Paldum, Hanka

1956-1971: The Early Years and the Family

Hanka Paldum was born in the city of Chayniche in eastern Bosnia in a family of Bosnians - Muslims Muyo and Pemba ^{[2] [3]} . She has an older brother Mustafa and two sisters, Raza and Rasem. Her father was a lumberjack and her mother wove carpets. Hanka as the eldest daughter in the family began to help her mother with housework at the age of five. When Paldum was seven years old, her family moved to Vratnik, a suburb of Sarajevo. ^[4] .

Paldum began singing in first grade as part of a choir in her elementary school. At the age of twelve, Hanka began to sing at events of the Brotherhood cultural association, in which her brother Mustafa was a member. She took part in various amateur singing competitions, which she often won. Her father believed that she should make a career that brings a steady income, but nonetheless, Hanka decided to become a professional singer.

1972-1978: Radio Sarajevo, first recordings and marriage

Paldum auditioned for Sarajevo’s radio and began taking vocal lessons. After two years of hard work, she made her first recordings for the Sarajevo radio archive. These were Sevdalinki - traditional Bosnian love city songs. Her first record was an old Sevdalin “Moj behare”. She continued to record songs and recorded over a hundred sevdalinkas for the radio archive.

Paldum recorded and released her first mini-album in 1973 at the age of seventeen, when producer and composer Miyat Bozovic offered her a collaboration to record two singles “Ljubav žene” and “Burmu ću tvoju nositi” together with the Sarajevo National Radio and Television Orchestra. She recorded five more mini-albums over the course of two years before releasing her debut studio album, Voljela sam oči nevjerne, on February 13, 1974.

In 1975, Hanka won first place at the Pjevamo danu mladosti festival of amateur singers with the song “Pokraj puta rodila jabuka” written by Miyat Bozovic. They continued their collaboration, and soon Bozovic wrote for her the song “Voljela sam oči zelene”, which in several months became a hit and for a long time remained a crown song in the repertoire of Hanki. After the success of “Voljela sam oči zelene”, she acted as a debutant at the festival in Ilidze with the song “Ja te pjesmom zovem”. This song also became a big hit.

Hanka met her first husband Muradif Brikich when he studied literature at Sarajevo University , while she was in high school. After three or four months of friendship, they began to meet. They got married shortly after he graduated from university in the late 1970s. Soon after, he was called up for service in the Yugoslav People’s Army , and Hanka set off on her first big Yugoslav tour with Meho Puzic.

From her first husband, she had two children: daughter Minela and son Mirzad ^[5] .

Hanka began to sing in many elite places in Sarajevo along with Omer Pobrich, a talented and popular accordionist , and thereby received a vocal and performing experience.

1979-1982: Voljela sam, voljela , Čežnja, and Sanjam albums

In 1979, her husband finished military service. Then he and Hanka and Braco Herlo founded a record company called Sarajevo Disk. They signed a contract with the rock band Vatreni Poljubac, which was led by Milic Vukashinovich. Hearing Milic’s song “Volio sam volio”, Muradif recommended recording this song to Hanke. She recorded her version of the song in the "home studio", owned by producer and ethno-pop composer Nicole Borot-Radovan. Their meeting played an important role in her career. Hankey's interpretation of the song "Voljela sam, voljela" in 1978 won the audience, more than a million copies were sold; the audience loved her, and music critics praised her. Hanka gained recognition throughout Yugoslavia and was invited to perform with concerts. She has also won many awards.

The following year, she recorded another single, "Odreću se I srebra I zlata". At the same time, she was preparing a full-length studio album called Srebro i zlato , named after the song. Along with Milich Vukashinovich, the main songwriter, there were other famous names from the world of Yugoslav folk, pop and rock music: Goran Bregovich, Nikola Borota-Radovan, Bodo Kovachevich, Miyat Bozhovich, Blagoy Kosanin.

With the song “Voljela sam, voljela” and the album Čežnja (1980), Hanka combined folk and rock music. Her work was poorly received by music critics, composers and colleagues. They said that her music undermined traditional folk music. Despite this, the Čežnja album appealed to the majority of the public; more than a million copies were sold. In 1982, she released the Sanjam album, whose main songwriter was Milich Vukashinovich. This album brought Hank even greater success.

1983-1991: Southni Vetar band, touring and acting

Hanka began her tour, and for the first time in folk music, concerts were held at large sports arenas throughout Yugoslavia. In Belgrade, in the “House of Syndicate”, she held 14 full-time recital concerts in seven days. Almost every song in her new album became a hit, especially the title track “Sanjam”, the hit “Ja te volim”, as well as “Ljubav je radost i bol” and “Voljeni moj”. She received many state music awards and won several music festivals. During this period, production companies fought for the rights to her new songs. Hanka, with the help of her husband Muradif, decided to cooperate with the Belgrade-based Yugopisk. It is believed that the bonus she received from Yugopisk was the highest in Yugoslavia. In 1983, she released the album Dobro došli prijatelji , again teaming up with songwriter Milich Vukashinovich.

Her next album, Tebi ljubavi, was released in 1984 and was a great success. The songs were written by Michaud Markovich. The album’s biggest hit was the ballad “Ali pamtim još”.

In 1985, together with composer Miodrag Ilic and the Southern Vetar ensemble, she recorded the album Nema kajanja . He became one of the most successful albums of the year.

The next time she returned to collaboration with Milich Vukashinovich in 1986 and recorded the album Bolno srce , which included many hits, including the title track “Bolno srce”. For this album, she also recorded a sevdalink called “Sjećaš li se djevo bajna” with accordionist Milorad Todorovic.

She had a cameo in the film by Benjamin Filipovich "Holiday in Sarajevo" (1991) in a scene with Emir Hadzhihafizbegovich.

Paldum married a second time to Fuad Hamzic. This marriage also ended in divorce.

1992-2008: The collapse of Yugoslavia, the albums Nek 'je od srca and Žena kao žena

When Yugoslavia broke up and wars began , Paldum spent this time in Sarajevo from 1992 to 1995.

She collaborated with Khayrudin Vareshanovich , the lead singer of the band “ Hari Mata Hari ”, on the 1999 album Nek 'je od srca . Together they recorded the hit “Crni snijeg” together. The ballad “Svaka rijeka moru stići će” was named by the radio stations “the best song of the year”.

In November 2004, she held a big concert in the Zetra Arena , marking three decades of her career. Among the guests were Khalid Beshlich, Alka Vuitsa, Josipa Lizac , Esma Rejepova , Sasha Matich and Milich Vukashinovich.

Subsequently, she continued to record songs such as Žena kao žena, Što da ne, Sarajevo and Dođi, which were included in the 2006 studio album Žena kao žena under the Hayat Production label. The ballad "Mojoj majci" was the biggest hit of this album.

Cinema

• Praznik u Sarajevu (1991)

Television

• Në orët e vona (1982)
• Nad lipom 35 (2006)
• Lud, zbunjen, normalan (2009-2012); 2 episodes