| Bappi Lahiri | ||
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Bappi Lahiri |
‘Chalte chalte...’After singing the evergreen melody from Chalte Chalte (’76), Kishore mama (Kishore Kumar) told me, “Bappi, this is an unforgettable song.” ‘Chalte chalte mere yeh geet yaad rakhna na, kabhi alvida na kehna hai...’ was truly memorable for me because it was the first big hit of my career as a composer. MIDBANNER
Another hit number from the film was ‘Pyar mein kabhi kabhi...’. Bobby had just been released, I fell in love with Shailendra Singh’s voice and called up Shaily to ask him if he’d sing a song for me. He had a contract with Raj Kapoor that prevented him from singing for too many outside banners. But being a good friend, Shaily promised me that he’d sing my song. And he kept his word.
‘Nothing is impossible...’
I was still a newcomer when I recorded this song for Zakhmee (’75), a Tahir Hussain multi-starrer. Those were the days when SD Burman and his son, RD Burman along with Laxmikant-Pyarelal, were reigning. I suddenly found myself singing live with living legends like Kishore mama and Mohd. Rafi. For the first time in my life I was visibly nervous. My co-singers were really encouraging and peppped me up with words like “Bachcha, daro mat, just sing the way you’ve been taught.” I did, and realised that nothing is really impossible.
‘Bambai se aaya mera dost...’
The song was specially done for the record. Those were the days of the 33-LP and when it was discovered that the track was too short, I was told to compose a song that would complete the record. ‘Bambai se aaya mera dost...’ wasn’t a part of the film, Aap Ke Khatir (’77) initially but it became so popular that it was eventually picturised on Vinod Khanna and Rekha and remains a crowd favourite even today.
‘Maana ho tum...’
This is one of my favourites from Manokaamna (’80). Yesudas has a marvellous voice. The orchestration was very new. The song had to be a hit!
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The tune was so catchy that when we were recording the song, all the musicians in the studio were dancing. It energised even Mithun Chakraborty who was going through a low phase at the time. Mithun came to my house specially to tell me that I had given him the best song of his career so far. I was confident that this Disco Dancer (’82) feet-tapper would be a crossover song in the true sense. It was a hit the world over. Even today, it’s remixed version is played in discotheques and youngsters sway to its beat.
‘Ramba ho...’
I was doing a show in Kolkatta. While singing ‘Bambai se aaya mera dost...’ to pep up the crowd and get them to sing along with me, I’d say “Hey...” after every line. Soon they were repeating the “Hey...” which eventually turned into “Ho.” While working on this Armaan (’81) number, I recalled the experience and that’s how ‘Rambha ho ho...’ was born. Usha Uthup turned it into a phenomenon!
‘Jawani jaaneman haseen dilruba...’
Asha Bhosle sang this Namak Halaal (’82) number so wonderfully that I knew it would be a superhit. And it was! Even its remixed version is on the top of the charts. The film had another superhit in ‘Pag ghungroo band Meera naache re...’. It was a 12-13 minute song and perhaps the longest song of the time. When Amitabh Bachchan on whom it was picturised, heard it he congratulated me for doing a great job. “The song has so much romance...it will be a real achievement for you,” he asserted. He was right!
‘Nainon mein sapna...’
This chart-topper from Himmatwala (’83) wowed even Lata didi (Lata Mangeshkar). She told me, “Bappi, you’ve come up with a lively composition, it’ll be a very big hit.” It was, and started the trend of South productions in the ’80s.
‘Manzilein apni jaga hai, raastein apni jaga...’: When Kishore mama was recording this soulful Sharaabi (’84) song, Prakash Mehra and I who were present at the studio had tears in our eyes. The score was an award-winner.
‘Tarzan my Tarzan...’: When I chose Alisha Chinoy to sing this Tarzan (’85) number, everyone wondered whether she’d be able to pull it off. This was the first song of her career. And she sang it like a pro. The recordist and the musicians were mesmerised. Everyone agreed that this young girl would make it very big.
