To be launched tomorrow at the Kolkata Literary Meet here, 'Anant' has eight songs such as 'Tum Kaisey', 'Tumhey Janoo', 'Ghanghor', 'Aisa Tumhara Prem', 'Sakhi Prem' among others.
Produced by Baithak Records, the songs are sung by Sangeeta Datta while young Sarod maestro Soumik Datta has set the tune.
"I have been as loyal to the text as possible. I don't know Bengali but the meaning of each and every line was explained to me by Sangeeta. Only after knowing the meaning completely I would write," Akhtar said.
Recalling that, Akhtar said the positive response for his translation encouraged him to cut a new album.
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"The meaning can be translated but not the history and traditions. Verbatim translations cannot be good because the translator needs to find which word will evoke the same feeling and the same nostalgia," Akhtar said adding that the translator needs to know both the languages very well.
Stating that all indigenous languages are in danger, he said literature is created and nurtured by the middle class.
"Because of economic pressure and so-called globalisation, the middle class people are sending their children to English medium schools. As a result, vernacular language has been left only to the slums and to the poorest of the poor," he said.