MUMBAI: Veteran music composer and singer Bappi Lahiri left for heavenly abode on Tuesday Bappi Da was known as the ‘Disco King’ of Bollywood. Bappi Da became known for his inimitable voice and even his musical style was so distinct that his fans could identify his beats in a few seconds. Bappi Da introduced Hindi film music to the trend of disco which gave us some of the best foot-tapping numbers of the 1980s.
Here are some of the lesser-known facts about the ‘King of Disco’:
Bappi Lahiri’s name has a certain musical rhythm to it but this wasn’t his official name. He was born as Alokesh Lahiri, and eventually adopted Bappi as his name.
Bappi Lahiri got immense success as a musician but it seems like he was blessed by maternal uncle Kishore Kumar. On a musical reality show, Bappi Da had shared that even though they were not related by blood, (Kishore Da’s mother saw Bappi Da’s mother as a daughter) he was the closest to him, even more than his own sons Amit Kumar and Sumit Kumar. Bappi often narrated stories of his childhood years spent with his ‘mama’. In fact, every year, Bappi threw a small celebration in Kishore Da’s honour on his birthday. Videos from some of those gatherings are shared on Bappi Da’s Instagram handle.
Bappi Lahiri was known for his signature style off-camera but not many know that he had a short stint as an actor too. In 1974, Bappi Lahiri made his debut in the movies in Kishore Kumar directorial Badhti Ka Naam Dadhi. Bappi Da had shared an archival photo from the shoot on his social media.
In a landmark copyright case, Bappi Da sued American rapper Dr Dre after he copied the tune of ‘Kaliyon Ka Chaman’ for his album Addictive. Later, Dr Dre credited Bappi Lahiri on the album. The Disco Dancer composer told Hindustan Times in 2009, “Dr Dre used my song Kaliyon ka Chaman in his album Addictive, for which I sued him. But he gave credits afterwards, so it’s okay and I am happy.”
Bappi Da’s last composition was released in September 2021. The composer made music for the devotional song Ganpati Bappa Morya and shared it on his social media handles. The track was sung by Anuradha Juju.
Bappi Lahiri marked his entry into politics by joining Bhartiya Janata Party in 2014. He contested from the Lok Sabha seat of Srerampur but lost to Kalyan Banerjee of the ‘All India Trinamool Congress’.
Bappi Da’s music genius was discovered at a young age as he started playing table when he was only 3 years old. From then, he perfected his craft to reach the heights of popularity.
Bappi Lahiri famously sang many of his own songs but up until 206, he had never given vocals for another composer’s creation. This changed when Vishal-Shekhar roped in for Taxi No 9211’s song Bambai Nagariya, which turned out to be a huge hit.
In an episode of Indian Idol, when a contestant asked him about his unique style, Bappi Da revealed that he had gotten inspired by Elvis Presley.
Bappi Lahiri earned a place in the Guinness Book of World records for recording over 180 songs for 33 films which were all released in a single year, 1986.
Credit: The Indian Express
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