Hero Alom: I will run again in the next general election

The recent drama surrounding internet sensation Hero Alom and the restriction over him singing Tagore or Nazrul songs has garnered media attention across the globe. Amid all the controversies, Alom has three feature films awaiting release and has announced to run in the upcoming general election in 2023. In a recent conversation with The Business Post’s Siam Raihan, Ashraful Hossen Alom, best known by his stage name Hero Alom, talked about his life, family, work, income sources, political aspirations and more

Tell us a bit about your growth as a media personality in this country. How did a cable guy from Bogura become a global internet sensation?

I think you are referring to the recent social media debate about my income and how I finance my content. I have two verified YouTube channels and a Facebook page, all of which are monetized and have a total of around 5 million followers.

My main sources of income are these social media platforms. I have this small office space in Dhaka which I rent out and this is also my music studio, editing panel and also has a room where I live.

You will also notice that most of the videos online are produced by other YouTube channels, record labels or content producers who hire me as their cast. I also expanded my cable business in Bogura which is another source of my income.

I am blessed to be able to do this because of the large number of fans who consume my content from all over the world, especially in the Middle East, India and Bangladesh.

Another large source of my income is from my live performances where I get hired to perform in different countries across the world. These are the only source of income for me and I do not have any other source or business.

The few films I did were also produced by me and the savings I made from my content. You can see that they are not some multi-million dollar projects. They are small-scale projects with a minimal budget that anyone can make.

All the ongoing gossip about me having a godfather or a foreign financier are all fiction. I work hard, do what I love with the little God has given me.

But I am working on a new e-commerce platform where I want to sell famous products of my hometown Bogura like its famous curd and other local products. I am still in the planning stage but I hope to launch it soon so Bogura-based products can be available for clients across 64-districts in the country.

You ran as an independent candidate back in the 2018 Bangladeshi general election. In 2019 you joined the Jatiya Party. Do you plan to run again?

Yes, in 2018, I decided to run in the 2018 Bangladeshi general election for the Bogra-4 constituency as an independent candidate. And I work in the cultural wing of the Jatiya Party and do not maintain their field-level politics.

I lost in the 2018 general election but I will run again in the next election in the same constituency. I will run again as an independent candidate, as of now. But, if I get a nomination from any other major political party in the country by that time and I can work in my constituency under their banner without any restrictions then I might decide to run with them.

Speaking of elections, I am also running for the upcoming Bangladesh Film Producers Association election as I am a member of that body and a film producer myself.

Who’s in your family? How do they react to all the media attention around you?

A lot of you know about my past. I was raised by my foster parents back in Bogura. My biological parents gave me to my foster parents when I was very young as my family could not afford to raise a child.

My real and foster parents were very poor and they did their best to raise me with all the love and affection that they could give me. My biological mother, my wife and three kids live together with both my foster parents in their home in Bogura.

We are a happy family and I visit them once each month and stay with them for a couple of days each time I visit. My family members love and support what I do for a living and always have been very supportive.

My kids read in the local schools in Bogura and all of them tell me that people treat them with respect whenever they hear that they are the kids of Hero Alom. My kids’ friends and teachers always ask them about me and my work.

And my kids enjoy and feel proud to talk about their father.

You have starred in Bangladeshi and Indian films. As a film actor and producer are you enjoying the recent revival of the Bangladeshi film industry? Do you have any films that will be released soon?

I feel very happy that our film industry is thriving again. I have completed three films recently. They are ‘Bou Jamai Er Lorai,’ ‘Noshto Howar Koshto,’ and ‘Tokai.’ I have starred in and produced all of them. We are hoping that audiences will love these films.

We are in a new era of content now. The audience will accept good content no matter what.

You also had a brief writing career. Any plans to write again?

A publishing house named Torofdar Prokashoni published my autobiography titled, ‘Drishtibhongi Bodlan, Amra Shomajke Bodle Dibo’ (which roughly translates into ‘Change your perception, We will then change the world’).

Hero Alom’s life is too complicated and filled with too many incidents so I decided to write that autobiography. It was launched during the 2019 Ekushey Book Fair. I enjoyed that experience and hope to write more books about my life in the near future.

As you can see the incidents in my life are not ending anytime soon (laughs). But it is all in the perception, isn’t it? How do people perceive everything around them? How do they perceive me or my work?

If we push aside all the trolling and memes aside, then I do believe in this nation and its people. We are growing each day. If we, as a nation, can just change our perception a bit, I believe we truly can change the entire world.