Babul Supriyo

Some Lesser Known Facts About Babul Supriyo

• He was born and brought up in Uttarapara (a small town on the banks of the Hooghly river) in a Bengali family having traditional roots in music. He was highly influenced by his grandfather Banikantha NC Baral (a Bengali composer and vocalist). He learned all the basics of music from his grandfather.

• During his schooling at Don Bosco Liluah School, he won the titles of ‘All India Don Bosco Music Champion’ (1983) and ‘The Most Enriching Talent’ (1985).

• He participated in several inter-school and inter-college music competitions and won many of them. He had also performed on Doordarshan and All India Radio.

• After completing his college in 1991, he got a job in the Standard Chartered Bank. He worked with the bank for a short period and then, located to Mumbai in 1992 to make his career in Bollywood.

• After landing up in Mumbai, Kalyanji (Music Director & Composer), gave him his first break and chose him to perform in foreign live shows. He changed his name to Babul Supriyo from Babul Supriyo Baral after he entered the entertainment industry.

• He toured the USA and Canada in 1993 with Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan to perform live shows.

• He also toured the US with a veteran singer Asha Bhosle in 1997 and 1999.

• He sang many songs and did several shows, but he rose to fame as a playback singer in 2000 after he sang “Dil Ne Dil Ko Pukara” in the debut movie of Hrithik Roshan “Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai.”

• His other famous Bollywood hits are ‘Hum Tum’ (Hum Tum), ‘Pari Pari Hai Ek Pari’ (Hungama), ‘Chanda Chamke’ (Fanna), and more.

• Later, he sang the opening theme songs for Balaji Telefilms. In 2011, he performed in famous Powai Sarvajanin Durgotsav of Mumbai. During his music career, he has done playback singing in almost 11 languages.

• Apart from singing, he has also worked as an actor in various movies including Mr. Joe B. Carvalho (2014).

  

• Being an avid admirer of Narendra Modi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, he joined BJP in March 2014.

  

• Later, in an interview, he told the media, “I had never dreamt of becoming a politician. Once, I met Baba Ramdev on a flight. He is a very funny person. The Lok Sabha candidature was being announced at that time, and he was holding a list of the BJP candidates. I jokingly asked him to put my name on it to represent BJP from West Bengal, and I assured him that I would win. He thought I was kidding. After a week, I got a call from him to check if I was serious. I told him that I’m very lucky; I won’t lose. That’s how it all started. But I have taken my duties as a minister very seriously. Whatever portfolio is handed to be me I will try to fulfill the responsibilities with utmost sincerity.”

• On 9 November 2014, he was inducted as the Union Minister of State and became the youngest minister in the Narendra Modi Cabinet.

  

• In 2015, in MTV Coke Studio Season 4, he sang a song “I wanna fly,” along with his daughter Sharmilee Supriyo.

• On 12 July 2016, his position was updated to Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.

• In 2017, Praful Patel (President of the All India Football Federation) announced Supriyo’s appointment as the Vice President of U-17 World Cup Organising Committee on Twitter.