Legendary Bangladeshi film director, producer, lyricist, screenwriter and music director Gazi Mazharul Anwar was declared dead at a hospital in Dhaka on Sunday morning.
He was 79.
‘Gazi Mazharul Anwar fell sick while going to washroom at home. He was rushed to United Hospitals where the doctors pronounced him dead at about 6:15pm,’ filmmaker Shohanoor Rahman Sohan told.
He said that the late filmmaker’s body was kept at the United Hospitals mortuary and that he would be buried after his daughter’s return from abroad on Monday.
He was born on February 22, 1943 in Cumilla in the then Bengal Presidency of British India.
Mazharul started his career as a lyricist in the Dhallywood film industry in 1965. He wrote songs for Zahir Raihan's films, including Kacher Dewal (1965), Behula (1966), and Dui Bhai (1968).
He wrote screenplays for multiple films, including Urdu songs for Urdu-language films.
He earned the Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Lyricist a record six times for the films Tit for Tat (1992), Ajante (1996), Churiwala (2001), Lal Dariya (2002), Kokhono Megh Kokhono Brishti (2003) and Meyeti Ekhon Kothay Jabe (2016). He worked as a lyricist in the "Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra". He was awarded Ekushey Padak in 2002 and Independence Day Award in 2021.
His songs include ‘Joy Bangla Banglar Joy’, ‘Ek Nodi Rokto Periye’, ‘Swajan Harano Diner Smarane’, ‘Ektara Tui Desher Kotha’, ‘Bondhu Tor Barat Niya’, ‘chokher nozor emni koira’, ‘Ekbar Jete Dena’, ‘Amay Jodi Prosno Koro Kolokakolir Desh’, ‘Jodi amake dekhte sadh hoy’, ‘Ei Prithibir Pore’, ‘Prosno Koro Na’, ‘Koto Sadhonay Emon Bhagyo Mele’, ‘Jibon Amar Dhonyo Holo’, ‘Hayre Hay Miss Lanka’, ‘Ganeri Khatay Swarolipi Likhe’, ‘Bazare Jachai Kore Dekhinito Daam’, ‘Amar Buker Modhyekhane’, ‘O Amar Roshiya Bondhure’, ‘Ogo Chand Ora Bole’ and ‘Tandrahara Noyono Amar’.
