Railway Station singer Ranu Mandal gets a break, records song with Himesh Reshammiya

August 24: The power of social media can indeed transform lives. Ranu Mariah Mondal’s story is one such instance. Her story has been nothing less than a fairy tale so far, as things have completely changed for her, bringing her life onto a whole new trajectory.

Her journey, which started from a railway platform to social media fame, has now led her into Bollywood, as she was noticed by noted music director Himesh Reshammiya, with whom she is now working. He has made her sing for the film Happy Hardy and Heer, which also has him playing the lead. Mondal has also had a makeover as a participant in the reality show Superstar Singer.

Himesh Reshammiya airing Ranu Mondal in his Instagram handle wrote, “Recorded teri meri kahani my new song from happy hardy and heer with the very talented Ranu Mondal who has a divine voice, all your our dreams can come true if we have the courage to peruse them, a positive attitude can really make dreams come true, thanks for all your love and support.”

Social media surely has the ability to make an unknown person a renowned celebrity and that is what happened in her case. She has now been getting requests for performances from Kolkata, Mumbai, Kerala and even from across the border in Bangladesh. She has also been getting offers for recording her own music album.

Ranu Mariah Mandal who was wandering on the platform of Ranaghat Railway Station in the Nadia district of West Bengal, sat there and was singing when a commuter named Atindra Chakraborty recorded her and uploaded the video on social media. The woman’s sweet voice went viral soon after. The video which was then posted by a Facebook page ‘BarpetaTown’ the place of peace. The video of her singing was shared on Facebook and it garnered 3.9 million views and 59.7k shares. The video surely broke the internet. Interestingly, comments are still pouring in on the video.

But this is not her first encounter with fame. She said,“There was a time in my 20s when I toured the districts with an orchestra owned by a local club. The audience called me ‘Ranu-Bobby’ after hearing me sing songs from 1973 hit Bobby. I even earned some money but was forced to stop as no one in my family supported me or my art.”

She is now getting calls from radio channels, film production houses, local clubs and a philanthropic organisation in far away Kerala. Not just these, but she has also finally received a call from her daughter who has not been in touch with her since the last 10 years.