Disco King Bappi Lahiri no more

Chalte chalte, mere yeh geet yaad rakhna....

Alas, the composer of this hit and hundreds of other melodies is no more. Bappi Lahiri shone as much with his music as with his gold-laden persona.

Still grieving over the loss of India’s nightingale Lata Mangeshkar, Bappi Lahiri’s passing away on February 15 spread gloom amongst music lovers. Battling multiple health issues, he died due to obstructive sleep apnea at 69. Born in a family of classical singers Aparesh Lahiri and Bansuri Lahiri in Jalpaiguri, West Bengal, music was in his genes. Also, the legendary singer Kishore Kumar was his maternal uncle.

Bappi’s musical innings began rather early. If he was playing tabla at three, he started composing music at 11 and by 19 began to cut his teeth as a music composer and gave music for films. He debuted in the Hindi film industry in 1973 with Nanha Shikari.

By 1980s and ’90s, he was making India groove to his dance numbers like I am a disco dancer and earned the epithet Disco King. Though he specialised in fusion style and coalesced Indian musical rhythms with international sounds, melody too was his forte, as was evident in films like Chalte Chalte and Zakhmee. His musical fame was not confined to Indian shores and spread far and wide. His song Jimmy Jimmy (Disco Dancer) had a huge following in China and Russia too.

The maker of the Pag Ghunghroo Baandh hit gave many memorable melodies with Kishore Kumar. Songs like De De Pyaar De and Pyaar Manga Hai Tumhi Se became chartbusters. Ahead of his times, he bucked the tradition and created his own signature style as against the prevalent trend of orchestra music and often sang his compositions. Yet it was only in 2006 that his singing talent laced the musical composition of another composer Vishal-Shekhar in the film Taxi No 9 2 11. Along with Hindi, he also sang and composed for Bengali, Kannada, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu films.

While his unusual dress sense with shiny jackets, chunky gold chains and fancy sunglasses drew attention, he would laugh it away. “People say if you are Bappi Lahiri, show your sona,” he shared in one of the interviews. Penchant for gold aside, he also wore a kada from Golden Temple, considering it his lucky charm.

Lahiri won Filmfare best music director award for Sharaabi (1985) and Banga Bibhushan Samman (2017). Active till his last days, his last Bollywood songs were Areey Pyar Kar Le (Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan) and Bhankas (Baaghi 3).

Survived by his wife Chitrani, son Bappa Lahiri and daughter Rema Lahiri, his evergreen songs like Yaad aa raha hai tera pyar will always remain with us.

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