TRAB to honour Bashir Ahmed, Syed Abdul Hadi and Jewel Aich with lifetime awards

The Television Reporters Unity of Bangladesh (TRAB) will honour three towering figures of Bangladeshi music and performance at the 36th TRAB Business, CSR and Cultural Awards 2025, recognising lives devoted to artistic excellence across generations.

Late playback singer Bashir Ahmed will receive a posthumous honour, while legendary vocalist Syed Abdul Hadi and iconic magician Jewel Aich will be conferred lifetime achievement awards.

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The ceremony will be held on February 15 at the Crystal Ballroom of Hotel InterContinental in Shahbagh, Dhaka. The event will also feature a large-scale cultural programme and awards across finance, industry, commerce, cinema, television, music and journalism.

Bashir Ahmed remains one of the most refined voices in South Asian playback singing. Born into a family originally from Delhi, he trained in Kolkata under Ustad Belayet Hossain before moving to Mumbai, where he received classical training from the legendary Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. He began his career singing for Urdu films and quickly earned acclaim for his emotional depth and classical command.

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His song “Jab Tum Akele Hoge Hum Yaad Aayenge” became widely popular in Pakistan, cementing his reputation beyond borders. He also collaborated with celebrated singer Talat Mahmood in the film “Talash”. Bashir Ahmed passed away at his Mohammadpur residence on April 19, 2014. He won the National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer in 2003 for “Kokhono Megh Kokhono Brishti” and was awarded the Ekushey Padak in 2005.

Syed Abdul Hadi, born on July 1, 1940, in Shahpur village of Kasba upazila in Brahmanbaria, is widely regarded as one of the defining voices of Bangladeshi patriotic and film music. With a career spanning more than five decades, his songs have shaped the emotional vocabulary of multiple generations.

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He has won several National Film Awards for playback singing, including for “Golapi Ekhon Train-e” (1978), “Sundori” (1979), “Kosai” (1980), “Goriber Bou” (1990) and “Khoma” (1992). Among his most iconic performances is the song “Aaul Baul Lalon-er Deshe Michael Jackson Elo Re” from the film “Dhaka 86”, which remains culturally resonant decades later.

Jewel Aich, born Gouranga Lal Aich on April 10 in Barishal, spent his childhood in Samudaykathi village of Swarupkathi upazila in Pirojpur. His fascination with magic began early after witnessing performances by members of a Bede troupe. That curiosity deepened when he saw a magician’s throat-cutting illusion performed by the Banaripara Circus.

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His passion intensified after encountering the magic of Sirajganj-based magician Abdur Rashid and reading the folktales of Bande Ali Mia. Over time, Aich trained under various mentors and developed a distinctive performance language that brought magic into mainstream popular culture in Bangladesh.

Among his most celebrated illusions are turning paper into dollars, driving a car blindfolded, and reattaching severed limbs—acts that have astonished audiences at home and abroad.