Singer-politician Babul Supriyo says he views music as the “charger” that fuels his ambition and allows him to give back to the society through politics.

Supriyo described himself as a “mobile phone that only functions when fully charged with music”.

“That's (music) my charger, my inspiration, motivation, and my better half. But I say that with the passion that music creates inside of me, the ambition that it ignites in me, the aspirations that it excites me with,” the veteran singer-politician told PTI.

Despite the demands of his political career, Supriyo, a TMC leader and Rajya Sabha member, continues to nurture his love for music through practice.

"I cannot separate these two sides of me, they complement each other. And responsibility is something that I really, really love,” he said, adding, he rather prefers calling himself a “public representative” than a “politician”.

“Politics is something that I'm giving back to the people. The love, the earnings and everything that I earn from music. You don't sing for 24 hours, people sit and watch OTT, movies, I read files, understanding different things, taking good decisions, and make them happen on the ground, gives me a lot of satisfaction. So, politics is an extension of my responsible self,” Supriyo added.

The 55-year-old singer-politician entered politics in 2014 and got a ticket to contest the Lok Sabha elections for the BJP from West Bengal. In 2021, he joined TMC.

Supriyo said that between 2014 and 2021, his musical side felt like a “showroom with its shutters closed” and credits West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for giving him the liberty to embrace his musical identity again.

He is thrilled about his own latest song, ‘Inteha Ho Gayi Intezar Ki’, a remix version of the 1984 song from Amitabh Bachchan-starrer movie, “Sharaabi”. The original song was composed by Bappi Lahiri and sung by Kishore Kumar.

“I was not far away from playback singing, I was in a field where the perception was that singing led to politics. And then you become a minister and people think, 'Will he sing or not?' Perception becomes king,” Supriyo, who had sung ‘Qayde Se’ for Anurag Basu’s “Metro…In Dino”, and ‘Sarphiri’ for Imtiaz Ali's “Laila Majnu”, said.

“So, the songs have been there, obviously, it was not constant. People tend to forget you. But I’m feeling good as my Chief Minister Mamata didi has given me the liberty to sing. So, I'm doing both the things and it's keeping myself happy and I feel I'm at the best part of my career. My daughter calls it, ‘Babul 2.0’. I'm in a very good space mentally.” Speaking about Lahiri and Kumar, Supriyo said the late composer is like a family, while he considers legendary actor-singer as his mentor.

“Da, he is like family. He gave me my first break in Bollywood. My relation with Kishore da is like Dronacharya and Eklavya. I saw his shows when I was a kid but never met him. I learned singing by listening to him,” he said.

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