 She was the recipient of the Ekushey Padak in 1992 and Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for the film "Chhutir Phande" (1990).Rahmatullah was born on 2 January 1952 as Shahnaz Begum in Dhaka to M Fazlul Haq and Asiya Haq.Actor Zafar Iqbal and music director Anwar Parvez were Rahmatullah's brothers.