Baba Sehgal

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Baba Sehgal
Baba Sehgal at a photoshoot promoting his album Mumbai City
Baba Sehgal at a photoshoot promoting his album Mumbai City
Background information
Birth nameHarjeet Singh Sehgal
Born (1965-11-23) 23 November 1965 (age 58)[1][2]
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
GenresHip hop, Indipop, Bollywood, Tamil, Telugu
Occupation(s)Singer, rapper, actor, comedian
Years active1990–present

Harjeet Singh "Baba" Sehgal, is an Indian rapper.[3][4] He is widely acclaimed to be the first Indian rapper.[5][6][7] He is also involved in various other areas of the entertainment industry, and works in several different languages' media. He was a contestant in the reality show Bigg Boss in 2006.

Life and career[edit]

Early career[edit]

Born and raised in Lucknow, Baba Sehgal graduated with a B.Tech from G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Nainital.[8] His entertainment career began in the 1990s, when he emerged as part of the Indipop scene,[9] and released an album which got frequent airplay on MTV India.[10] Since then he has been a popular figure on the rap scene,[11] with hits such as 'Thanda Thanda Paani' (which sampled Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby", which in turn sampled Queen's "Under Pressure")[12] 'Manjula' and 'Dil Dhadke'.[13]

Music[edit]

Sehgal's first album was Dilruba (1990),[3] followed by Alibaba (1991).[14] Then came his biggest hit album Thanda Thanda Pani (1992),[15] which sold 5 million cassettes, making it the first successful Indian rap album.[16]

His next albums were Main Bhi Madonna (1993), Baba Bachao na (1993),[17] Dr.Dhingra (1994), Miss 420 (1994) movie soundtrack, Double Gadbad (1994) movie soundtrack, Indian Romyo (1995), Tora Tora (1995), Loomba Loomba (1996), na aariya hai na jaroya hai (1997), America mein indian dhaba (1997), d.j. mix blue (1997), dhak dhak dil in culcutta (1997), A Reason to Smile (1997), meri jaan hindustan (1998), jugni mast kalandar (1998), abb mein vengaboy (1999), pinga pinga (2001), Pump up your Style (2003), Welcome to Mumbai (2005), Babe di gaddi (2009), Woh beete din and The Magic of Dandiya, among others. He writes the majority of the music for his albums himself.[citation needed] He was the music director of the movie Dance Party (1995), featuring the popular song "kapurthala se aaya hoon, tere liye laaya hoon, Orange kurta peela pajama..".[18] He was the first Indian artist to have a music video broadcast on MTV Asia,[19] which was broadcasting out of Hong Kong at the time. He was also the presenter of the TV show Superhit Muqabla which was aired on DD2 at primetime.[20] He has also worked as a stage performer.[21]

He was in New York from 2001 to 2005.[22] When he came home to Mumbai, he released his album Welcome to Mumbai,[23] which was his 22nd album.

He also directed the music for the Bollywood film Bhoot Unkle (2006) and Nalaik (2005).[24] He also anchored the TV show 'Santa and Banta news unlimited' on Zoom.[25] His Song Trump Ka Mania supporting the then Republican nominee Donald Trump was a hit.[4][26][27][28] Now, he makes and releases his singles on his YouTube channel "Baba Sehgal Entertainment". Some of them are Aloo ka Parantha, Going to the Gym, Swacchh Bharat. His song "Mumbai City" is a dark hip hop rap song on Mumbai.[29]

Acting[edit]

In 1998, Sehgal made his acting debut in the Bollywood film Miss 420 alongside Sheeba Akashdeep . He also sang four songs for the film's soundtrack which was released in 1994, four years before the film's theatrical release. In 1999, he played dual roles in the television film Double Gadbad. In 2009, he had a part in the SAB TV comedy series Jugni Chali Jalandhar. In 2011, he appeared in the drama serial Rang Badalti Odhani on Star One. Sehgal also made his Telugu film debut in Rudhramadevi, with Anushka Shetty in the lead. It was directed by National award winner Gunasekhar. Baba Sehgal was signed to play a major negative role in another Telugu film titled Overdose.[30] In 2016, he played a cameo as himself in Bank Chor. In the same year, he made his debut in Tamil cinema playing the role of a corrupt cop in Achcham Yenbadhu Madamaiyada.[citation needed] He was a contestant on the first season of Bigg Boss 1 in 2006.

Filmography[edit]

As actor[edit]

As playback singer[edit]

Telugu[edit]

Hindi[edit]

Kannada[edit]

Tamil[edit]

Year Film Song name Composer Co-singer(s)
2009 Villu "Jalsa Jalsa" & (Remix) Devi Sri Prasad Devi Sri Prasad, Rita
2010 Singam "Kadhal Vandhale" Devi Sri Prasad Priyadharshini
2011 Osthe "Osthe Maamey" S. Thaman Ranjith, Rahul Nambiar, Naveen
2012 Muppozhudhum Un Karpanaigal "Sokku Podi" G. V. Prakash Kumar Shruti Haasan
Saguni "Vella Bambaram" G. V. Prakash Kumar Priya Himesh
2013 Alex Pandian "Bad Boy" Devi Sri Prasad Priya Himesh
2013 Singam II "Singam Dance" Devi Sri Prasad Devi Sri Prasad, Anuradha Sriram

Bengali[edit]

Year Film Song name Composer Co-singer(s)
2013 Khiladi (2013 Film) "Heartbeat" Shree Pritam Saberi Bhattacharya

