BENGALURU: On Wednesday, when famed singer Bappi Lahiri breathed his last at the age of 69 owing to obstructive sleep apnea, the music fraternity across the country mourned the loss. The mood was glum in Sandalwood with which Lahiri, popular for his disco-style music, had a strong connect.
A popular name in the Hindi industry, Lahiri made his entry into the Kannada industry in the year 1984 with Dwarakish’s directorial, Gangvaa followed by Africadalli Sheela. The story and screenplay was written by Dwarakish, while dialogues were written by Udayashakar – who had written the lyrics with R N Jayagopal. Lahiri was also associated with another of Dwarakish’s directorial, Gangvaa starring Rajinikanth and Shabana Azmi. “Bappi first scored music for my film, Gangvaa in 1984, made under my production house, Dwarakish Pictures. It also included Rajinikanth, Shabana Azmi, Kader Khan, Ambarish Puri. Later he did the music for Africadalli Sheela,” says Dwarakish.
He goes onto add, “Bappi was my inspiration to shoot the song Sheela Oh My Sheela (Africadalli Sheela) in London. He used to compose music at his home in Mumbai, and I would travel to his house. He took good care of me during my stay there. He was very friendly and wasn’t arrogant for his stature. He not only composed good songs for me, he also arranged the song shoot in London. It is a great loss to the industry. The reason I brought Bappi to the Kannada industry for Africadalli Sheela, was because I was also doing that film in three other languages, Hindi, Tamil. He scored music for all the languages. I was thrilled when my film’s name and song were mentioned at the London Studio,” Dwarakish shares. “I liked all the songs he has recorded for Amitabh Bachchan films,” he adds.
Bappi also composed music for Vishnuvardhan’s two Kannada films — Krishna Nee Begane Baro, and Police and Dada. He was also associated with the film Guru, starring Ambareesh. Lahiri’s last film in Sandalwood was for Love in Mandya starring Sathish Ninasam. He crooned the track Current hodha timealli, along with Sinchana Dixit. The composition was directed by Anoop Seelin.
Born in 1952 to a Bengali Brahmin family, his parents — Apparesh Lahiri and Bansuri Lahiri — were also musicians. Lahiri started singing at the age of three. He is survived by two children – Bappa Lahiri and Reema Lahiri.