New Delhi: Bhuban Badyakar, the peanut seller from West Bengal who sang the viral ‘Kacha Badam’ song, is now performing at plush bars in Kolkata.
Badyakar was seen last week performing live in Kolkata’s Someplace Else pub in Park Street. Wearing a glitzy jacket and a new rockstar avatar, Badyakar looked unlike his usual self.
A resident of Kuraljuri village of West Bengal’s Birbhum district, Badyakar became an overnight sensation when a YouTube channel called ‘Ektara’ captured a video of him singing the ‘Kacha Badam (raw peanuts)’ song, which synthesises the tunes of Baul, while selling peanuts. Over the span of two months, the video has clocked in over 21 million views.
In the original video, Badyakar can be seen selling peanuts in exchange for small trinkets and broken household items. The lyrics of the Bangla song that says ‘paer chura, hather bala, thake jodi city gold er chain, diye jaben, tate shoman shoman badam paben‘ roughly translates to ‘if you have anklets, bangles, imitation chains, then you can give them to me, I will give you equal portions of peanuts’. The words express the essence of his livelihood.
The video gained a lot of traction and was picked up by singer and musician Nazmu Reachat who made a peppy remix of the song. Soon after, it became a viral trend on various social media platforms.
From a Korean mother-daughter duo to internet sensation Kili Paul, everyone was seen grooving to the beats of Badyakar’s song. It also became the most trending song of 2021.
Praised by West Bengal Police
Many netizens have, however, also raised concerns about his poor financial condition. He was earning Rs 250 a day selling peanuts.
In December last year, Badyakar had filed a complaint at a local police station about him not getting any remuneration for his original creation.
He has since bagged an offer of Rs 3 lakh from Godhulibela Music, one of the music bands that had first remixed his original song. He was also praised for his talent by the West Bengal Police.
In another recent viral video posted by Bengali actor Neil Bhattacharya Saturday, Badyakar was seen in a fancy suit and dancing to his song with a group of people. The video has been liked by over 17 lakh social media users.
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