Anila (singer)

Anila Naz Chowdhury is a semi-professional Bangladeshi singer who started her musical career as a part of the band Kranti. She is best known for her collaborations with Fuad al Muqtadir and her duet album Ekhon Ami with Sumon.

Early Years

Anila was born and raised in Dhaka, Bangladesh and attended Viqarunnisa Noon School and College. In 1999, after finishing her HSC, she left for the United States for pursuing higher studies. She got her bachelor's degree from Mount Holyoke College (MA) and her master's degree from Tufts University (MA) both in Computer Science.

Music career

During her years in the USA, Anila was involved with a number of bands. She was the lead vocalist for a Bengali rock/pop band named Kranti, which was co-founded with music producer Fuad al Muqtadir. The band released its self-titled debut album from G-Series in 2004.

She was also associated with New-England based music group called Amra Kojon and Seattle-based Bengali musical group called Pratidhwani.

Music career

After Kranti disbanded, she collaborated with Fuad for his albums, and has sung at least one song in all of his albums, except one. Among them the most notable is "Ke Bashi Bajay Re". She also introduced singer Topu to Fuad, which led to their album "Bondhu Bhabo Ki".^[1] Fuad's 2015 album "Hit Factory" included her song "Itihaash".^[2][3]

Her duet album Ekhon Ami with Sumon became a top seller in both Bangladesh and India. The songs "Gaibona", Shopnogulo Tomar Moto", "Shobar Jonno Bhabcho Tumi" became chartbusters.^[4] After much delays, its sequel Ekhon Ami-2 is scheduled for a July 2015 release.^[5][6][7]

Live Performances

Anila performs at various international events such as Adhunika's fifth anniversary gala at New York,^[8] Fuad Live at Bangladesh China Friendship Conference Centre, Dhaka in 2008,^[9] Bangladesh Day 2009 at Chicago,^[10] AABEA Biennial Convention 2010, Indo-Bangladesh Concert 2010 by djuice at Dhaka,^[11] Serenity at Markham Theatre, Toronto, 2013, Journey of Hope by Spreeha Foundation at Bellevue, WA in 2015.^[12]

Personal Life and other careers

She had worked for Microsoft Corporation as a software test engineer for couple of years between her universities. After shifting to Bangladesh, she became a lecturer at North South University, Dhaka. She is married to Aniket Ahmed and has three daughters: Ariya, the oldest, Anushey, the middle sister, and Alvina, the youngest. She also has a niece named Ilene Syed.^{[13] [14]}

Discography

References