Renowned singer Subir Nandi died at a hospital in Singapore early Tuesday.He was 66.
He breathed his last around 4:30am, said Dr Samanta Lal Sen, chief coordinator of National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery, who also supervised his treatment. His body will be brought to Dhaka this morning by a Regent Airways flight scheduled to land at 6:10am.
Subir’s 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.
It will be later taken to Ramkrishna Mission. The cremation will take place at Bardeshwari Kali Temple and crematorium at noon.
The Ekushey Padak winner was taken to Singapore on April 30 at Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s direction, two weeks after he was admitted to Combined Military Hospital following a heart attack.
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 recorded his first song in 1972. It was written by Mohammed Muzakker and composed by Ustad Mir Kashem.
Since then, he sang notable songs like “Tumi Emoni Jaal Petecho Shongshare”,”Amar Ei Duti Chokh Pathor To Noi”,”Ek Je Chilo Sonar Konna”, and “O Amar Ural Ponkhire”, among 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.
Subir Nandi won Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer five times for ‘Mahanayak’ (1984), ‘Shuvoda’ (1986), ‘Srabon Megher Din’ (1999), ‘Megher Pore Megh’ (2004) and ‘Mohua Sundori’ (2015).
His illustrious career also earned him the Ekushey Padak, Bangladesh’s second-highest civilian award, in 2019.
President Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, among others, expressed their deep shock and condolence at the singer’s death.
