2006

Vividh Bharati ke doston, aaj main zaraa 'disco' ke 'mood' mein hoon.

Clip: I am a Disco Dancer (Disco Dancer)

yahaan baat meri naheen, balki Mithun Chakraborty ki ho rahi hai.
aur is gaane se Bengal ki sarzameen se utraa tha sargam ki duniya ka
ek sitaara

Clip: tumhara pyar chaahiye mujhe jeene ke liye (Manokamna)

aaj jab ki kai sangeetkaar khud gaayak bhi ban rahe hain aur
charchit bhi ho rahe hain, hamaare is sitaare ne bhi in dono
kshetron mein apnaa haath jamaaya.

Clip: dil se na khelo jaan chaahe le lo (Ek Baar Kaho)

is kalaakaar ki Khaasiyat yeh hai ki inhone apni Khaas shaili
banaaee aur apni pratibha se sabko aashcharya kar diya. to doston,
aapko sunwaate hain hamaare aaj ke Sargam Ke Sitaare, mashoor
sangeetkaar aur gaayak Bappi Lahiri se mamta Singh ki baatchit.

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BL: Bappi Lahiri
MS: Mamta Singh

MS: namaskaar Bappi-da, welcome to Vividh Bharati!

BL: namaskaar!

MS: How do you feel coming here?

BL:(sings) achchha lagaa, bahut achchha lagaa, Vividh Bharati mein
aake bahut achchha lagaa.

MS: These days your song from Taxi No 9 2 11 is topping the charts.
So what is the story behind your singing this song?

BL: As a playback singer, I have sung selected songs in a number of
my films for the last 32 years. Many of them have been hits like the
one from Aap Ki Khatir, then "raat baaki baat baaki" etc. Then
suddenly one day Ramesh Sippy told me that there is a special song,
the title song of his new film which he wanted me to sing. Vishal
Shekhar was the music director. I asked them for the soundtrack.
When I heard the music, it felt nice. Vishal Shekhar likes my voice
and in this way the song was recorded and they were happy with it.

MS: Though we have the CD of this film, but when you are yourself
present here, we would like to listen to this song live and not from
the CD.

BL sings "laakh laakh roz aake bas jaate hain... boombai nagariya"

MS: Talking about your songs related to Mumbai, you had created
waves with "bambai se aaya mera dost". Tell us about that song as
well.

BL: At that time, Zakhmee and Chalte Chalte already proved to be
hits and my name was getting some attention. In Aap Ki Khatir, there
were two superstars, Vinod Khanna and Rekha. There was space for 1
song in the record, but there was no situation in the film. To fill
up the record time, I went to HMV and got this song recorded.
Surprisingly this song became a superhit. Vinod Khanna told the
producer that he would like to picturise this song. This song was
such a hit that when I went to Kathmandu, I heard a child humming
this song in a remote village. He was even not aware that was the
man behind this song.

Song: bambai se aaya meraa dost (Aap Ki Khatir)

MS: One more popular song which definitely needs a mention here
is "yaar bina chain kahaan re" from Saheb.

BL: This was also a big hit. Even today, in discotheques, one can
hear this song. This song was for Anil Kapoor. But my first song for
him was in the film Ek Baar Kaho.

Clip: yeh zindegi chaar din ki (Ek Baar Kaho)

BL: That was the Mithun era going on and our combination clicked in
every film. ne day producer Anil Ganguly came to me and said that he
was making Saheb with Anil Kapoor and that he wants a Disco type
song for this film. I told him that I would rather fuse folk music
of Bengal with disco. And I have done it in "yaar binaa chain kahaan
re".

Clip: yaar bina chain kahaan re (Saheb)

MS: The credit for bringing the 'Disco Revolution' goes to you. How
did you become crazy for Disco?

BL: I have brought Disco music here. Even a videogame is in the
market titled as Disco King Bappida. I had first introduced this
Disco beats in 1 song of Suraksha (sings) "mausam hai gaane ka....."
(first time disco mujik ko leke aaya, bahut baDaa hit tha)

Clip: mausam hai gaane ka (Suraksha)

BL: Suraksha was the first film of Mithun Chakraborty. The producer
asked me to make some different kind of music. In those days,
Laxmikant Pyarelal, R D Burman and Kalyanji Anandji were the main
stalwarts. So the producer said that his hero was someone who would
dance like John Travolta and fight like Bruce Lee, so I should
compose songs keeping this mind. Then I brought this new beat in
Suraksha and then in Disco Dancer.

MS: And Disco Dancer undoubtedly created history.

BL: Disco dancer created history not only in India but also in
countries like China and Russia. was given the Golden Award from
China. In Russia, after Raj Kapoor's Awara & Shree 420, Disco Dancer
became the most popular.

MS: What was so special about Disco Dancer?

BL: It was a sentimental story of a mother and her son, about how he
becomes a superstar. For one situation, there were 5 songs. It was
actually a situation of competetion. These songs were "Jimmy
Jimmy", "goron ki na kaalon ki", "Krishna dharti pe aaja tu", "koi
yahaan ahaa naache naache". Anjaan-ji was the lyricist and has done
a fantastic job.

MS: Had he written these songs on tunes or you composed his words?

BL: Anjaan-ji was a very flexible write. He wrote all the songs of
this film on tune. The 4 break-ups in the title song like
(sings) "jawaani ek lahar hai, jawaani ek nashaa hai". Anjaan-ji has
written it very beautifully.

Clip: I am a Disco Dancer (Disco Dancer)

MS: Which song from the Disco Era do you like the most?

