Singers Shaan, Udit Narayan and Abhijeet Bhattacharya on Thursday remembered Bappi Lahiri as a maverick singer-composer who never took his talent for granted.
Lahiri, who passed away following multiple health issues on Tuesday, was cremated at Vile Parle’s Pawan Hans Crematorium in the presence of family and friends from the industry. He was 69.
Actors Vidya Balan, Shakti Kapoor, Roopali Ganguly, Deb Mukherjee, singer Mika Singh, producer Bhushan Kumar, filmmaker KC Bokadia, who had worked with the composer in his 1990 Amitabh Bachchan starrer “Aaj Ka Arjun”, and Vindu Dara Singh were present at the funeral.
Narayan, who had worked with the composer in films like Dev Anand directorial “Awwal Number” (1990) and “Afsana Pyar Ka” both starring Aamir Khan, said the veteran went away too soon.
But just like the lines “Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna” from his popular song “Chalte Chalte”, it would be impossible to bid him goodbye.
“It is an emotional moment today. I believe a talent like him, a person like him shouldn’t have gone too soon. His death was shocking and made all of us sad. Bappi da was our beloved disco king. He worshipped music and was devoted to it.
“If you look at his career, his songs have created history. That doesn’t happen often. Woh ek jaadugar the (He was a magician),” the singer told PTI.
Narayan, 66, said he feels “blessed” that he got to collaborate with Lahiri, who he described as a musician with a childlike quality.
“He was a gentleman with incredible talent. My favourite song by Bappi da is ‘Chalte Chalte Mere Ye Geet Yaad Rakhna’. How can we say alvida to him? It would be impossible to forget him. I pray that his soul rests in peace,” Narayan said.
Shaan said Lahiri was a “genius” who didn’t show off his talent. The singer sang for many of Lahiri’s Bengali films, including “Hangover” and “Swabhoomi”.
“He was a genius, who never believed in showing off. He had a peculiar habit, whenever you sang for him, he would make everything around seem so warm, easy and say, ‘Bohot achcha gaya (You sang so well), superhit song!’ in his style,” Shaan told reporters.
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