BAPPI LAHIRI- The Gold Man of Bollywood

 

Bappi has his own unmatched personal style. He is the perfect blend of East and West, and his wardrobe ranges from the traditional Indian kurta and sherwani to the western sweatshirts and blazers. He is fond of wearing pieces of jewellery that represent significant symbols in his life. Bappi is famous throughout India for his trademark gold ornaments and sunglasses.

Talking about his love for the yellow metal, Bappi Da said in an interview, “I have everything in gold, right from my glasses, rings to my watches and all my ornaments. Mere jaisa ornaments aaj tak koi bhi nahin pehenta hai. Main gold ko lucky manta hoon. I believe that whatever work I have done in the last 50 years and I am still doing, is because of the grace of the Goddess Lakshmi.”

Bappi Lahiri was born in Calcutta, West Bengal on 27th Nov1952 into a family with a rich tradition in classical music. He began to play the tabla at the tender age of three. Even at that tender age, Bappi showed signs of greatness as he played the tabla with the proficiency of an experienced professional.

His father, Aparesh Lahiri was a famous Bengali singer and his mother, Bansari Lahiri was a musician and a singer who was well-versed in classical music and Shyama Sangeet. His parents trained him in every aspect of music. Kishore Kumar was his maternal uncle.

Bappi as Child

Bappi as Teenager

At the age of 19, he became an independent composer in a Bengali film. His first Hindi film as a composer was 'Nanna Shikari' released in 1973 but  the film which established him in Bollywood was Tahir Husain's Hindi film, Zakhmee (1975),

He shot to fame in the 80s and 90s with foot-tapping disco numbers. He introduced Vijay Benedict and Sharon Prabhakar to the Bollywood and paved the path to fame for Alisha Chinai and Usha Uthup through his compositions.He is also known for soundtracks like Wardat, Disco Dancer, Namak Halaal, Dance Dance, Commando, Gang Leader, Sailaab and Sharaabi 

Along with Biddu, Bappi popularized the use of synthesized disco music in Indian cinema with an Indian flavour. Most of his songs werer rendered by singers such as Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhosle  In 2011, he sang the song Ooo la la Ooo la lain the movie The Dirty Picture for Vishal-Shekhar. In late 2016, Bappi Lahiri lent his voice to the character of Tamatoa in the Hindi-dubbed version of Disney's 3D computer-animated fantasy adventure film Moana; he himself also composed and sang a song in the film 

Song of Zakhmee 1975

Song of Chalte Chalte 1976

Song of Aap Ke Khatir (1977)

Song of Suraksha 1979

Song of Pyaara Dushman (1980)

Song of Wardaat (1981)

Song of Namak Halaal (1982)

Song of Disco Dancer (1983)

ong of Sharaabi (1984)

Song of Thanedaar (1990)

Song of Dirty Picture 2011

Helen - The Original Dancing Diva of Bollywood

Started her career as a Chorus Dancer Helen became the first Dancing Diva of Bollywood. It was the dance song Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu from the film Howrah Bridge in 1958 made her the Cabaret Queen of Bollywood. She changed the entire scenario of dance in Hindi cinema from the early 50s to the late 70s to emerge many years later as a character actress in a few chosen films. 
She was born in Burma (21 Nov), now Myanmar, to a Burmese mother and Anglo-Indian father. The famous dancing star Cuckoo was a family friend. She introduced her as a dancer in the chorus in Shabista in 1951.  She got  her first hit song-and-dance number in Baarish (1957), Mr John, Baba Khan ya Lala Roshandaan Jo Bhi Dekhe Mera Jalwa Ho Jaaye Qurbaan. 

She was initially trained in the Manipuri style. Then she learnt Bharat Natyam from P.L. Raj, one of the leading choreographers of the time. Kathak followed this. She was the one who introduced the cabaret and the belly dance in Indian films.  
Helen vamped three generations of men, Prithviraj Kapoor (Harishchandra Taramati), Raj Kapoor (Anari (1959)) and Rishi Kapoor (Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan (1977)).
Hindi cinema found many uses for Helen. Since she was an outsider in almost every sense – by name, by national origin, by heredity – she could be anyone. And so a million fantasies were pinned on to one single form. She could be an Italian countess (Prince (1969)) or a German one (Ek Se Badhkar Ek (1976)) or an Anglo-Indian gold-digger (Gumnaam (1965)) or a tribal (Baadal) or an aboriginal Maharashtrian Koli fisherwoman (Inkaar (1977)) or a Chinese woman (Howrah Bridge (1958)) or a Roman Catholic Jenny (Imaan Dharam (1977)).

