Has the time for protest through art and music returned? For those who have seen the now viral video of Hooligaanism’s performance at Biswa Bangla Mela Prangan during Bandstorm 2025, the answer is out.
During their performance, the bangla band, spearheaded by actor-director Anirban Bhattacharya, broke out into a rap-song filled with political satire, targeting three Ghoshs of Bengal’s political scene. The rhymes were funny and well-delivered, bringing applause from the crowd, and they are now garnering even more attention on social media – with several viral videos doing the rounds.
Anirban, who has seen some of his productions halted or disrupted by protests, took no prisoners with this performance, spitting equal fire at the TMC, the BJP and the CPM.
From TMC it was Kunal Ghosh who got a mention, with the lyrics (translated) going: ‘If I say these things in a song, he will get angry. He’ll get angry, Kunal Ghosh will get angry.’
Kunal Ghosh was quick to retort on social media, sharing the same video with a caption that read, ‘Why will I get angry. I rather had fun, I enjoyed listening to this style of a song. Stay well Anirban’
The other people mentioned in the song were Dilip Ghosh from the BJP, whom Bhattacharya called a ‘romantic’ and then went on to slam the BJP leader’s comment – when he said traces of gold can be found in cow’s milk.
The other Ghosh Anirban pounced on was CPM spokesperson Shatarup Ghosh, who came under fire for “travelling in a big car”.
The comment sections of the videos have blown up with some saying they are all for this ‘protest performance’, while others said that Bhattacharya played it safe and didn’t go all out.
“It was very unexpected. To see this kind of protest through music was a breath of fresh air,” said Arnob Ghosh, a graphic designer who watched Hooligaanism live for the first time without any clue of what to expect.
“I just knew Hooligaanism is Anirban’s band but I had no clue that watching them live would be such a stressbuster.”