The camaraderie and rapport between Bappi and Sameer’s father Anjaan continued for many years. Sameer revealed, “Bappi da used to call my father ‘godman’ saying that my father was one of the most honest and earnest people he had ever met. Bappi da always wanted my father to work with him in South films, too. But my father feared boarding airplanes and could never go with him down South. So Bappi da came up with the idea that Anjaan would write all his Hindi songs while Indeevar ji would write for all of Bappi da’s South music. The only exceptions were times when a few South producers came to Bombay to make the music and ended up working with my father. Bappi da had a huge contribution to both my father’s as well as my career.”
Having grown up around Bappi and his music, Sameer has strong opinions on the music director’s legacy. He added, “He was a pioneer and brought many new styles of music to our films. Disco will always be synonymous with Bappi da.” He further revealed, “He entered the film industry when established names like Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Pancham Da and Kalyanji-Anandji were dominating the music scenario. And yet, this young man from Kolkata was able to carve a niche for himself by creating an all new movement in film music. He had a major contribution to the history of film music. The sheer volume of work that Bappi da has managed over the years is staggering. I think he is beaten only by Laxmikant-Pyarelal ji in terms of the number of films. He was one of the few music directors who could record 3 to 4 songs in a single day. No other music director could manage that kind of speed.”
Like so many others from Bollywood, who have praised Bappi Lahiri’s simplicity, Sameer too added, “The best part of Bappi da was that he was focused on his craft and work. He was not the type to be interested in the lives of people or in hearsay. He would always march to his own tune.” Since he was constantly in touch with the Lahiris, Sameer also gave an update on what Bappi was going through in recent times. He said, “For the last two years, his health had deteriorated a lot. The suffering began as Bappi da began to lose his voice and unfortunately, it never came back. He even got surgery on one of his legs, because due to his weight, he was unable to stand and put pressure on one of his legs. He was bound to the wheelchair for the last few months.”
Getting emotional, he signed off with, “Our generation, the generation before us have learnt a lot from Bappi da’s work and I am sure the generations to come, will continue to reap benefits of Bappi da’s timeless music.”
