The Dhaka band was created from the debut edition of singing competition ‘Sunsilk Divas’
O
n a humid after-
noon in a verdant
and somewhat posh
part of Dhaka, four women
in traditional attire step out
of a car and into a confer-
ence room. In addition to
being dressed in fusion wear,
they’re all sporting what
looks like one strand of their
in a colorful braid.
Later during our interview,
singer Shunanda Sharmin
tells us that as winners of
singing competition Sunsilk
Divas (which concluded in
April), they could have as well
chosen a “fancy English or
French name.” She says, “Or
you can choose something
that actually represents our
culture.” Of course it’s evident
that the name Laisfita – a
hair ribbon worn by young
girls, usually in rural Bangla-
desh – works well with a hair-
care sponsor. But Shunanda
says, “We want to reintroduce
our own culture in a way.”
Along with Shunanda,
Laisfita – modeled as Bang-
ladesh’s first female profes-
sional pop group – includes
singers Antora Rahman, Fer-
dousi Moumita and Mustarin
Ahmed Sheetal. It takes a
while to break the ice, but if
there’s one thing the group is
excited about, it’s putting out
music. As winners of Sunsilk
Divas, they’ve received
money, phones and a contract
with Sony DADC. Plus, a
promise of being involved in
a Bollywood song. Sheetal is
excited about being involved
with that last one. “I love
Bollywood music, especially
item songs,” she says with a
wide smile.While Sunsilk Divas
attracted initial ire from
viewers for not picking guitar-
ist-singer Samira Binte Fahi-
an, Rabeth Khan – the man-
aging director of inceptors
Creinse Limited – points out
that Samira’s flair as a rock
artist was limiting the scope
for putting together a diverse
band. Khan is all praise for
Samira, but he adds, “The
only problem was, she was
a bit of an introvert and her
only skillset is rock.”The women of Laisfita – all
in their 20s – were picked
among 20 finalists who were
shortlisted for the show based
on audio submissions. In the
course of a few weeks of tele-
vised episodes, they were up
for scrutiny and feedback from
Bangladesh’s top musicians
such as celebrated singer Alif
Alauddin, vocalist Sharmin
Sultana Sumi (from rock band
Chirkutt), composer-singer
Hridoy Khan and Zohad Reza
Chowdhury from rock band
Nemesis. Alauddin says, “We
didn’t have much disagree-
ments. The contestants, when
they made mistakes, it was
pretty obvious to all of us. We
all registered that, but still we
had our favorites.”
When asked about their
background in music, itbecomes quickly evident
that the girls in Laisfita had
been picked for their diverse
influences. Shunanda has a
way with international pop,
Sheetal loves Bollywood
but also says her strength is
singing Bangla folk songs.
Antora grew up singing
folk songs too, but specif-
ically mentions Rabindra
Sangeet and Moumita first
trained in classical vocals
as a child, with her mother
as her first teacher. But forSunsilk Divas, they were in
the deep end when it came to
singers with folk backgrounds
being assigned pop music and
others being given duets to
prepare in about two or three
days for forthcoming rounds.
Antora says, “In a band
setting, I was singing songs
in school (competitions) but
the English songs and even
patriotic songs – those were
new for me. Remembering
the lyrics to a completely new
song and do it well, in front
of the judges that too, was the
most challenging.”
In turn, now that they’ve
won and are on their way to
challenge a few stereotypes
about women musicians in
Bangladesh and South Asia.
There have been all-female
pop bands in the country be-fore – Khan points out Blue
Birds in the Eighties and
Angels in the Nineties – but
judges like Sharmin Sultana
Sumi says the music industry
never focused specifically
towards women talent. “I
would like to see them as
leaders in their own fields,
who are creative, committed
and encouraging to each
other and the whole country,”
she says of Laisfita. Moumita
adds, “There’s a culture in
our country – if she’s a girl,she has to wear a sari and she
has to sing classical music.
Girls can sing pop and rock,
these are the main kinds of
music in our country.”
While Creinse is working
regularly to bring down
international talent to the
country – they had Canadi-
an pop-rock veteran Bryan
Adams stop by in 2011 and
later, seasoned pop artist
Richard Marx in 2017 –
this is the first time they’re
managing a band’s sonic and
visual identity. They have
the right people on board,
like Creinse’s chief operating
officer Kaiz Faisal Ahmed
(a recent inductee into the
country’s biggest rock band,
Artcell) and the band man-
ager is Ashikur Rahman, who
runs a record label and rapsunder the moniker Franklin
Tra’vious.
Khan adds, “The band is
absolutely fresh and new and
we’re trying to shape them up.
The music industry is ruthless.
They seldom give spaces to
newcomers. These are things
we understand and that’s why
we’d like well-wishers and
people who give them that
support, provided they put
out good work.” Currently, the
four women are only singing
while the songwriting is being
taken care of. Shunanda says,
“We don’t want to jeopardize
whatever our composers are
coming up with. They have a
theme and lyrics. If I’m not
sure of the idea, we will not
interfere.”
Their debut pop-rock
song, “Swapno Akhon Amar
Haatey” is a jumpy, heady
mix featuring an inspirational
message and is composed by
Hridoy Khan. Shunanda says
it’s about having a positive
influence, even if the journey
to it is an emotional one. “If
you watch something on TV
or read something online,
you’re often left with an empty
feeling. We want every song to
leave on a positive note, even if
it’s talking about sad stories.”
Laisfita is on a two-year
contract with Sony DADC to
release material and the girls
are fully aware of that it’s not
the biggest window in this
fast-paced music world where
singles get viral attention
and then quickly fade away.
Moumita says, “We’ve just
started our journey so there’s
a lot of things to think about.
We’ll do something inshallah.”
ANURAG TAGATMeet Bangladesh’s New
Female Pop Group Laisfita
July 2019 | Rolling Stone | 31
“I would like to see them [Laisfita]
as leaders in their own fields,
who are creative, committed and
encouraging,” says ‘Sunsilk Divas’
judge Sharmin Sultana Sumi.