Filmmaker Milan Luthria is among the fortunate filmmakers who collaborated with Bappi Lahiri in the recent past, delivering some hit songs that featured in his films. They first came together for the song Bumbai Nagariya in Taxi No 9211, and then for the smash hit Ooh La La which became the identity for The Dirty Picture. In an exclusive conversation with News18, the filmmaker recalled how those hit collabs came about with Bappi Lahiri.
“I have very happy memories of my association with him. He would always call me and thank me for giving him a comeback. He had not worked for sometime before we first collaborated for my film Taxi No. 9211 in 2006 for the song Bumbai Nagariya. I still remember, it was a very wet day. There was about one feet of water around music composer Vishal-Shekhar’s studio. We were just thinking who do we get to sing the song to make it really stand out. And I came up with the idea of Bappida. Vishal and Shekhar agreed.
And we called him and he sounded excited and said, ‘Yeah, I’m leaving the house right now.’ And he was there in an hour’s time. He asked us to order some sandwiches. He came into the recording room heard the song once and he said, ‘Okay, let’s take.’ He wanted the lights switched off inside, in the singers cabin. He made a few changes to the way the song was to be sung by giving his own flair and his own his own sort of deviations, variations and his nazhakat. The song went on to do really well. And I still remember it featured a small, close up of a photograph of him in the picturisation of the song, which went viral. He called me and said, ‘You have no idea what that one photograph has done. It has revived me in people’s minds.’ And all of a sudden, he was in demand again. People were calling him for dance shows and music shows and you know, to judge and to then he was doing concerts.
We worked again in 2010 for The Dirty Picture where he sang Oh La La. He really surprised us with the kind of control he had over his voice. Because age was not an issue, his voice was so powerful. He was so insanely musical that his rendering of the song took it to another level. He called me again and he told me, ‘You’ve done it again, you’re my lucky charm. I’m flying everywhere, I’m doing concerts, I am so happy to be back.’
I used another song of his which has gone unnoticed. We had used the song Chahiye Thoda Pyaar in the end credits of Taxi No. 9211. So I feel Bappida has also been my lucky charm.
In conclusion, I just feel that behind the veneer that he created for himself in order to become a very popular musical figure with the with the sunglasses and the chains and rings, there was an extremely talented musician, someone who could make his own mark at a time when some titans like Kalyan-Anand, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, RD Burman were ruling the industry. Bappida could carve his own niche and be as commercially successful. Whether it was Raat Baaki or Inteha Ho Gayi or I Am A Disco Dancer, he had a fantastic range. He was uniquely gifted and able to hold his own against some stalwarts.
I think people should be reminded of the fact that he was a true musical genius. He had his trappings and he enjoyed it and he knew that people were sometimes finding him to be perhaps, over the top, but he knew what he was selling. He knew his job really well. And he enjoyed both sides. He enjoyed the fun part of it as well as the success and the fame.
He would often call and talk about his work and things in general. Bappida was a pure musical talent that the industry is going to miss.”
