Just over a week after melody queen Lata Mangeshkar left us all silent, disco king Bappi Lahiri passed away Tuesday night at the CritiCare Hospital in Juhu. The music director, 69, had multiple health issues.
“He had been admitted to the hospital for a month and was discharged on Monday. But his health deteriorated on Tuesday and his family called for a doctor to visit their home. He was brought to the hospital. He died due to OSA (obstructive sleep apnea) shortly before midnight,” Dr Deepak Namjoshi, director of the hospital briefed mediapersons.
Bappi da , as he was popularly known, was a singer, music director, record producer. He popularised disco beats in India in the 1970s and 80s and is known as the father of synthesized disco beats. Hailed for hit songs from films like Chalte Chalte , Disco Dancer and Sharaabi, he is also credited with scoring popular strains in Bengali films like Amar Sangee , Asha O Bhalobasha, Aamar Tumi and Amar Prem.
Bappi da leaves behind the enviable spot of having composed for 12 silver jubilee super hit movies. He sang in Tamil, Bengali, Hindi and Kannada and entered the Guinness Book of World Records in 1986 for recording over 180 songs for 33 films.
Born Alokesh Lahiri (November 1952), he popularised the use of synthesized disco music in Indian cinema. In 2014, he contested from Sreerampore (Bengal) on a BJP ticket. His maternal uncle was Kishore Kumar.