 She was nominated for the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award in 1965 for her role in Gumnaam. She played dramatic roles such as the rape victim in Shakti Samanta's Pagla Kahin Ka (1970).It was  a role in Mahesh Bhatt's film Lahu Ke Do Rang (1979), for which she won a Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award. In 1999 Helen was given India's Filmfare lifetime achievement award.
Helen officially retired from movies in 1983, but she has since then appeared in a few guest roles such as Khamoshi: The Musical (1996) and Mohabbatein (2000). She also made a special appearance as the mother of real-life step-son Salman Khan's character in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.. She also appeared in Humko Deewana Kar Gaye in 2006.

Helen was selected for the Padma Shri awards of 2009 along with Aishwarya Rai and Akshay Kumar.

Song of Baarish 1957

Song of Howrah Bridge 1958

Song of China Town (1962)

Song of Gumnaam (1965)

Song of Teesri Manzil (1966)

Song of Talaash (1969)

Song of Intaquam (1969)

Song of The Train (1970)

Song of Caravan (1970)

Song of Sholay (1975)

Song of Don 1978

The Evolution of Bollywood Dance

Songs and Dance are integral part of Indian films.No Bollywood film would be complete without many songs and dances.The style of dancing in earlier Bollywood films was based on Indian Classical Dance or Folk Dances from various parts of India. These dances included the classical art forms of Kathak and Bharata Natyam. But today, Bollywood has developed its own corpus of material.Bollywood Style of Dancing is now a craze in UK,USA and Europe.
Earlier films from south India tended to show a lot of influence from Bharat Natyam and Kuchipudi while Hindi films tended to show strong influences of Kathak or the "mujara" dances that were associated with the tawaifs.  
The very first movie fully Choreographed was Kalpana (1948) produced and directed by the renowned dancer Uday Shankar. In the same year another film released was S S Vasan's Chanrakanta choreographed by Tarun Chopra,the disciple of Uday Shankar ji.With the success of both these films the era of dance began in Hindi Cinema.Before that a film Roti (1942) became hit because of Sitara Devi's Dance.

Dance from Roti 1942

Dance from Kalpana1948

There were some great dancers in that era.  Indian Cinema was blessed with great dancers like Geetanjali, Sandhya, Vyajayantimala,Padmini,Ragini & Mahipal who with their outstanding energy and performance mesmerized the audiences and took dance to the next level. In 1951 Raj Kapoor gave the industry a lavish song-and-dance dream sequence.Filmed evocatively in black and white, ‘showman’ Kapoor gets his muse Nargis to ‘welcome her wanderer home’, on the backdrop of an over-the-top set featuring a grand stairway, lots of mist, a giant dancing Shiva and a crowd of background female dancers. Nargis rose to the challenge and proved her versatility with her dancing feet.

In the late 50's & 60's group dances began to evolve in Bollywood films & choreographers started managing larger groups of dancers, with influences from folk dances. One may also find songs about holidays, (e.g., Holi), Mother India, the moon, or other topics; but these are far less common.Another style of dancing evolved in 60s was heroes and heroines were singing romantic songs running and dancing around trees.Some of these moves were really rather hard to class as dancing.  The spastic deliveries of songs by Shammi Kapoor came to mind.  Still, from these random spastic jerks and jumping around, identifiable moves began to develop. In that period V Shantaram made few great Song & Dance Movies like Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje,Dr Vidya and Navrang.

Dance from Dr Vidya

In the 50s a new style of dance was introduced by Bhagwan dada which became very popular.A film Albela in 1951 had many songs and dance in a new style.These steps are still liked by the audience.Amitabh Bachchan copied those steps in many of hit films in 70s and 80s

Song from Albela 1951

The new entry in Bollywood dance was cabarets and western dances.The cabaret scene is probably the most significant artistic and commercial example of the Bollywood dance.  It may be considered to be the first truly 'Bollywood" form.

Song from Howrah Bridge 1958

Undoubtedly the reining queen of the cabaret dance was Helen.  She was born Helen Jairag Richardson, of mixed Anglo-Indian-Burmese descent.  She started dancing and acting in the 1950s, and by the 1960s was the undisputed queen of the item girls.  However by the 1970s, item numbers were going to the younger girls.
In the 80s Cabaret was replaced by Disco, which was a worldwide phenomenon at the time.
By this time classical dance vanished from Hindi films only in Period films Mujra were shown.With the emergence of Mithun Chakraborti disco was the main attraction during that period.After that in 90s came an era which introduced Bollywood Free Style of dancing which was well represented by dancers like Govinda who developed their own signature style of dance.
Now since the inception of MTV , Bollywood dancing has been heavily influenced by Western dance styles, and incorporates elements from the West. In many cases, the musical numbers are released as separate music videos, and the soundtracks are released prior to the film, in order to further advertise the upcoming feature films. In modern Bollywood films, the musical numbers are often based on the Hip-Hop style of dance as well as other variations of Hip-Hop dance.The dance movements have become more bold & extroverted to capture the audience’s attention. 