‘Naina yeh barse...’: In ’85 I had another hit in Mohabbat that is also memorable for its title song, ‘Sason se nahin...’. The credit for ‘Naina yeh barse...’ goes to producer Indra Kumar and director Bapu. They were the ones who insisted I compose a song on the flute piece I had already recorded. ‘Naina barse...’ was the last song to be recorded.
‘Pyar kabhi kum nahin karna...’: Kishore mama was to sing this beautiful composition from Prem Pratigyaa (’89). I had given him a cassette of the song and had been looking forward to the recording when he suffered a fatal heart-attack. He never returned to the studios again. Two weeks after his sudden death, I recorded the song. Mama had loved my voice. While I was singing I had tears in my eyes. The song became very popular and established me as a singer.
‘Tamma Tamma...’: I was doing Raj Sippy’s Satyamev Jayete and had sung a song for Vinod Khanna who was making his comeback with this film. Tridev (’89) was a big hit at the time and ‘Oye oye...’ inspired by a Gloria Estafan African song, was a rage. I was told by Raj to compose something similarly dhamakedaar for his Thanedaar (’90). I came across an African music cassette and one of the songs, ‘Moricanty’ really caught my interest. I picked up the first two lines, ‘Tamma tamma loge...’ and came up with a chart-topper. Little did I know that Laxmikant-Pyarelal had been similarly inspired. It was an unfortunate coincidence that Hum and Thanedaar came together and there was a major controversy over ‘Tamma Tamma...’ and ‘Jhumma chumma...’ with everyone accusing the other of plagarisation. All I can say is that my song was inspired, not lifted. Full credit to Saroj Khan for choreographing it so brilliantly. And at the end of the day ‘Tamma tamma...’ is remembered as a hit song.
‘Gori hai kalaiyan...’: This was the No. 1 song on Binanca Geeta Mala all of 1990. Composed for Aaj Ka Arjun (90), it was a Rajasthani folk tune blended with raag Darbari. This was the first time I used the matka as a musical instrument.
‘Sochna kya hai jo bhi hoga dekha jayega...’: Those were the days of the Lambada which like Cha Cha Cha was very much in vogue. While making Ghayal(’90) Rajkumar Santoshi told me he wanted to picturise an item number on the Lambada dance track. I went out and bought a cassette and within days we had recorded ‘Sochna kya...’
‘O lal dupattewali tera naam to batao...’: This chartbuster from Pahlaj Nihalni’s blockbuster Aankhen (’93) was sung by four singers—Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik, Kavita Krishnamurthy and Sudesh Bhosle. Those days we were not into dubbing and all four singers were present at the studio during the recording. There were only two mikes and a mike had to be shared between two singers. It made for a pretty hilarious situation. ‘Lal dupattewali...’ was a catchy tune but when we were recording the song I didn’t think it would create history.
‘Gutur gutur...’: In ’93, another hit film, Dalaal, for which I’d composed the music, got me a lot of brickbats for its double-meaning ditty. If ‘Sarkaiylo khatiya jaada lage...’ was thought to be vulgar then so was ‘Gutur gutur...’ was the popular verdict. To be honest I’m not comfortable scoring for such provocative numbers but after ‘Choli ke peechey kay hai’ every director wanted them. Partho Ghosh, the director of Dalaal, insisted on an item number, a double meaning folk song. So I gave him ‘Gutur gutur’. It was Raju Shrivastav, a mimicary artiste, who gave me the idea for the song. He had come home one day to perform his act for me during the course of which he started cooing like a pigeon. The ‘gutur gutur...’ call stayed with me and when I was composing the Dalaal number I used it. Despite all the controversy, this song too was much hummed. I recorded it with four singers—Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik, Ila Arun and Bappi Lahiri himself. We wrapped it up in four hours flat!
