Chat with Babul Supriyo

Gauri: Welcome to Foundations TV everybody. Our guest is very special today, the one and only Babul Supriyo. Welcome to Foundations TV, Namaskar. So happy to have you here in Boston. Welcome to Boston.

Babul: Pleasure. I have been here before and everytime I come back to Boston it looks new with colors on the trees

Gauri: Yes, this is a good time of the year. Is this your first time in the fall here? Have you seen the colors before?

Babul: No, I’ve been coming here. Infact my first ever show, the first city in which I performed in America, that was way back in 1993, when I had toured with Amitab Bachhan. So the first show was in 1993 and I don’t know how 20 years have passed by. The only sign I see in the mirror is probably a little bit of gray hair

Gauri: Oh no, you don’t look 20 years older, you look 20 years younger. I was very impressed when I saw you for the first time today. I have seen your pictures but when I saw you, I was like, Oh My God, He is even better looking than his pictures.

Babul: Well , It might sound flattering but I will take a little time to accept that compliment and then I will get back to you.

Gauri: No No truly, so does this bring back any memories with Bachhan ji. Can you relate some memorable incidents that come to your mind, coming back to Boston?

Babul: Absolutely. Every time I leave the Logan airport, and the car oozes past the Boston Downtown, I can see the hotel in which we stayed. I am a small town guy from the outskirts of Calcutta, Kolkata, rather in India now, worked in a standard bank. I come from a musical family, so I have learnt music. My grandfather is N.C. Baral, a very famous composer. But then like a very cliché, only son does, I got a job in the bank, but realized that music was one quality that was given to me by nature or God for free. I wanted to pursue that so I had a fight with my entire family including my dad, left my job, and just ran away to Bombay. So, coming back to the question, why I am saying all this is because, I came to Boston in October 1992, and two months prior to that, I still remember the name of the cinema hall. It is called ‘Paradise’ in esplanade , I had seen a show which was Bachhan saab’s performance in London. It was picturized and released as a movie.vIt was called ‘Jumma Chumma in London’ and we all had watched that movie. My friends and I went from the bank to watch the movie and we saw the magnanimity of a live show and how a show can be so grand and how can there be so much of grandeur and you know 6 months from that 1993 , March, Kalyanji Anand Ji, after I got a chance to meet them and sing for them , they chose me ahead of a lot of other people for that tour. So, in 6 months , I was there from paradise cinema hall watching the movie and thinking what it was, never did I know that that in just 6 months of time, Life would throw such a big surprise to me. Boston does bring a lot of great memories for me. My first camera clicking of Bachhan saab performing on stage was here. I was really a kiddo, looking at a star in his every right, standing next to him, breathing the same air as him . It was huge. And the euphoria is something unique, like when you get your first bicycle, that euphoria is something. You might get a Q3 or a Bugatti in your life, but you can never match that euphoria.

Gauri: Absolutely. This is such a beautiful story. It got me flowing with it too . It was so nice. And there was no stopping from there on. You’ve been performing live, been a playback singer , been every where, singing old songs, new songs , and doing so many other things as well so that’s a fantastic journey

Babul: As they say, life begins at 40 , so I’ve just crossed 40 and I am on the other side of it . I’m 41. There is famous quote by George Bernard Shaw, ”Youth is wasted in the young”. Now that I have gained this 20 years of experience, I am trying to go back to what he said. But wait, I still didn’t accept the compliment you gave me…(Laughing) I try to make myself a little more fit, more agile because I think that the experience that I have got in the last 20 years is something that I can really use now and ‘caterpil’ myself in the next orbit instead of just being spoon fed, going to the studio, singing a song and then traveling the world, doing shows, making money etc.. I want to do something a little more worth while. Singing is what gave me this platform mentally and to think in this manner. Now I  have the experience now and from here, I can take it a little forward probably. I hope that life throws in afew more surprises for me.

Gauri: Absolutely. I’m sure . I can feel that you are following your heart and it’s not just about what the need of the market is but you’re doing what you want to do, what you like to do, that’s what you’re doing right now.

Babul: Need of the market is very important, I would say.  Because you don’t want to make albums or do films that don’t do commercially well. They do go hand in hand. But it is very important to find a path in life because otherwise it is the same thing over and over again. You just keep performing , and keep on singing in different parts of the world. You get paid and life gets into a cozy area and you don’t want to move away from it. So, I want to bring the euphoria of the struggle back. I want to do a few new things. I am not saying what they are. If they unfold, if I meet success then that is something that is definitely going to be on screen so lets wait and see.

Gauri: excellent. That’s a great message that you just shared , ‘come out of your comfort zone, and that’s where life begins’. So, our audiences would certainly like to know what other things you are doing besides singing. I know singing is a huge attraction to all of us in Boston here, specially tonight for Durga Puja celebrations. But other than that what are you other passions in life. You HAVE to share those with us.

Babul: Singing is what brings me here. Basically , if I have any dreams that I want to follow, if there is anything else larger than life , for my life that is, that I would want to add into my career then it is the singing that I have done in the last 20 years that takes me there. I am a singer first and everything is an extension of that. Whether I get into acting or direction or TV hosting . Actually I have done all of that. ‘K for Kishore’ is a show that I hosted and was very popular in America. People loved that show . And I feel that probably it is not fair to talk about what I’m trying to do in the next few years. (smiling) I would just say that today, in Boston , I really want to throw the best of Babul Supriyo as a singer on stage today because the organizers have been great. They’ve fed me good food..:) and I’ve experienced lot of warmth in the cold Boston weather . I do have a few surprises in store . I hope that the surprises are pleasant enough for the audience.

Gauri: I’m sure they will be. Thank you so much. We are all very very excited. We are all looking forward to your show a lot .

Babul: Thank you so much. I would just like to tell my audience that right now in Mumbai, there is a little bit of a scenario where the regular play back singers, as you may say, the generation that came in after Kumar Shanu, Udit Narayan  and Abhijeet and that era, myself, KK, Sonu, Shaan …we do have lesser songs than what we had may be 3 years back. There is a new wave of finding new voices. And singing is not something that is absolutely required to be a famous singer any more , pun intended, cause we have great softwares that can help you sound great at a studio. The indispensability of a singer has actually reduced. But I would tell my audience that if you’ve ever loved any of the singers for their live performances, for what they’ve sung at the studio, then stick by them because good music never fades away. I have a new solo music album, from Sony music which released in India, just about a week back . It’s called ‘Khushaamdeed’. So, people can go to iTunes and search for Babul Supriyo songs, and you should get that. It is a nice easy flowing song, you’re going to love it.

Gauri: And you also have another one “What the Folk” coming out soon?

Babul: It is already released. See we do sing in a lot of languages. Bengali being my mother tongue, I do sing a lot of Bengali music. In fact the song that I sang with Shreya 2 years back actually one the National award. The film got the National award, the song got the National award. In Bengal, I had released an album, a dance mix of folk songs and a little mischievously I named is “What the Folk” . and it really clicked . It is Number 1 in all the FM stations and commercially as I said is very important, it is selling like hot cakes .

Gauri: Good time for Durga Puja. Congratulations for that . And all the best for tonight .

Babul: Wishing The Foundations TV all the best .

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