Bappi Lahiri’s  Special  Tuning With Lata Mangeshkar

It seems as if  Bappi Lahiri decided to  join his Saraswati Mata  up there  where they can create some  more divine music.

Indeed Bappi’s tuning  with his  Mata Saraswati was divine.

“I had Lataji’s blessings from the beginning. Whatever Bappi Lahiri is today is because of my parents and Lataji. She’s my Saraswati. It was because of her support that Bappi Lahiri could establish himself in Mumbai. Otherwise who would have given Bappi a chance when stalwarts composers like Laxmikant-Pyarelal, R D Burman and Kalyanji-Anandji were around?” Bappida once  told me  emotionally.

He  was  extremely  proud of the songs that Lataji  sang for  him. “Whether  it was Thoda  resham lagta hai and Sooni sej sajaa doon in Jyoti, Zid na karo in Lahoo Ke Do Rang, Jab se mile naina and Deewani deewani in First Love Letter,Nainon mein sapna in Himmatwala or the Bangla song Sab lal pathor in the film Mondira, Mata Saraswati gave  special something to my compositions each time. She made sure her songs for her  mooh-bola  beta(foster son) were  extra-special. I may be  more known  for  Disco station and Tamma tamma loge. But my  creations for Mata Saraswati were  divine.”

Lataji too  was all praise for Bappida. “Bappi  is very close to me and the family.  I sang for his father(Aparesh Lahiri) who was  a big composer  in Bengal. Then I sang for Bappi from the time he  began his career.One of my Bappi Lahiri compositions Thoda resham lagta hai was re-mixed by an American group. Quite frankly I didn’t  remember this number at all. When I heard it in the number by Truth Hurts I asked my family where it was from. It was they who told me that I had sung it in a film called Jyoti. I had no idea who ‘Truth Hurts’ was. Since  Jyoti   stars Hema Malini , who’s one of my favourite actresses, I made it a  point to watch Jyoti when it came on  television. I didn’t mind it being used in the American song because   Truth Hurts hasn’t tampered with  my voice or the composition in  any way.I don’t think  any composer in Hindi cinema had  the range  of Bappida except R D Burman.From the raga  based Dard  ki ragini in Pyaas to Thoda resham lagta hai, I sang every kind of song for Bappi.”