‘You’re my chicken fry, you’re my fish fry...’: This corny song from Rock Dancer was criticised as much as it was crooned. It was a situational song. A young couple go to a restaurant. The waiter brings them a menu card. “Fish fry, chicken fry...” he says going down the list. And I thought why not make a romantic song out of a menu card. Full marks to Indivar for falling in with my idea and coming up with such great lyrics.
‘Hari Om Hari...’: The director while narrating the sitution told me that the girl was a dancing girl who was heavily into drugs. He wanted a ‘Dum maro dum...’ kind of number. It was his mention of Hare Rama Hare Krishna that gave me the idea of starting the song with Hari Om Hari. It worked, and how!
‘Booba booba Habiba...’: Once, when my son Bappa was playing his casio player, the sound ‘booba booba’ caught my ear. And it became the inspiration for Habiba that was the first song by an Indian composer to enter the ’88 Billboard music charts at No. 23.
‘Gale mein lal tie...’: KC Bokadia and I have made around 16 films together. I have a lot of tunes in my bank and as soon as he heard this one Bokadiaji insisted he wanted it for his film. I was happy for him to have it. Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam, released early this year, was my comeback film.
‘Thoda resham lagta hai...’: This film from Jyoti has brought me interntational honour. There’s no way I’m going to forget it, ever. Anand Bakshiji who was a great lyricist, wrote the words and I composed the tune. As soon as he heard the song, Bakshiji told me, “You’ve made a tune jo yaad reh jayegi” He loved the song which was picturised on Aroona Irani. And it’s because of his blessings that the song is on top of the charts today.
‘Manzilein apni jaga hai, raastein apni jaga...’
When Kishore mama was recording this soulful Sharaabi (’84) song, Prakash Mehra and I who were present at the studio had tears in our eyes. The score was an award-winner.
‘Tarzan my Tarzan...’
When I chose Alisha Chinoy to sing this Tarzan (’85) number, everyone wondered whether she’d be able to pull it off. This was the first song of her career. And she sang it like a pro. The recordist and the musicians were mesmerised. Everyone agreed that this young girl would make it very big.
‘Naina yeh barse...’
In ’85 I had another hit in Mohabbat that is also memorable for its title song, ‘Sason se nahin...’. The credit for ‘Naina yeh barse...’ goes to producer Indra Kumar and director Bapu. They were the ones who insisted I compose a song on the flute piece I had already recorded. ‘Naina barse...’ was the last song to be recorded.
‘Pyar kabhi kum nahin karna...’
Kishore mama was to sing this beautiful composition from Prem Pratigyaa (’89). I had given him a cassette of the song and had been looking forward to the recording when he suffered a fatal heart-attack. He never returned to the studios again. Two weeks after his sudden death, I recorded the song. Mama had loved my voice. While I was singing I had tears in my eyes. The song became very popular and established me as a singer.
‘Tamma Tamma...’
I was doing Raj Sippy’s Satyamev Jayete and had sung a song for Vinod Khanna who was making his comeback with this film. Tridev (’89) was a big hit at the time and ‘Oye oye...’ inspired by a Gloria Estafan African song, was a rage. I was told by Raj to compose something similarly dhamakedaar for his Thanedaar (’90). I came across an African music cassette and one of the songs, ‘Moricanty’ really caught my interest. I picked up the first two lines, ‘Tamma tamma loge...’ and came up with a chart-topper. Little did I know that Laxmikant-Pyarelal had been similarly inspired. It was an unfortunate coincidence that Hum and Thanedaar came together and there was a major controversy over ‘Tamma Tamma...’ and ‘Jhumma chumma...’ with everyone accusing the other of plagarisation. All I can say is that my song was inspired, not lifted. Full credit to Saroj Khan for choreographing it so brilliantly. And at the end of the day ‘Tamma tamma...’ is remembered as a hit song.
‘Gori hai kalaiyan...’
This was the No. 1 song on Binanca Geeta Mala all of 1990. Composed for Aaj Ka Arjun (90), it was a Rajasthani folk tune blended with raag Darbari. This was the first time I used the matka as a musical instrument.
‘Sochna kya hai jo bhi hoga dekha jayega...’
