Kolkata: Singer-turned-West Bengal minister Babul Supriyo on Wednesday lamented that people do not lap up Durga Puja numbers, Bengali songs recorded on the occasion of the state's biggest festival - as they did in the past. Launching a Durga Puja special single 'Jai Maa Durga' (Hail Goddess Durga) here, Supriyo told reporters that people are not ready to pay even Rs 15-20 to buy a single track and instead opt for "other means" to get it for free. "This puts record companies under a lot of stress. Earlier there were audio CDs. Then, with the advent of digital media, music companies started offering singles sung by artists on the web but the audience is not much receptive," the state tourism minister said. Recalling the days when listeners would eagerly wait for new Bengali releases before the Puja, Supriyo said there were hugely popular radio programmes like, Anurodher Asar' where people used to request to hear new numbers. But the situation has changed.


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"People are not buying songs anymore. Radio stations are not playing Bengali new tracks frequently. That can be one reason behind the tracks not becoming popular. This is unfortunate, we need to change that," the former union minister added. Stating that it had been his dream to record a Puja song, Supriyo said, “New Bengali non-film songs, puja songs are rarely played in puja pandals these days. I hope people will listen to this song in pandals. This excites me like a newcomer."


He called upon people to hear non-film songs sung by others as well. His Puja single has music composed by Somen Kutti Sarkar and lyrics penned by Shyamal Sengupta.The song is available on recording company Asha Audio's YouTube channel and across all music platforms.