhunik singer.
The talented artiste is frequently featured in several musical programmes aired on different TV channels. The patriotic song Paharer kol gheshe, regularly aired on Rtv now, is fetching a warm response from the audience.
Rukhsana's story is one of sheer determination and unyielding spirit to overcome all impediments. She does not come from a family of musicians or even music enthusiasts, but music has always been her passion. Her fascination with music started at an early age as she used to listen to the radio; jingles were always on her lips.
As a child, her passion for music was not nurtured by her parents. In fact, her family literally discouraged her. But Rukhsana did not lose heart. She had to nag a lot so that her father would get her a harmonium. But this adverse situation only made her more resolute. She eventually managed to get her father to allow her to take music lessons. She received tutelage from Mousumi Kabir, Kalipado Modok, and Ustad Zakir Hossain Mirza. She trained in classical music under Ustad Mamtajuddin and Nazrul Sangeet for 5 years under Khalid Hossain.
“After I was enlisted in BTV as an adhunik singer in 1991, I had to wait patiently for almost five years to get a call to perform. My first performance was as a part of a chorus in a musical programme, Geeti Shatodal. Soon I received my break; I got the opportunity to do a solo performance for the same show. My first solo on TV was written by Liton Adhikari Rintu and composed by Ali Akbar Rupu. The song received good response and soon I started getting more offers.”
Rukhsana is a vivacious stage performer too. “I am grateful to the late Firoz Shai for giving me my first opportunity to perform on stage. I was virtually unknown then, and after hearing me sing, he made arrangements for me to perform on stage. I was nervous and shaky during the performance but after I got off the stage, to my total surprise, he gave me TK 1000, my first ever remuneration.”
So far the artiste has had six solo albums released, among which are Tomari Karoney, Gopon Khobor Roina Gopon, Shuto Kata Ghuri etc. Her next album Swapner Jamdani was released recently. She also did playback for several films. “Most of them however, were to be lip-synched by child actors. So, I'm taking a break from doing playbacks. Quality matters a lot to me.”