‘Yaad Aa Raha Hai Tera Pyar’ – Goan musicians pay tribute to Bappi Lahiri

If not for the gold chains that he flaunted but for the disco hits like ‘Koi Yahan Naache Naache’, ‘Jimmy Jimmy’ or ‘Disco Dancer’ that he composed, Bappi Lahiri will never be forgotten.

The country lost a gem of a musician who carved his own niche in the music industry and revolutionized party numbers from the late 70s-era Bollywood music to the 90s.

As the country mourns the loss of this great music legend, Goan singers and musicians, who worked with Bappi Lahiri on several projects, share interesting insights about the kind of person that he was and how they enjoyed working with him.

Upon hearing the news of Bappi Lahiri's death, Goa’s famed singer and Padma Shri, Remo Fernandes shared a witty anecdote on his social media handle.

“The industry was full of humorous stories about the man; about all the gold he always wore, about the foreign songs he plagiarized, and so on. But he was a lovely person. With a genuinely simple, kind, loving, almost naïve heart," he continued.

He went on to share the kind of relationship he had with Bappi Da and said “I remember that, after the first song I recorded for him (I did at least two), he was the only music director who took the relationship further and invited me to his lavish home for dinner. And introduced me to his young daughter, who looked so much like him, saying "Remo, meet Reema; Reema, meet Remo. Your names are so similar; you'll make a great duo on stage! I hope y'all will sing together someday! That never happened."

Cherishing the wonderful time he spent with him, he ended his tribute note with a heartfelt message, “Rest in eternal peace, Bappi. And join the great celestial orchestra in the sky.”

Jazz pianist and music director, Ronnie Monsorate, who worked with Bappi Lahiri for over 10 years said that it is a great loss to the country.

Ronnie explained the kind of person Bappi Da was and said, “Whenever I worked with him it was more like a picnic, a very happy warm feeling. It was never stressful. He brought out the best in us.”

He informed that a lot of people accused him of plagiarism which, however, was not correct as he had watched him work day and night in the studio.

“I have seen him live. He used to have seating from 10 am to 4 pm and composing at that kind of speed was great. On average we used to compose two songs a day," Ronnie narrated.

According to Ronnie, the best part working with Bappi was that he worked together with the lyricist, music composers, and took inputs from all.

Ronnie also spoke about his last visit to Bappi Da’s house which was on his birthday on November 27. “I had a chat with him for his birthday and looking at his condition, I could sense that his health was deteriorating,” added Ronnie.

He also mentioned that the news of Lata Mangeshkar passing away impacted Bappi Da as she was the one who gave him his first break.

Bappi Lahiri has worked with singers-composer like Alfred Rose and others in Goa. The duo worked together for the 1983 film Love in Goa which talks about a love story of a Catholic girl and a Hindu boy from Goa.