Singer Bhuban Badyakar will exactly be able to tell you at this point, what does overnight fame feel like. His Bengali song Kacha Badam, premiered a few months ago in the last week of December, and has been raking up views and hits that only social media virality can provide.
An unlikely artist with unexpected fate
Punjabi singers, one after the other, have long been the toast of Bollywood and music industry in India, in general. Their appearance, like their formulas for hit tracks remain pretty much the same. Anyway it's easier to introduce a jacket-clad, brash youngster on a speeding car.
Badyakar, however in his humble clothes and a tilak on the forehead, is nothing that fits into the image of a music artiste who collaborates with rappers. His background is even further removed from the music industry. Badyakar, the creator of the song, is a resident of Birbhum district in West Bengal.
Before Youtube happened, he used to sell peanuts in exchange for old and broken items. An occupation that never fetched enough money to feed his family of five; which includes his wife, two sons and a daughter. The peanuts only fetched the proverbial peanuts; as his income from selling them at faraway villages only amounted to Rs 250 on a good day. After selling anywhere between 3 to 4 kgs of peanuts every day, he'd receive broken household items in a barter system.
Life as he knows it
Initially after a few days of Kacha Badam's premiere on Youtube, he'd be selling more and more of peanuts. Till it reached a point where he doesn't need to do that anymore. In an interview to AajTak Bangla, he admittedly is wallowing in all the money, attention and appreciation coming his way.
"I want to be one of you, now that I am here. I want to remain an artiste. I have become a celebrity now. If I go out selling peanuts as a celebrity, I will have to face humiliation," he said in the interview. Ultimately, he stopped going out to sell peanuts, as fame got in the way. "My neighbours told me not to go out, lest someone kidnaps me!"
It's not just Bhuban, but the sudden fame has affected his family too in a positive motivating manner. "My son keeps telling me about the new versions of the song that keep coming up on social media everyday." Live gig invitations have just begun to roll in. He recently even performed at a five-star hotel in Kolkata. To go with the venue, his looks changed too. Badyal was dressed in a blingy jacket, tee and jeans.
Fame begets more fame
Every single day, a new version comes up and the views go up by several thousands. Currently, on Youtube, Kacha Badam stands at over 70 million views and counting by the day. Recently, actress Darshana Banik, heard that Badyakar was performing live at a Kolkata eatery, she reportedly left a wedding to make an Instagram reel with the singer on song Kacha Badam.
His less than humble abode caught as much attention as his music. Partly because of which he has also been felicitated by the West Bengal Police. Badyakar has also received Rs 3 lakh from Godhulibela Music, the label which sponsored and remixed his original song. For him, life has truly begun and he just started living it.
