Bangladesh has lost one of its most popular singers Subir Nandi on Tuesday. The natural mellow in his voice and his training in classical music made his songs reach a level of excellence and popularity quite rare in Bangladesh. He could sing songs of varied genre, from light to sad romantic toclassical based ones.
Nandi, 67, who was suffering from various ailments, was taken to Singapore for better treatment, died of multiple organs failure following several
cardiac arrests at around 4:30am, family sources said.
His body will be flown to capital Dhaka today. His body will first be taken to his residence in Green Road and then to the Central Shaheed Minar to allow people to pay their last respects. The corpse will later be taken to Ramkrishna Mission. The cremation will take place at Bardeshwari Kali Temple and crematorium at noon.
Born in 1953 in Sylhet, Subir spent his childhood in Dhaka and Kolkata. His father was a doctor and medical officer at Teliapara Tea Estate. Subir and his nine siblings learnt music from Ustad Babar Ali Khan. He initiated his career in 1972 with the song Jodi Keu Dhup Jele Dai. It was composed by Ustad Mir Kasem and the lyricist was Mohammed Muzakker.
Nandi learnt folk music from Bidit Lal Das, a Bangladeshi folk singer. He was member of a musical band named Bidit Lal Das and his team. The band was founded in 1972. Other members were Akramul Islam, Jamaluddin Banna, Rakhal Chakrabarty, Himangshu Goswami, Himangshu Biswas and many others. In a career spanning over four decades, Subir claimed to have sung 2,000 film songs – the second-highest by any male singer after Andrew Kishore. In 1994, he rendered songs at the House of Commons.
He had given several hit songs during his long career, which include 'kato je tomake beshechhi bhalo, ‘tumi emoni jaal petechho shongshare’, ‘amar e duti chokh pathor to noi’, ‘ek je chhilo sonar konna’, ‘o amar ural ponkhire’. His illustrious career also earned him the Ekushey Padak, Bangladesh’s second-highest civilian award, in 2019.
He also won Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer five times for his performance in the films Mahanayak (1984), Shuvoda (1986), Srabon Megher Din (1999), Megher Pore Megh (2004) and Mohua Sundori (2015). On April 14, Subir Nandi was admitted to Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Dhaka after he fell ill while returning to Dhaka from Sylhet by a train.
Two weeks later, he was taken to Singapore for better treatment. President Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, Information Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud, among others, have expressed condolence at the death of the eminent singer. In separate condolence messages, the head of state, the head of the government and the JS speaker expressed their deep shock and sorrow at the death of Subir Nandi and prayed for the eternal peace of the departed soul.
Recalling his contribution to the field of culture, the President said, “His death is really an irreparable loss to the country’s cultural arena . . . Nation will recall his contribution to music and culture for long.” Abdul Hamid prayed for salvation of the departed soul and conveyed profound sympathy to the bereaved family members. Meanwhile, the PM her condolence message recalled the contribution of the renowned singer to the country’s cultural arena, and said, “The five times national award winning singer will remain forever in the heart of the people through his works.”
