Bappi da is a true legend! Firstly, he had agreed to come to Musical-e-Azam (MeA) over the phone when we called him one lazy afternoon! And even though he was very unwell, he not only smilingly said he would come, but kept his word too, and how!
Bappi da was in our studio at 8 am on the dot for fourth day of Season-4 of Musical-e-Azam this morning (Thursday) He came in, wearing a golden smile on his face and a king’s ransom literally in gold — the Ganpati Bappa pendant (which Michael Jackson is said to have loved) and his huge B… pendant (which his wife gave him for his last birthday) plus some ten other chains! And he entered the studio with such enthusiasm! That must be his key… to his success — he’s ever ready to participate fully in every occasion! And true to his nature, he had just one sip of coffee, and was ready to sing, even though he himself informed us that a singer’s voice opens up only towards the evening. SO for him to sing so early would have been out of the routine, but he sang with more spirit than a 20-year-old!
Our violinist Chandan Singh informed us as usual that Bappi da is perhaps the only composer of his era who has had four recording studios working simultaneously with live orchestras to make music for different movies! And Sajid-Wajid’s dad, a fine tabla player, has also played for Bappi da’s movies!
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In fact Bappi da started out as a tabla player. His mom and father, who were renowned singers, were so happy with his work in Bollywood that his mom gave him a super size, heavyweight Murlidhar Kaanhaa’s golden locket for his fab tunes in Zakhmee, which was a huge hit! Since that day, Bappi da has always kept Gold on his person.
The biggest revelation he made was that Munni Badnaam Hui was inspired by one of his tunes. The first time he heard Munni, he thought one of his songs has been remixed, because like Kaliyon Ka Chaman… this song also must have been remixed, meaning, parts of his original song must have been bodily lifted and remixed into the new song! But when he listened closely, he realised Munni was an entirely freshly recorded track, but it did sound similar in its tune to his own earlier composition that Bappi da hummed for us, and from which he claimed Munni was copied. The song he hummed was from Phool Bane Anngare – ‘Gori Kab Se Hui Jawaan, Banda Le Ja Apne Saath’ He said he didn’t wish to make a noise about the copy, because “people get inspired all the time by popular music.” And also because he has given music for so many years now!
In fact, he said, it was Kishore da (the great Kishore Kumar) made Bappi da sing for his movie Badhti Ka Naam Daadhi” because he wanted Bappi to sing in his inimitable style! His singing innings started with that song, and today he was so happy that he has sung for both, Amitabh Bachchan and his son Abhishek (in Guru) — “two generations of the Bachachan family!”
He is awaiting his film Dard-e-Disco in which a fan abducts him. So, for Bappi da, after Main aur Mrs. Khanna — which he did for Salman Khan — this is the film that he thinks has him in a great role! Also, another Pepsi commercial is coming out, I am the Golden Man, you are my Golden fan…, the music for which his son Bappa Lahiri has given the music.
The best part of MeA today was when Mithun da spoke to Bappi Lahiri, saying he is a true genius, and that Mithun is Mithun because of Bappi da’s music! Bappi Lahiri was ecstatic and he completely loved the phone conversation, and spontaneously sang two big Mithun hits, I Am A Disco Dancer and Yaad Aa Rahaa Hai Teraa Pyaar, for Mithun da.
Bappi da is not just the man with all the gold inthe world, but also truly has a heart of gold! In fact when the world markets crashed, Fox Business, US, had said that only one man will be laughing in these times of despair — the golden man!
To listen to our most memorable moments with Bappi da, get on to Fun Ka Antenna on www.planetradiocity.com at 5 pm today!
And for a geography class with a musical twist, listen in to the brilliant young composer Shantanu Moitra — on Friday morning from 7 to 11 am, only on Kasa Kai Mumbai, on Radio City 91.1 Catch you then!
