Bappi Lahiri’s UNPUBLISHED INTERVIEW: “RD Burman wondered kahan se aa gaya ye toofan” – ETimes Exclusive! – Times of India

ETimes had caught up with the legendary Bappida, quite sometime back. We bring you this interview for the FIRST TIME and EXCLUSIVE. Here are the excerpts, as written below. But you must see the video herewith. There’s a lot more in that.

How are you feeling? The other day, we saw in ‘Indian Idol 11’ and your voice sounded different. Hope you are okay…

I am fine. Gale mein thodi kharash ho gayi thi.

I have completed 51 years of my work in the music industry. I am loving every moment. Main Maharashtra ki dharti ko pranam karta hoon. Gale mein Ganpati baba hai.

Do you think that there is melody in today’s times? Compare it with your times…

‘Pag ghungroo bandh’, ‘Inteha ho gayi intezar ki’, I am a disco dancer’… I never tried to repeat myself. I always tried to keep it different. I remember 12 films of mine completing 25 weeks in theatres in the year 1984.

After me, quite a few burst on the scene. Vishal Shekhar and Jatin Lalit did a good job.

Let me put it this way. Aajkal ke gaane yaad nahi rahte, Songs of mine, Laxmikant Pyarelal, RD Burman, Kalyanji Anandji cannot be forgotten.

I think the melody has decreased. The lyrics are weak too. Let’s take ‘Pyaar ka tohfa tera’ from Tohfa which I composed the music for. See the lyrics. Aajkal ke lyrics pakkad mein nahin aate.

Do you feel sad about this?

Not really. Times have changed (shrugs).

What’s your take on remixes?

Public ko pasand aata hai. Remixes have become a style statement.

But aren’t remixes just old wine in a new bottle in a khichdi form?

I wouldn’t call them khichdi. They only signify that the recall value of old music is far more than that of the current tunes.

Taking you back to your appearance in ‘Indian Idol 11’, why do you think most contestants don’t make it big in Bollywood…

Arijit Singh also emerged from ‘Indian Idol’ and he is a fantastic singer. The platform of ‘Indian Idol’ is a huge stage. I also enjoy going to ‘Sa Re Ga Ma’ which also is equally big.

Can you tell us one song that you expected to do wonders but it didn’t prove to be a big hit…

‘Sapno ke shaher hum banayenge’ of ‘Ahsaas’ and ‘Haan Pehli Baar’ of ‘Aur Kaun’.

Let’s reverse this. One song that you thought you should have worked more on it but it became a roaring hit…

‘Mumbai se aaya mera dost’ from ‘Aap Ki Khatir’.

The song that you composed in least amount of time and it became a rage…

I remember lyrics-writer Anjaan coming for an appointment with me, three hours late. I saw him and said ‘Inteha ho gayi intezar ki’. We put that song in ‘Sharabi’ and you know what it became.

Were you a great dancer in college? Your songs make us literally dance…

No, I was a tabla player in my early years.

How did your music become so racy, then?

In ’79, I was in the US for some shows. I didn’t know what’s a discotheque but I was told about it. Back home, I signed up for ‘Suraksha’. That ‘discotheque’ talk that I had with people in the US was ringing in my ears. The rest followed.

Best male dancers in Bollywood?

Mithun, Govinda, Hrithik Roshan.

Best dancers in Bollywood?

Sridevi and Madhuri Dixit.

Did Laxmikant Pyarelal and even RD Burman start wondering kahaan se aa gaya ye toofan?

Laxmikant didn’t, RD Burman did (laughs). But it was healthy competition. Laxmikant aur main takkar mein the. But there was no animosity. We lived near each other, we visited each other…

Today?

I am in a happy space. I am blessed. Since childhood I had a dream of living like Elvis Presley; he was my idol. I remember once a man refused to accept that I am Bappi Lahiri because I was wearing a coat to protect myself from cold and he couldn’t see my gold chain.