A street performer in Kolkata charms the Twitterati in gloomy Covid times

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<strong>Apart from being a mine of information and knowledge, the Internet also helps in unearthing talent which has hitherto been away from public gaze. Such a musical performance came to light on the digital space when a video of a man playing some old melodious Hindi film numbers on his violin charmed netizens in the Maximum City and the far corners of cyberspace.</strong></p>
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It is a short clip of a violinist in Kolkata, who plays the songs beautifully on his instrument. The two-minute video which has gone viral shows this man playing the violin on the streets of Kolkata and recreating the magic of classic Bollywood songs such as “Diwana Hua Badal” from the 1964 movie <em>Kashmir Ki Kali</em> and “Ajeeb Dastan Hai Yeh” from <em>Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai </em>(1960).</p>
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Incidentally, <em>Kashmir Ki Kali</em>, directed by Shakti Samanta and starring Shammi Kapoor and Sharmila Tagore was a huge hit. The music was composed by the legendary music director O.P. Nayyar and the lyrics penned by S.H. Bihari. Likewise, <em>Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai </em>was a hit and starred Raj Kumar and Meena Kumari, while the music was composed by the renowned duo Shankar-Jaikishan and lyrics were penned by Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri.</p>
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Watch this old man's talent from Kolkata <a href="https://t.co/bewfNFzQF0">pic.twitter.com/bewfNFzQF0</a></p>
— Aarif Shah (@aarifshaah) <a href="https://twitter.com/aarifshaah/status/1401262663636713480?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2021</a></blockquote>
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The person who shared the video on Twitter wrote: “Watch this old man's talent from Kolkata.”</p>
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The tweet was posted on June 7, has over 87,300 views, with people liking it in thousands and of course several retweets.</p>
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The user who posted it, Arif Shah also wrote: “He's an artist who is struggling and was entertaining people in Kolkata during the lockdown.”</p>
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The video and the remarks triggered curiosity among the readers and soon, the talented musician was identified. He is Bhogoban Mali, a resident of Kolkata.</p>
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This vital bit of information was shared by a music director Savvy Gupta who wrote: “His name is Bhogoban Mali, he resides somewhere around Girish Park what I came to know…one-time help won't work for these artists if someone can do something for the long run that will be a real help I guess. Not only for him but for all the talented artists like him.”</p>
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While many users shared the video, and praised the musician’s talent and performance, there were several who were keen to help him. There were many comments and enquiries if any assistance could be given to the musician.</p>
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Some found the music touching their heart amid the gloom surrounding us while some thought that music can heal the pain we are going through now.</p>