Baba Sehgal was told by underworld to ‘stop making music' because he was doing well outside Bollywood: ‘They were insecure'

Indian Express

11-06-2025

You can love him, hate him or simply not understand him, but singer Baba Sehgal has continued being a constant source of entertainment for almost three decades. From quirky Instagram posts to working with Mani Ratnam and A R Rahman, Sehgal can't be forgotten. But back in the day, there was a time when the singer had to leave the country for his and his family's safety. He recently talked about his brief stint abroad and shared how he had to move because of the underworld.
In a chat with Siddharth Kannan, Baba was asked why he moved out of the country in the late 1990s. Sehgal shared that like many in Bollywood in those days, he was also getting calls from the underworld gangsters. 'I didn't really think that people would be after me, but I too got a call, and during that time the underworld's influence was very strong. Everyone was getting a call and being given instructions, and then eventually, I too received a call, and they told me to stop making music,' said Sehgal.
During that time, T-Series head Gulshan Kumar was assassinated in broad daylight by underworld gangsters in Mumbai. Film director Rakesh Roshan was also shot but he survived the attack.
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He added that it was an 'extremely confusing' time and claimed that the reason why people in power wanted him to stop was because he was achieving success outside of Bollywood. 'Maybe I got a call because I was doing an extremely good job in the non-Bollywood sphere, which made people feel insecure. It was a very scary time; people were being murdered and extorted, and at that point I got an opportunity to go and work in Singapore, and I took it.' He shared that he was in Singapore on a work visa and was recording songs for a company that was also working with AR Rahman.
After his time in Singapore, Sehgal moved to New York, where he learnt sound engineering and sharpened his skills as a DJ. He later returned to India to pursue Bollywood projects and continued to work on his solo projects as well.