BL: Though I like all my songs, one song by Asha-ji from the film
Hathkadi is my special favourite (sings) "chhoDo chhoDo meri baahen
meri raahen aaaa"

Clip: chhoDo chhoDo meri baahen meri raahen (Hathkadi)

MS: And what about "raat baaki baat baaki" from Namak Halaal?

BL: Oh it was also a superhit. Its remix is also out now. I am so
happy that my music has remained popular in all the generations. I
never knew in the 80s that my song "koi yahaan..." will get played
in discotheques in 2006. The sepcial thing about "raat baaki baat
baaki" is Shashi Kapoor-ji's voice and this was my first duet with
Asha-ji. Ashaji is excellent in this song.

Clip: raat baaki baat baaki (Namak Halaal)

MS: What kind of preparation Asha-ji used to take before singing
your songs?

BL: She has sung many songs for me. In her biography it is written
that she has sung the maximum songs with R D Burman and myself. She
is very sincere in her work. Even today when she sings in my Bangla
films, after every song she asks me if its OK or she would sing it
again. They are all legends, Lata-ji, Asha-ji.

MS: There is one more song which if we do not discuss, this
discussion of your Disco based songs would remain incomplete.
Its "ramba ho".

BL: Actually after "chhoDo chhoDo meri baahen", one mre hit song had
come that you didn't mention "Hari Om Hari", the film was Pyara
Dushman.

MS: Oh yes yes!

BL: Then came Armaan that had two such songs, one is "Ramba ho" by
Usha Uthup and the other was "aa meri jaisi haseena ka dil" in which
I introduced Sharon Prabhakar. The "ho ho ho" effect in "Ramba ho"
was the novelty of the song.

Clip: Ramba ho (Armaan)

MS: You have introduced a number of singers like Sharon Prabhakar,
as you said, then Alisha Chinoy etc. Wasn't it a risk every time?

BL: Not at all, not at all, they all were talented. I brought Alisha
in Tarzan, the "jee le le" song was a huge hit, Salma Agha in Kasam
Paida Karnewaale Ki, this was before Nikaah. Then I did a non-film
album with Runa Laila. I introduced Sudesh Bhosle in Waqt Ki Awaaz,
then Bali Brahmabhatt and Babul Supriyo as well.

MS: Now let us listen to one favourite song of yours. Which one
would you like me to play?

BL: This is tough question you know. Ok you can play "manzilen apni
jagah hai".

Song: manzilen apni jagah hai raaste apni jagah (Sharaabi)

MS: We discussed about sme of the most popular westernized songs of
Bappi-da. Now we would switch to some very soft numbers, like those
from zakhmee, Chalte Chalte, Phir Janam Lenge Hum, Toote Khilaune
etc.

BL: Oh you have moved back to the 70s, around 1972-73. In Lahoo Ke
Do Rang, I had composed a song on raag pahaaDi. It was sung by Mohd
Rafi saahab and Anuradha Paudwal (sings) "maathe ki bindiya bole..."
Actually Mahesh Bhatt wanted a Indian type of song for this
situation. One more favourite song of mine is "saiyaan bina ghar
soona soona" from Aangan Ki Kali. This film had Rakesh Roshan and
Laxmi as hero and heroine. Please play this song.

Song: saiyaan bina ghar soona soona (Aangan Ki Kali)

MS: Then there is "kisi nazar ko teraa intezaar aaj bhi hai".

BL: The request for this song comes in every show I visit. 'is gaane
mein ras aisaa tha, ek 'beautiful' toD tha' (sings) "kisi nazar ko
teraa intezaar aaj bhi hai"

Song: kisi nazar ko teraa intezaar aaj bhi hai (Aitbaar)

BL: It was liked by all. It was beautifully sung by Bhupinder and
Asha didi.

MS: In Chalte Chalte, the title song has been very popular.

BL: See, Chalte Chalte has come again as a new film and even Kabhi
Alvida Na Kehna is also going to release soon. But the "chalte
chalte" as sung by Kishore Kumar cannot be repeated. I am not saying
this about my music, but for Kishore Kumar and Amit Khanna who has
penned this song. "jab tak Bollywood rahegaa, this song would remain
at No-1".

Clip: chalte chalte mere yeh geet yaad rakhna (Chalte Chalte)

MS: Then you had composed a ghazal for Pankaj Udhas in Kamla. Also
you have composed some good songs in Jyoti, Manokamna and Shiksha.

BL: Kamla was an art film by Jagmohan Mundra. Deepti Naval was
playing the lead role. There was one situation for a ghazal that I
composed.In Shiksha there was a very simple song with good lyrics
(sings) "yaari hai phoolon se meri yaari hai". Manokamna has one of
my favourite songs. All other songs of this film are female songs.
Indeevar-ji had written the songs. He is yet another favourite
lyricist along with Anjaan-ji. What a fantastic song
(sings) "tumhara pyar chaahiye mujhe jeene ke liye"

Clip: tumhara pyar chaahiye mujhe jeene ke liye (Manokamna)
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doston, Bappi-da ki baaten aur unke gaane sunte sunte waqt ka pataa
hi naheen chalaa. abhi aur bhi bahut si baaten baaki hain. isliye
Bappi-da ne humse yeh vaada kiya hai ki agle hafte woh phir se
haazir ho jaayenge isi kaaryakram. to aaj ke liye basitnaa hi, agle
hafte is baatchit ka doosra bhaag sunna na bhoolen, namaskaar!

END OF PART 1