Biography

Rupam Islam is a professional singer based out of the capital of West Bengal, Kolkata. He is a recipient of the National Film Award for the Best Male Playback Singer. He won the award in 2010 for his work in the film, Mahanagar@Kolkata. He has been elected to be a member of the Government of West Bengal's cultural committee for music (Bangla Sangeet Academy). In 1998, his band, Fossils, was born. Within the first five years, they had become one of the greatest Bengali rock bands. As a lyricist, lead vocalist and music composer, Rupam came to be identified as the lead singer of the band. Fossils has five super-hit albums. After training in Indian classical music, Rupam's debut solo album, Tor Bhorshate, was released by HMV in 1998. The album was re-released as Neel Rong Chhilo Bhishon Priyo in 2003 and, on public demand, was again re-released in CD format by SaReGaMa, ten years after first hitting the market. A duo album called RnB (Rupam and Bumpy) was released in 2007 and declared the most sold music album of the year. In 2010, Rupam released his second solo album called Na Hanyate from SaReGaMa. It won him awards in Kolkata and was amongst the most sold albums of the year. In 2011, Rupam released his third solo album called Nishkromon from SaReGaMa. It became a huge hit even before its release. In this album, he has been joined by many other Bengali rock bands' members. All the songs were recorded LIVE. In 2013, the sixth studio album of Fossils was released in 2013 at City Centre II, Rajarhat, Kolkata. For the first time, the band soft-launched their record, Fossils 4, as full-length online streaming to the audience days before its physical release. Rupam is the pioneer of Bengali rock and is one of the most famous modern singers in Bengal. In 2014, Rupam made his debut in the Telegu film industry with a hit number called Neeli Neeli Kaladana for the movie, Pilla Nuvvu Leni Jeevitham. Rupam has composed title songs for TV programs and advertisement jingles for leading brands and has anchored several musical and chat shows on television. For more than a year in 2007 and 2008, Rupam hosted a show called Rupam on the Rocks on Ananda Bazar Patrika's Friends 91.9 FM. Combining his two loves – music and literature – Rupam wrote his first book of songs, Epitaph, from Aahir Publication, one of the leading magazines, which was released in 2006 and became one of the most sought-after books at the Kolkata Book Fair. Rupam on the Rocks, his next book, was published in the Kolkata Book Fair in 2009 and continues to remain one of Ananda Publishers' hottest sellers. He also wrote an exclusive column for the youth magazine called Unish Kuri. Rupam is now one of the busiest playback singers of Kolkata and has sung in more than 30 Hindi and Bengali films. Mahanagar@Kolkata, the film for which he won the National Film Award in 2010, also marked his debut as a music director. He earned many awards from 2009 to 2011 for his playbacks in movies like Benche Thakar Gaan in Autograph. He is also the winner of the Best Modern Singer award for his recent solo album, Na Hanyate, at the Bangla Music Awards 2011. In 2007, Rupam made his debut in Hindi playback singing with Vishesh Films' Jannat, directed by Kunal Deshmukh, where he sang the title song, Jannat Jahan. At the request of the producers, Rupam created a Bengali version of that song, Jannat Takkai. This release got screened in theatres as well. Rupam sang ‘Dil Kare’ in the film, All the Best: Fun Begins in 2009 under the banner of Ajay Devgn Films; the director was Rohit Shetty. Rupam has done the most number of playback singing for films among all the Bengali band singers. Some of them being Cholo Let's Go, Piyalir Password, Kanchan Babu, Madly Bangalee,  Olotpalot, Jiyo Kaka,  Dwando, Shukno Lanka,  Aleya, Antim Swash Sundar, Angshumaner Chhobi,  Autograph, Baishe Srabon, Mahanagar@Kolkata, Icche, Bedroom, Besh Korechi Prem Korechi, etc. Rupam has taken part in a TV program called R2T2 (Rock-e Rupam Tal-e Tanmoy). In this show, both Rupam and renowned musician, Tanmoy Bose, created two different bands of two different genres. Rupam has co-directed the music of the Bengali film, Bedroom, along with his long-time buddy and Fossils colleague, Allan Ao. The songs became instant hits just after the audio release of the movie.