Musician Azad Rahman no more

Veteran musician Azad Rahman, who was behind many melodious numbers like ‘Jonmo amar dhonyo holo mago’ ‘Bhalobasar mulyo koto’, ‘O chokhe chokh porechhe jokhon-e, ‘Moner-o ronge ranagabo’, is no more.

He suffered a heart attack and breathed his last in the capital’s Bangladesh Specialized Hospital on Saturday afternoon, Azad’s sister Masuma Mannan Leena told Prothom Alo.

The national award-winning singer, composer and music director was 76.

He was hospitalised on Friday after his condition deteriorated, she added.

Called the father of Bangla Kheyal, Azad is survived by his wife Selina Azad, and their three daughters.

Born on 1 January 1944, in India’s Bardhaman, Azad completed his graduation in Kheyal from Kolkata’s Rabindra Bharati University.

He debuted in film music through ‘Miss Priyambada’ where he directed legendary singers like Manabendra Mukhopadhyay, Arati Mukherjee and Pratima Bandopadhyay.

In Bangladesh, he was the music director for many hit films including ‘Badi Theke Begum’, ‘Epar Opar’, ‘Pagla Raja’, ‘Ananta Prem’, ‘Amar Sangsar’, ‘Masud Rana’ and so on.

UNB adds that Azad served as the director-general of the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy for two terms.

He was also the founder chairman of Sangskriti Kendra, a Centre for Education, Creative and Performing Arts.

He also received a gold medal in 2011 from Rabindra Bharati University in Kolkata.

He was honoured with the national film awards as a singer once and as a music director two times.