Kolkata: ‘Ajeeb dastan’ of out-of-work Bhagwan and his violin – Times of India

Kolkata News
KOLKATA: Violin player Bhagwan Mali, an out-of-work hotel musician who has become an internet sensation for his renditions of Bollywood numbers at Beadon Street and Girish Park crossing, was gifted a new violin by Kolkata Police commissioner Soumen Mitra on Monday. Mali had earlier received financial assistance from the community policing wing of the force.
Earlier on June 21, director Raj Chakraborty had met him in Goabagan after seeing a viral video of him playing ‘Diwana Hua Baadal’ by Asha Bhosle and Mohammed Rafi from the 1964 movie ‘Kashmir ki Kali’ and Lata Mangeshkar’s ‘Ajeeb dastan hai yeh’ from the 1960 movie ‘Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai’ on social media.

Bhagwan Mali, accompanied by his wife Sabita, plays violin at a north Kolkata neighbourhood.

“When I met him, he played two songs from my films. Since he happened to be in the Shyampukur assembly constituency, I got in touch with MLA Sashi Panja. She organized a place for him to stay. He stayed there for a day before Kolkata Police offered help,” Chakraborty said. He plans to give Mali an opportunity to perform in his forthcoming music reality show and if all goes well, even give him a break in one of his forthcoming movies.
Mali, who has so far refused any financial help stating that he will only accept money after performing, has also been provided a roof to stay at Burtolla by the Burtolla police. “We have arranged some performances for him at some of the leading hotels and restaurant chains in the city. He has begun performing for the past one week,” said Tanmoy Roy Chowdhury, additional CP-IV, Kolkata Police.
Mali, who hails from Gujarat but had moved to Malda after a devastating earthquake, used to make a living by performing in hotels and restaurants in Darjeeling and Siliguri. But with hotels shutting down during last year’s lockdown, he lost his earnings. Around the same time, his daughter, married and settled in Kolkata, was at an advanced stage of pregnancy. Ever since his daughter delivered a baby, Mali and his wife have been living on the street as the one room in which their daughter and son-in-law live doesn’t have enough space for them.
“Mali told us that he began performing on the streets to arrange food for himself and his wife. Whatever extra that he saved was spent in buying baby food and fruit for the baby and the mother. However, disaster struck yet again and Mali’s violin got damaged a couple of weeks ago,” said a police officer. That was when Burtolla police — and later the community policing wing — decided to step in.
Burtolla police pooled in money and arranged for his food initially. “An NGO has now been contacted that is arranging food for him with help of the money we raised. Several NGOs and individuals had come forward and visited him. We hope this will be a beginning and others will pitch in. We will not let a talent of Kolkata stay on the streets with financial trouble. This is a city that holds performers like Mali close to its heart,” said a top official at Lalbazar.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/ajeeb-dastan-of-out-of-work-bhagwan-and-his-violin/articleshow/83965691.cms