While walking the death anniversary, 'Bappi da' went dancing beyond the moon and stars to another world

There are some men (and women) who achieve so much fame and success in life that God and fate debate who should take the credit for it. This question came to my mind when Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar, the queen of Raga passed away and hardly ten days have passed and yet another talented gem like Bappi Lahiri has gone to the great beyond where it seems that God has suddenly left the world. The kingdom of heaven needs great singers and musicians to enlighten and entertain. Just like Lataji's story can never end, Bappi's story also can't end easily, his physical story may have come to an end on 16th February but his musical journey will go on and on till the music goes on.....you What about a three-year-old boy named Alokesh Lahiri who could play the tabla with effortless ease and excellence? What can you say about the same boy who grows up to be a musician who can play all kinds of instruments and specializes in synthetic music and even international music and what can you say about the same boy Who had composed music for a Bengali film "Dadu" for which he had the courage and confidence to approach Lata Mangeshkar to sing and he had the same faith in her and sang not only for her but also for her bright future also predicted?

It was the encouragement of great people like Lataji and Kishore Kumar who was his "uncle" that brought him to Bombay when he was only 19 years old. He came up with his father Aparesh Lahiri who was a music composer and a singer and his mother Banushree who was also a musician and singer. His story as a successful music composer of Bengali films had already reached Bombay and it did not take long for him to get a break in good films like 'Zakhmi' 'Vardaat' and the list went on till he made his debut with 'Disco Dancer'. History was not made, those who gave it to Hindi. A superstar's films as a disco dancer in Mithun Chakraborty, who went on to do other hugely successful films like Dance Dance and 'Kasam Badna Wale Ki', which also had music by Bappi Lahiri. And by the time Bappi was 25, he was a musician whose music could make stars and actors whose music turned stars included Sanjay Dutt, Anil Kapoor, Jeetendra and even Amitabh Bachchan. By the end of the 80s, Bappi had reached cult status and every filmmaker and every big star and every lyricist and dance director wanted to associate his name.

There was a time when Bappi did five recordings in a day in five different recording studios. He had a year when he recorded music for 38 films in a year which was a record which was not held by any other composer and will not be held by anyone now. He composed music for 33 of Jeetendra's films, mostly Hindi films made in the south. He composed music for films made in southern languages such as Tamil, Telugu and Kannada, and also for films in Gujarati and Marathi. He had by now evolved into a miraculous musical one man machine without losing the soul and spirit of the music. Critics and so-called music lovers mocked his music and lyrics and called it noise, but he went on regardless of others' opinions and his attitude made him a name not only in the country but also abroad. in different parts of the world. He collaborated with some of the leading music labels in India and even worked with top labels and leading singers in the west. He had truly become a world star. For those who believed that his music was just noise, he proved that he could be equally good at soft music, melodious music (qawwali) and even devotional music. And he never lost touch with his roots and as he cut music albums on various subjects, he also brought out albums on Bengali music, classical, local, Durga Puja songs and even out and out entertainment music.

His hectic relationship with music continued till the early 2000s and a sudden burst of music of a very different kind took him by surprise and he found it difficult to cope with this new challenge and found that what he had was not working as Once upon a time he was king. .... It was at this stage that his mind was in a flux and he had to make up his mind about his future. And he decided to go into politics. He, like many others, was mesmerized by the magic of Narendra Modi and joined the BJP, in which he saw a bright future for the country and for himself. The BJP selected him as their Lok Sabha candidate for the Shrirampur constituency in West Bengal, but all his popularity could not help him in politics and he lost the election to Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress. And this defeat had a severe effect on him both as an up-and-coming politician and a star musician. He was depressed for the past few years and was spending time with his family, his wife Chitrani, his son Bappa, daughter Rema, daughter-in-law Tanshree and grandson Krish. Bappi was always a mix of a creative and sensitive person and a businessman. He had involvement in all of his musical business activities. After the stupendous success of his music in Namak Halal, he built his first house in Juhu Vile Parle Yojna and named his bungalow Namak Halal. But as he became more successful, he renamed his bungalow as Lahiri House, where he had lavish birthday parties and pujas. I once asked him what was the best party he ever had at Lahiri House and he didn't take a second to say, "The night Dev Anand came to wish me on my birthday". Bappi was always grateful to filmmakers like Tahir Hussain, Satyen Chowdhary, Prakash Mehra, Anil Ganguly Partho Ghosh, Vijay Anand, Ketan Anand, Amit Khanna and above all Dev Anand, even though he worked with them in only one film, which was a hundred. It was crores.

It is very difficult to end an article on someone who you have seen grow from the time when what is called the film industry is a speck of dust on the big side, but I have to end this article with a heavy heart. My only regret is that Bappi could have taken a little more care of his health or his family, but he could not, and now Bappi has gone to a world where no one can even ask questions. Many years ago, Lataji sang a song under Bappi's direction. 'Phir Janam Lenge Hum' Now Lataji is gone and Bappi too. Will both of them take birth again?