Those were the days of the Lambada which like Cha Cha Cha was very much in vogue. While making Ghayal(’90) Rajkumar Santoshi told me he wanted to picturise an item number on the Lambada dance track. I went out and bought a cassette and within days we had recorded ‘Sochna kya...’
‘O lal dupattewali tera naam to batao...’
This chartbuster from Pahlaj Nihalni’s blockbuster Aankhen (’93) was sung by four singers—Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik, Kavita Krishnamurthy and Sudesh Bhosle. Those days we were not into dubbing and all four singers were present at the studio during the recording. There were only two mikes and a mike had to be shared between two singers. It made for a pretty hilarious situation. ‘Lal dupattewali...’ was a catchy tune but when we were recording the song I didn’t think it would create history.
‘Gutur gutur...’
In ’93, another hit film, Dalaal, for which I’d composed the music, got me a lot of brickbats for its double-meaning ditty. If ‘Sarkaiylo khatiya jaada lage...’ was thought to be vulgar then so was ‘Gutur gutur...’ was the popular verdict. To be honest I’m not comfortable scoring for such provocative numbers but after ‘Choli ke peechey kay hai’ every director wanted them. Partho Ghosh, the director of Dalaal, insisted on an item number, a double meaning folk song. So I gave him ‘Gutur gutur’. It was Raju Shrivastav, a mimicary artiste, who gave me the idea for the song. He had come home one day to perform his act for me during the course of which he started cooing like a pigeon. The ‘gutur gutur...’ call stayed with me and when I was composing the Dalaal number I used it. Despite all the controversy, this song too was much hummed. I recorded it with four singers—Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik, Ila Arun and Bappi Lahiri himself. We wrapped it up in four hours flat!
‘You’re my chicken fry, you’re my fish fry...’
This corny song from Rock Dancer was criticised as much as it was crooned. It was a situational song. A young couple go to a restaurant. The waiter brings them a menu card. “Fish fry, chicken fry...” he says going down the list. And I thought why not make a romantic song out of a menu card. Full marks to Indivar for falling in with my idea and coming up with such great lyrics.
‘Hari Om Hari...’
The director while narrating the sitution told me that the girl was a dancing girl who was heavily into drugs. He wanted a ‘Dum maro dum...’ kind of number. It was his mention of Hare Rama Hare Krishna that gave me the idea of starting the song with Hari Om Hari. It worked, and how!
‘Booba booba Habiba...’
Once, when my son Bappa was playing his casio player, the sound ‘booba booba’ caught my ear. And it became the inspiration for Habiba that was the first song by an Indian composer to enter the ’88 Billboard music charts at No. 23.
‘Gale mein lal tie...’: KC Bokadia and I have made around 16 films together. I have a lot of tunes in my bank and as soon as he heard this one Bokadiaji insisted he wanted it for his film. I was happy for him to have it. Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam, released early this year, was my comeback film.
‘Thoda resham lagta hai...’: This film from Jyoti has brought me interntational honour. There’s no way I’m going to forget it, ever. Anand Bakshiji who was a great lyricist, wrote the words and I composed the tune. As soon as he heard the song, Bakshiji told me, “You’ve made a tune jo yaad reh jayegi” He loved the song which was picturised on Aroona Irani. And it’s because of his blessings that the song is on top of the charts today.
‘Gale mein lal tie...’
KC Bokadia and I have made around 16 films together. I have a lot of tunes in my bank and as soon as he heard this one Bokadiaji insisted he wanted it for his film. I was happy for him to have it. Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam, released early this year, was my comeback film.
‘Thoda resham lagta hai...’
This film from Jyoti has brought me interntational honour. There’s no way I’m going to forget it, ever. Anand Bakshiji who was a great lyricist, wrote the words and I composed the tune. As soon as he heard the song, Bakshiji told me, “You’ve made a tune jo yaad reh jayegi” He loved the song which was picturised on Aroona Irani. And it’s because of his blessings that the song is on top of the charts today.