For Bengali singer Snigdhajit Bhowmik, coming to the finals of the show SaReGaMaPa, meant a chance to live out his dream – a career in music. From his extended family’s reluctance to let him pursue singing, to his qualifying for reality shows, Bhowmik’s journey has been nothing short of a television show itself.
Snigdhajit was born in a joint family in the small city of Buniadpur, West Bengal. His father was mentally disabled, and this invoked taunts from the extended family.
Inspired by his father’s excellent singing, Snigdhajit showed interest in music; but the idea was summarily rejected by his family. They said, “Is ghar mein sangeet nahi hoga.” (“There shall be no music in this house.”) When Snigdhajit’s mother sold her ornaments to buy him a harmonium to practice his singing, the other family members forced him to give it away. Yet, he kept practicing secretly, by singing along to film songs at his neighbours house. To Snigdhajit, Singing came naturally. He would also occasionally do shows around town.
On reaching college, Bhowmik felt a sense of freedom, as the college encouraged his musical talents. That is also where he met his wife Aditi. “We dated for two years, and she constantly encouraged me. She also took care of my parents and me.” While his parents loved Aditi, Aditi’s parents did not approve of the relationship. This forced the couple to elope.
Snigdhajit now decided to take up a job. His first job was 55kms away, being a salesperson. This fetched him 3,500 rupees. While this Job helped them financially, after accompanying Snigdhajit through his workday, Aditi decided she would take up a job instead, and let Snigdhajit pursue music.
Because the extended family didn’t approve of his career in music, and Snigdhajit refused to back down, the family cut ties with his parents, his wife, and him.
After performing at an event for a club, Snigdhajit had certain contacts that landed a steady job at a bar in Kolkata. He’d sing from 7 in the evening till 4 in the morning. Even though singing for long hours started taking a toll on his voice, the job fetched him 21,000, and so his family back home was well taken care of. With a friends’ help, he also learnt DJ-ing, and landed a higher paying job as a Disc Jockey.
One day Snigdhajit gets a call to audition for The Voice (2015). He got selected in Kolkata and went to Mumbai. On the show, he joined famous singer Shaan’s team, who soon became his mentor.
After being a runner up on The Voice, Snigdhajit got a lot of events. He was able to look after his family. Shaan called him to collaborate in Mumbai, and he settled there.
Now Bhowmik gets a call to audition for Kolkata-based TV channel Zee Bangla’s musical reality show, SaReGaMaPa. For Bhowmik, who had auditioned for the show in 2005, this was a big deal. After seeking Shaan’s advice, he travelled to Kolkata to audition.
To his surprise, Snigdhajit got selected after 9 rounds of elimination. Before he signs the contract, he is told that the contestants must be willing to stay on set for a year, if they get through to the finals. For Snigdhajit, this meant declining over 15-20 of his events, and thus no income for his family back home.
He told the show director, being the sole bread earner in the family, he must leave the show to fulfil his responsibilities. The director handed him 25,000 rupees to help him financially. Shortly after, the show also started giving the contestants a stipend.
At the end of that season, Snigdhajit placed 2nd. He now started getting recognised everywhere, and got called for a lot of shows. He was a playback singer for a Bengali film, and got an offer for a Bangladeshi film.
