Bappi Lahiri hits a high note

Bappi Lahiri hits a high note

Lata Mangeshkar records with three generations of the Lahiri family

Subhash K Jha

With this recent feat, Lata Mangeshkar will have recorded with three generations of the Lahiri family.

Says Bappi Lahiri, "Latadidi who recorded songs for my father Aparesh Lahiri also sang some of my most beautiful ballads including 'Saiyyan bina ghar soona' (Aangan Ki Kali), 'Jaane kyon mujhe' (Agreement), 'Dard ki ragini' (Pyaas) and 'Sooni Sej sajaa doon' (Jyoti) and of course 'Thoda resham lagta hai' which became a huge international re-mix hit. Now, Latadidi will record a song for my son Bappa."

In the past, Lata Mangeshkar has sung for father-son composer, like Sachin Dev and Rahul Dev Burman, Roshan and Rajesh Roshan and Chitragupta and Anand-Milind. "But never has she sung for a third generation composer from the same family. I feel very blessed," says Bappi.

Meanwhile, Bappi's singing career is also on the upswing. In the last few months he has recorded as many as 15 songs in 15 days for music directors as far-ranging as Vishal-Shekhar and debutant Nitin Shankar for the film Bombay To Goa.

"Earlier I used to sing only my own songs. All of a sudden, new music composers want me to record for them. What can I say? But my proudest moment came when I sang for my song, 'Bappa Lahiri' for an untitled film being produced by Sanjay Gupta. It was a very big moment for me, because I had sung for my father and now I got to sing for my son. I don't think any composer had the privilege to sing for both his father and son."

The only other occasion when a father-composer got to sing for his son was when Sachin Dev Burman sang 'Doli mein bithaiyeeke' for his son Rahul in Amar Prem.