Bappi Lahiri, the veteran music composer and singer best known for popularising disco music in Indian cinema, died at Mumbai’s CritiCare Hospital on Tuesday night, PTI reported. He was 69.
Dr Deepak Namjoshi, director of the hospital, told PTI, “Lahiri 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 had multiple health issues. He died due to OSA (obstructive sleep apnea) shortly before midnight.”
Last year, the singer was admitted to Breach Candy in Mumbai in April as a “precautionary measure” after presenting mild symptoms of Covid-19.
His spokesperson had then told ANI, “Despite utmost precautions, unfortunately, Mr Bappi Lahiri has tested positive for Covid-19. He is under very good and expert care at the Breach Candy Hospital.”
Lahiri, who was known as the ‘Disco King’ of Indian cinema, had a string of blockbusters in the 1980s and 1990s, including soundtracks such as Wardat, Disco Dancer, Namak Halaal, Dance Dance, Commando, Saheb, Gang Leader, Sailaab, and Sharaabi.
Born in 1952 in Calcutta, Lahiri received his first opportunity in a Bengali film, Daadu (1972). The first Hindi movie for which he composed music was Nanha Shikari (1973). However, his breakthrough film in the Hindi industry was Tahir Husain’s Zakhmee (1975), for which he composed music and doubled as a playback singer.
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In 2016, Lahiri voiced the character Tamatoa in the Hindi-dubbed version of Moana, the animated Disney hit. He also sang a song for the dubbed version of the film.
His last Hindi song titled Bhankas was for the 2020 film Baaghi 3 and his last television appearance was on the reality show Bigg Boss 15, where he had come to promote the launch of his grandson Swastik’s new song, Baccha Party.
Lahiri is survived by his son Bappa and daughter Rema.