| Yasmeen, Nilufar
(1948-2003) artiste, renowned performer of
classical music, nazrul
songs and songs of Atulprasad, Dwijendralal and Rajanikanta.
Born on 13 February 1948 Nilufar got the support from her parents in exercising
music from the early childhood. She was the fourth among the five sisters
in the family and in fact, all sisters earned reputation as artistes.
Farida Yasmeen, the eldest, and Faozia Yasmeen, the second were both noted
singers, Nazma Yasmeen, the third performed well as an actress and in
recitation of poems and, Sabina Yasmeen, the youngest among the sisters
is one of most outstanding singers of the country. Nilufar had an extraordinary
skill in several areas of music. Besides classical music, she was remarkably
good in singing the old style tappa,
thungri,
kirtan,
as well as the modern songs. Nilufar Yasmeen passed Secondary School Certificate
and Higher Secondary Certificate Examinations in 1963 and 1965 respectively.
She completed BA (Honours) in Sociology from the University
of Dhaka in 1968 and did her masters in the same subject from
the same university in 1970. She started taking formal lessons
in classical music under Pundit PC Gomes in 1964. Later she studied
and was trained under the music gurus of both East and West Bengal
such as Prashun Bandyopadhyay, Mira Bandyopadhyay, Ustad Sagiruddin
Khan, Ustad Fazlul Haq, and Ustad A. Daud. She took lessons on
Nazrul songs under Sheikh Lutfar Rahman and Shudhin Das.
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Nilufar Yasmeen |
Nilufar was married to noted filmmaker and composer khan
ataur rahman (1928-1997). She worked as a television artiste
from very early age of her life. In recognition of her performance as
a playback singer, she received the Bangladesh Cine Journalists Association
Award in 1975 and the National Film Artiste Award in 1986. In 1995, the
University of Dhaka appointed her a lecturer in the Department of Dramatic
Arts and Music. Nilufar Yasmeen died of cancer on 10 March 2003 and in
memory of the late artiste and teacher, her elder sister had established
a scholarship for the best performing student of music at the university.
Nilufar Yasmeen was awarded the Ekushey Padak, 2004 (posthumously)
for music.
[Saim Rana]
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