EXCLUSIVE: “Bappi Lahiri zyada baat nahi karte the. He asked me the meaning of ‘Bombaat’. I told him that it means ‘a sexy girl’. He smiled on hearing that” – Rajat Arora

By Fenil Seta -

February 16, 2022 - 3:00 PM IST

Bollywood fans and music lovers woke up today to the shocking news that music legend Bappi Lahiri passed away due to health issues. He was 69 and was admitted earlier to a hospital in Mumbai. The composer-singer had a glorious career and sang and composed innumerable songs which are etched in public memory even today. One song that which featured in this list is ‘Ooh La La’ from Vidya Balan-starrer The Dirty Picture (2011), directed by Milan Luthria. The song helped the film generate tremendous buzz. Even post-release, the song’s popularity remained intact. There are several videos on the internet of stage shows where audiences go crazy as soon as Bappi started crooning this naughty track, composed by Vishal-Shekhar.

EXCLUSIVE: “Bappi Lahiri zyada baat nahi karte the. He asked me the meaning of ‘Bombaat’. I told him that it means ‘a sexy girl’. He smiled on hearing that” – Rajat Arora

‘Ooh La La’ was written by Rajat Arora, also the popular dialogue writer of The Dirty Picture and Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai (2010). When Bollywood Hungama contacted him, he said, “I am very sad (to know about his demise). He was a great musician. A legend!” He added, “He sang a song written by me. It was one of the highlights of my career.”

When asked whether Bappi Lahiri was the original choice for ‘Ooh La La’, Rajat Arora replied, “We (Rajat Arora, music director duo Vishal-Shekhar, director Milan Luthria) had worked together in Taxi No 9211 (2016), for which he sang ‘Bambai Nagariya’ (written by Vishal Dadlani; Rajat was the story writer of this film). So, it was the same team that was working on The Dirty Picture. I don’t remember who suggested his name. However, everyone unanimously agreed that ‘Ooh La La’ should be sung only by Bappi Lahiri. That’s how he came on board. That song became a blockbuster. It was the biggest hit of the year.”

Rajat Arora also remarked, “At that time, Rockstar and Desi Boyz had also released and their music album was also doing well. However, our song ‘Ooh La La’ stood out. It was the magic of his voice and the way he sang, in the heroic way of the 80s, that made it a phenomenal track.”

Rajat Arora then opened up about the experience of recording ‘Ooh La La’, “Bappi da was a very polite and humble person. Zyada baat nahi karte the aur muskuraate rehte the. He asked me the meaning of the word ‘bombaat’. I told him that it’s a colloquial term and it means ‘a sexy girl’. He smiled on hearing that. He had worked with so many established names in his career. Yet, he never bragged about it and never made anyone feel inferior ever. Some people have this notion that ‘humne toh saari duniya dekhi hai’. He was not like that. He came, he sang and did his magic.”

Rajat continued, “After the film was released, he sang ‘Ooh La La’ in a lot of award functions and music shows. That song had become a rage. I don’t think anyone else could have sung the way he did.”

When asked to comment on how ‘Ooh La La’ became an important part of his live shows, Rajat Arora humbly stated, “I think that happened as it was a newer song. However, nothing could match Disco Dancer’s (1982) popularity. That one was a platinum jubilee hit. To be very honest, I feel people don’t give him credit for romantic and soft numbers, which are mind-blowing, like ‘Pyaar Maanga Hai Tumhi Se, Na Inkaar Karo’, ‘Chalte Chalte’, etc. We used to buy cassettes and listen to his songs, When Google didn’t exist, I have won many bets because of his song ‘Jalta Hai Jiya Meri Bheegi Bheegi Raaton Mein’!”

How did that happen? Rajat Arora explained, “When a song used to be played, say on FM, we used to guess who must have composed this track. So when ‘Jalta Hai Jiya Meri Bheegi Bheegi Raaton Mein’ was played, my friends wrongly assumed that this must not be a Bappi da song. However, I knew the correct answer as I had the cassette of Zakhmee (1975) and that’s how I won the bet. It’s a mind-blowing song!”

Rajat Arora also said, “Once, we were on our way to Goa by road. On the way, we bought an audio CD, comprising 100+ songs of Bappi Lahiri. You won’t believe, woh 12 ghante ka safar kaise guzar gaya, humein pata hi nahi chala. Ek bhi gaana aisa nahi tha ki humne fast forward kiya ho ya koi gaana skip kiya ho.”

Rajat Arora also shared a not-so-popular trivia about the greatness of Bappi Lahiri’s songs, “For the 32nd Filmfare Awards (held in 1985), there were 4 nominations for Best Male Playback Singer. All 4 were Kishore Kumar tracks and that too from Sharaabi (1984). And all the songs were composed by Bappi da! Those four songs were 'De De Pyaar De', 'Manzilein Apni Jagah Hain', 'Log Kehte Hain', and 'Inteha Ho Gayi'. Imagine the popularity of the album!”

Before signing off, Rajat Arora said that he last saw the composer-singer ten years back, in 2012, “I last met him during Global Indian Music Academy Awards, where he gave a live performance. That’s the problem in this industry. If you don’t work with someone, you lose touch.”

Also Read: RIP Bappi Lahiri: Alisha Chinai comes out of self-imposed exile to talk of her long association with Bappi Lahiri; says, “He was an unstoppable meteor”