Beautiful and fashionable music diva Shakila Zafar is performing today at the Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre at 6:30pm. As seasoned singer Shakila received training on classical music from Ustad Yasin Khan from her early years and, later she took lessons on Nazrul Giti from Ustad Mithun Dey.
The versatile singer is expertise both in contemporary and traditional genre and can keep a crowd well interested with her lively performance onstage. Dhaka Tribune recently caught up with the artiste:
Your first appearance in the music arena was singing a song on astrology. Do you believe in astrology?
I was very young, when I performed the theme song of astrology “Jodi Kichu Mone Na Koren.” It was popular among the audience. During that time, people asked me about their zodiacs, and it was fun to interpret their zodiacs and I felt like an astrologer. I am a Pieces, my zodiac says that I am a softy, friendly, emotional, practical, balanced and religious minded. I agree to my zodiac, which goes with my personality. In the song “Jodi Kichu Mone Na Koren,” it is said that Pieces go well with Cancer, and I believe so, I am very compatible with Cancers.
Which genre makes you feel free? Contemporary or traditional?
I started my career singing “Kheyaal” songs with the instrument tanpura. At the time, the trend of modernity and the demand of contemporary songs were quite high. Therefore, I also started singing modern songs, which I liked as well. However, singing “Kheyaal” is always close to my heart. I shall continue practicing it more and more, and later on I will get back to my roots by performing “Kheyaal.”
As a veteran artist, give your suggestion to the young singers: In my view, I would say a potential singer needs to be musically institutionalised, and be committed and honest towards singing. If given enough effort, I believe an artist’s talent will never go unnoticed. There is always room for improvement and only by practicing music would a singer stand out and make an impression to the audience. Also, it is important for an artist to be humble and a smiling visage is always loved by people.
Tell us about your performance today at IGCC:
I would say that the audiences of IGCC are true music lovers. They attend the show not only for listening to music, but also to cherish it. The crowd appreciates the art of music and gives value to it. The programmes are always conducted in a homely atmosphere. It makes me comfortable to sing my preferred songs at IGCC. I thank Ankaan Baneerjee, director of IGCC, for the immense effort by creating cultural bonding between two countries.
My choices today are to sing Nazrul Geeti, classical and modern songs, and the unreleased pieces from my new album which is on the way. I will give special preference to the audience’s popular choice.
How do you make your performance lively?
In general, all the singers emphasise on the audience’s preference. Whenever I perform, I am always aware about the kind of songs the audience wants to listen, and according to that I perform. I believe that the audiences are my guest, I warmly welcome them and interact with my listeners in between my performance. I also explain the lyrics of my songs and share my experience and ask them how they liked it. That is how I try to make my performance lively.