Sadi Mohammad Shahnewaz

When I was arriving in Phoenix, Arizona last year for my Humphrey Fellowship, I did not imagine that I would get to be a part of one of the most prestigious musical celebrations of the world – the Grammys.

Nuhash Humayun loves making “weird stuff’, as he jokingly phrases it. However, he is objectively one of the most open-to-experiment directors of our time.

Let us get this out of the way first: “Nasek Nasek” was so dynamic, energetic and well-executed musically, that it made it unusually difficult for any song to follow it up.

Bushra Shahriar is at an interesting crossroads in life – the passionate soul is a musician, vlogger, and a PHD student at the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee. Her latest song, “Eksho Nalish”, released yesterday. We got in touch with Bushra for a small chat over coffee.

It has always been difficult to please everyone, especially in the age of social media -- where everyone feels not only entitled to an opinion, but also entitled to share it regardless of how crude or unfiltered it may be.

The 94th Academy awards were historic, but not in the sense that you are probably thinking.

A rather curious audience, consisting of primarily journalists and media personalities, took their seats in The Daily Star’s A S Mahmud Hall. “Who is Sabrina?” was a question – more of a marketing strategy, to Hoichoi and Ashfaque Nipun’s next project, “Sabrina”.

The first episode of Coke Studio Bangla opened with “Nasek Nasek”, a Hajong song written by talented singer Animes Roy, proving this criticism baseless.

To many, he was the beloved, quirky astrologer who wrote “Apnar Rashi” for the popular daily Prothom Alo, which was often the feature they most looked forward to.

In 1970, a young Rabindra Sangeet singer caused a sensation, when his rendition of “Jani Jani Go” made its way to number one rank on the country’s best-selling chart. This feat shattered the general assumption that Rabindra Sangeet was not “commercially viable”. Only a year later, he was imprisoned and tortured by the Pakistani Army, formally accused of “inciting the people with nationalistic and revolutionary songs”.

Think of the world’s greatest Disco artistes – Donna Summer had 17 studio albums, while Gloria Gaynor had 18.

As celebrations of Saraswati Puja ended, the world incurred the irrevocable loss of the ‘Saraswati’ of music, the next morning.

Few artistes have gone through as many ups and downs as Tashfee, who is often cited as a rising star in Bangladesh’s music.

Formed in 2012, Attic is one of the forerunners of the new ‘indie’ generation of Bangladeshi band music. The rising stars released their debut album, titled after their most well-known song, “Echoes in your Attic”, which is available for purchase digitally.

‘Stuttering comic’ Ananda Mazumder, who turned a perceived ‘weakness’ in to strength, is now a staple of Dhaka’s stand-up comedy scene. Ananda joins us tuday for a round of One Minute Please!

“Only by observing a great mind, can we decipher what separates them from the mediocre and pretentious,” says the writer.

One of the fastest rising artistes in our music industry, the Rehman Duo keep pushing the envelope with their melodious serenades.

You reached 25 years of your journey last April, but could not host a silver jubilee show due to the pandemic. Can we expect one in the future?

Sunerah Binte Kamal has won over the audience with her National Award winning performance in ‘No Dorai’. The beautiful and talented young actress sits with us for a round of One Minute Please!

The young and talented Masha Islam took YouTube by storm when she first started, and is now on the playlist of all modern Bangla music lovers.