Bangladeshi social media sensation Ashraful Hossen Alom, known as Hero Alom, has been grilled by authorities for his “out-of-tune” singing manner. Alom became famous for not possessing the same talents as mainstream artists. He routinely gets trolled for his appearance, voice, accent, and behaviour. His videos of acting, modelling and singing make a lot of people laugh who sometimes use them in their memes. Alom is an example of those celebrities who became famous because of the exact same things they allegedly lacked. He has over 2 million followers on Facebook and 1.5 million on YouTube. However, recently he has also drawn serious criticism for attempting to perform classical songs, especially from widely respected poets Rabindranath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam.
Police Tells Hero Alom to Stop Singing Classical Songs
Hero Alom told the media that the police “mentally tortured” him last week. He further said they wanted him to stop singing “painful” renditions of classical songs and sign an “apology bond”. As per him, the police also grabbed him by the neck and called him “too ugly” to be a singer. They picked him at 6 PM and grilled him for 8 hours. The police specifically stressed why he was singing songs by Tagore and Nazrul.
Police claimed that there were many complaints against him. They said that he “totally” changed the singing style, which did not seem “traditional” enough to them. Alom also made a video in which he was behind bars, wrapped up in a prisoner uniform, and singing a woeful song about hanging from the noose. The video is included in the following package shared by the agency he talked to.
They Don’t Hate Him Enough to be Arrested
As much as the social media users have made fun of Hero Alom over the years, this encounter with the police has seemingly melted many souls. They actually came in his defence, bashing the police for this “uncalled for” behaviour. Activists called it an attack on human rights even if his singing was unpleasant. Those who did not like Alom were also ready to match his voice as the police cannot abuse its power to harass someone for being a bad singer. Others prayed for him and encouraged him to be strong and keep doing what he did best.
He Wants to Sing With Freedom
Bangladesh police said that Hero Alom has apologized for singing the treasured songs and wearing a police uniform in videos without permission. Alom accused police of forcing him to remove ‘Hero’ from his name because he did not look like one. However, the police rubbished that claim and said he was just trying to get viral on the internet.
Alom complained that “you can’t even sing with freedom in Bangladesh”, referring to the judgemental attitude towards him. However, he assured viewers that he was never going to stop his videos or drop his name because he felt like a “hero”. He took this moniker after becoming famous in his home district of Bogra.
Besides his unique videos, the 37-year-old has also worked in a Bengali movie, Mar Chokka, in 2017. Alom also participated in the 2018 Bangladeshi general election. He bought nomination papers for Jatiya Party (E) but got rejected, so he proceeded to contest as an independent candidate. He eventually lost by earning only 638 votes, but his popularity gained a major boost.
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