Television/Web series[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1994 Superhit Muqabla Anchor
1996 Colgate Top 10 Khare
1999 Double Gadbad Vijay Johny Mendes Television film
2006 CID Himself Episodes: "Killer Whistle Part I and II"
2006–2007 Bigg Boss 1 Contestant
2009–2010 Jugni Chali Jalandhar Balwinder
2011 Rang Badalti Odhani Bhai [34]
2016 Soadies Sodhi [35]
2019 Bhoot Purva Yamraj [36]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ Nullwala, Murtaza (23 November 2020). "Birthday Special: Top 5 songs of Baba Sehgal". EasternEye. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  2. ↑ Vickey Lalwani (14 August 2012). "Baba Sehgal: Baba Sehgal's extra-marital woes". The Times of India. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Nair, Vinod (14 June 2003). "Arre Baba, he's back!". The Times of India. Retrieved 6 October 2008.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Anurag Verma (15 July 2016). "12 Baba Sehgal Life Lessons To Keep You Thanda Thanda All Day". HuffPost. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  5. ↑ William Dalrymple (2004). The Age of Kali: Indian Travels and Encounters. Penguin Books India. pp. 135–. ISBN 978-0-14-303109-3. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  6. ↑ Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 28 November 1992. pp. 44–. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  7. ↑ Verve: The Spirit of Today's Woman. Indian and Eastern Engineer Limited. 1996. pp. 25–26. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  8. ↑ @OnlyBabaSehgal (17 November 2015). "this is for all CURIOUS ppl>> I did my B.Tech from G B Pant University, Pantnagar, Nainital & not from BITS, pilani tks." (Tweet). Retrieved 17 October 2020 – via Twitter.
  9. ↑ "A sip of Indi-pop". The Indian Express. 18 November 1998. Retrieved 6 October 2008. [dead link]
  10. ↑ Abbas, M. Ackbar; John Nguyet Erni; Wimal Dissanayake (2005). Internationalizing Cultural Studies (link to Google snippet). Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 978-0-631-23623-8. Retrieved 6 October 2008.
  11. ↑ Hunt, Ken (2003). Vladimir Bogdanov; Chris Woodstra; Stephen Thomas Erlewine; John Bush (eds.). All Music Guide to Hip-hop. Backbeat Books. p. 427. ISBN 978-0-87930-759-2.[permanent dead link]
  12. ↑ Garber, Marjorie; Paul B. Franklin; Rebecca L. Walkowitz (1996). Field Work. Routledge. p. 58. ISBN 978-0-415-91454-3.
  13. ↑ "Baba unplugged". The Hindu. 1 March 2008. Archived from the original on 6 March 2008. Retrieved 6 October 2008.
  14. ↑ Cultures of the Commonwealth. Université de Cergy-Pontoise. 1998. p. 11. Retrieved 6 October 2008.
  15. ↑ "Baba unplugged". The Hindu. 5 March 2008. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2008.
  16. ↑ "Pop no more". Hindustan Times. 2 October 2010.
  17. ↑ Robertson, Roland; Kathleen E. White (2003). Globalization. Taylor & Francis. p. 234. ISBN 978-0-415-30222-7. Retrieved 6 October 2008.
  18. ↑ "Dance Party". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 4 October 2011. Retrieved 6 October 2008.
  19. ↑ Sharma, Amitabh (26 December 1994). "India's Turning 'Asian Kool' Into Very Hot Sounds Pop music: Record chiefs bet the next global hits will be rap monologues tinged with a Punjabi folk genre known as bhangra". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 6 October 2008.
  20. ↑ "Baba Sehgal is back". The Hindu. 21 May 2005. Archived from the original on 27 December 2005. Retrieved 6 October 2008.
  21. ↑ TNN (1 November 2005). "Straight Answers". The Times of India. Retrieved 6 October 2008.
  22. ↑ "Baba Sehgal comes back in a new player movement". The Hindu. 26 August 2005. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2008.
  23. ↑ "Welcome To Mumbai – Baba Saigal". IndiaGlitz. 8 January 2007. Archived from the original on 22 September 2008. Retrieved 6 October 2008.
  24. ↑ Deladia, Priyanka (15 April 2006). "Straight Answers". The Times of India. Retrieved 6 October 2008.
  25. ↑ Mulchandani, Amrita (19 May 2008). "Baba and I are like husband and wife". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2008.
  26. ↑ "From Mumbai to Kenya, Baba Sehgal raps Trump Ka Mania". Ashna Kumar. India Today. 30 August 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  27. ↑ "Baba Sehgal impressed by Donald Trump". The Times of India. 28 January 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  28. ↑ Samarth Goyal (10 November 2016). "I am really impressed with Donald Trump: Baba Sehgal". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  29. ↑ "Baba Sehgal Back With His New Single Mumbai City - The Score Magazine". Highonscore | The Score Magazine. 25 June 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  30. ↑ "Baba Sehgal Biography: Baba Sehgal Bio Online at MTS". zoot.mtsindia.in. Archived from the original on 9 September 2013. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  31. ↑ Lohana, Avinash (8 August 2018). "Helicopter Eela: Kajol jams with Anu Malik, Ila Arun, Shaan and Baba Sehgal". Mumbai Mirror. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  32. ↑ IANS (30 May 2017). "Baba Sehgal Has An Interesting Take On His Bank Chor Experience". News18 India. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  33. ↑ "Jagoo dada's new avataar". Hindustan Times. IANS. 8 May 2006. Archived from the original on 20 May 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
  34. ↑ Bushra Khan (14 March 2011). "Baba Sehgal to do an Anil Kapoor?". The Times of India. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  35. ↑ "Baba makes a digital entry". Tribune. 24 March 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  36. ↑ "ZEE5 premieres horror-comedy 'Bhoot Purva'". Zee News. 8 May 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2022.


External links[edit]

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