Spellbound by music

Parveen Sultana, a Nazrul Sangeet singer, has captivated many with her alluring, melodious voice since she came to the limelight in 1987. Later, she won the Channel i CityCell Award for Best Nazrul Singer in 2009. To date, she has 26 albums to her name, both solo and mixed. 

“I never came second in any singing competitions,” she told The Daily Star in a recent conversation.

“I won awards in many music shows, for instance the Ananya media performance, school programmes and more. I sing out of sheer love for performing. It was my love and passion that has carried me forward. My siblings and I were taught to sing. But it was only me who actually embraced music.”

“It was my father who inspired us. He used to sing in his early days and made us practice singing with him. Singing was never an extra curricular activity for me or my siblings; unlike most other families. We saw it as part of our education.”

“When I was six years old, my brother enrolled me at Hindol Sangeet Academy.  My first teacher, Khaled Hossain, recommended me to Mithun Dey, who said that I was cut out to render Nazrul songs. But before I could become his pupil, he passed away. His son, Sanjib Dey became my mentor, and he still is.”

“I am recognised for my singing talent and I know my biggest fan: my mother. The reason I say this is because when she was 60, she was supposed to have a surgery. She urged the doctor not to operate on her because her scheduled operation clashed with my show 'On Air'. The doctor came up to me and told me that when a person becomes a celebrity, they come across a lot of fans. But for a mother to be her daughter's fan is the greatest gift and blessing an artiste can have.”