Disco King Bappi Lahiri And His Charms

by Amit Ranjan

Year: 27th September, 2006

The indomitable ‘keeng of deesco’, Bappi da, has his ears stuck to his mobile. Why? Because he’s gone hi-fi and is taking auditions on his cell phone. Channel V has launched its Mobile Singer contest, where you call up and sing a Bappi da song. After shortlisting the top 15, they’ll have the chosen one — who’ll feature in a video with, as the channel says, the Baap of Bling Bling.

Bappi da who came onto the stage with a hot-shot babe at the launch, offered some gyaan, “This is a very great ‘myujical conception’. I have groomed many stars — Alisha Chinoy, Bali Brahmabhatt, Vijay Benedict, Runa Laila, Sharon Prabhakar. You have your chance to become a star.”

Bappi da, loaded with charms, amulets and gold jewelry, said he’s privileged to have produced today’s music 20 years ago, for all his ‘Disco Dancer thing’ is a major club hit. And he’s planning the myujik of the future already; he is making Dev Anand rap and hip-hop to his myujik in Mister Prime Minister. Bappi da is really upbeat these days with ten projects under his belt (now we know the reason for his pot belly — he’s producing music for belly dance), and the “myujikal score of Maine Gandhi Ko Nahi Maara is a classic, Titanic jaisa.” Hope it’s not as classic as Classic: Dance of Love (heard of this latest Mithun-Bappi combine? In the opening sequence, Mithun da famously replies to a “good morning” with a “What is so good about this morning” and dances to the title song sung by Sukhwinder despite being in chains, and despite the fact that even Nataraj can’t dance in chains).

Dwelling on the matter of chains, I ask Bappi da if he was punning when he sang, “Yaar bina chain kahan re.”

“Tum bahut maja kiya hai,” he pats my back and goes on to display his chains, about which he says, “Ye poora paanch kilo sona hai.” He continues with a description of the chains, “Ye dekho sabhi reeleegion ka symbol hai- idhar Mother Mary hai, idhar Shiva hai, idhar Kooran kaaa yat hai, aur idhar mother India hai” etc. To digress just a bit, one must listen to Bappida’s “O Mother India we are your cheelrain” if one hasn’t.

Dada has come with his son Bappa, who is also training to be a singer. He indulges me with some family talk too, “Mera beti ko to toom janta hai –Reema. She is a purrfect dancer. Abhi uska shaadi kiya. Hamara jamai bhi hamara caste ka hi hai. Woh opera gaan gaata hai Aameriika mein.”

Dada has a lot of clout in Hollywood too. “Aajkal toh lounge myujik chal raha hai, so I have done an album called Bikram Lounge, with Diana Ross. I got Samantha Fox to India for Rock Dancer…Michael Jackson met me first when he came to India.” You can’t blame dada for boasting, for right now he’s toasting to his victory in a piracy case where he sued an American company for copying his Kaliyon Ka Chaman and won the case.