Dance from ABCD

For the last few years Remo D'souza the famous Choreographer is making films based on Dances.He made India's first 3D dance movie, ABCD - AnyBody Can Dance, with contestants from season 1 and season 2 of Dance India Dance (Dharmesh Yelande, Punit Pathak, Salman Yusuff Khan, Bhavna, Prince and others),Prabhu Deva and Lauren Gottlieb. After that ABCD 2, was released in June 2015. It starred Varun Dhawan, Shraddha Kapoor, and Prabhu Deva in lead roles, with Lauren Gottlieb, Punit Pathak, Raghav Juyal, and Dharmesh Yelande in supporting roles.
The Evolution of Bollywood Dance is a process that is entirely Indian and yet cross-cultural at the same time.
Some of the Iconic Dances of Bollywood

This song changed the Indian music industry era & created a milestone platform important thing Lata Mangeshkar is the Golden voice gifted by the God....and the immortal Nagin dance by Vyajayantimala.

Song from Nagin 1954

                                The great Dance by Gopi Kishan and Sandhya

Dance from Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje 1955

 The best and liveliest example of Bharatanatyam on a film.

Song from Azaad (1955)

The famous Kathputli Dance was shown in Chori Chori.Very well picturized on Raj Kapoor & Nargis.

Song from Chori Chori 1956

After Sandhya I think Vyajayantimala was a dancing star in Bollywood. She was the first South Indian actress to become a Bollywood star and "paved a way" for other south Indian actresses to foray into Bollywood. Vyjayanthimala's main concentration

 was in Bharata Natyam,

 

Song from Sadhna (1958) 

WHAT A DANCE SONG, WHAT A CHOREOGRAPHY AND OF COURSE THE MUSIC OF SALIL Da.

Song from Madhumati 1958

Time is just frozen as you watch this masterpiece. Big salute to Madhubala and OP Naiyer ji

Song from Phagun ,1958,

One of the amazing song & dance produced ever, Sandhya performs so beautifully, one of the greatest dancer of Bollywood.She will always be remembered for her great personality and amazing looks.

Song from Navrang 1959

The milestone Dance of Hindi film industry is this song ,Lata Mangeshkar's voice and Madhubala s dance are just complimenting each other n a real justice to this song

Song from Mughal e Azam 1960

Helen is pure perfection. Every move, every gesture is on point.Helen"s thumkas, steps & insertions are nicely blended & took up the task of choreography perfectly.

Song from Parasmani (1963)

Wonderful dance by Asha Parekh - so talented , Look at the great talent of this woman ' Asha Paresh ' and maneuvering of her body in the way her Guru Gopi

Krishna taught.

Song from Ziddi (1964)

SERPENT DANCE BY Waheeda Rehman in GUIDE (1965).A real treat to watch

Dance from Guide 1965

This dance is from Amrapali , a 1966 historical Hindi film directed by Lekh Tandon, starring Vyjayanthimala and Sunil Dutt as leads. Music of the film was by Shankar-Jaikishan. Vyjayanthimala is truly one wonder woman.Personality,figure,her position,style,communication

skills, her dance graceful,

Dance from Amrapali 1966

Long dance sequence with minimum clipping...only Vijayanthimala can do it..5 stars to this song and dance sequence. Lata is just brilliant .Wow.

Song from Jewel Thief 1967

A great dance compitition between 3 legends  Vyajayantimala,Helen and Shammi Kapoor  

Song from Prince (1969)

How can we miss this great song and dance by Helen in Carvan 1971,this film has many dances.

Song from Carvan 1971

With this film Disco Dancer this form of dancing became popular.This songs gives you full energy... Your body get automatically start responding to every beats

Song from Disco Dancer 1982

Madhuridixit is one of the greatest dancer in India and no doubt people appreciated her performance in this song.She became hit after this dance.

Song from Tejab 1988

This is the Magic of Madhuri and Saroj khan.Madhuri Dixit is unmatchable in Bollywood,she gave many song and Dance hits.

Song from Beta 1992

With the emergence of Govinda his style of Dancing became popular.He along with Karishma kapoor gave many Hit songs,this is one of those songs.

Hero No1 1997

With Dil to Paagal Hai Shimak Davar changed the way dance was perceived in Indian films,he is the first to bring contemporary jazz and western forms of dance to India. He is known as the guru of contemporary dance in India.

Song from Dil To Paagal Hai 1997

Today's generation can't even imagine the craze of this song when it was released.With this film emerged a new form of dancing.

Song from kaho na pyar hai 2000

This dance brought Madhuri Dixit and Aishwarya Rai in sync with each other by Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Song from Devdas 2002

Happy Birthday Bappi Lahiri-The Disco King of Bollywood

The singer-composer Bappi Lahiri who turned 65 has crooned disco numbers like 'I am a disco dancer', 'Ramba ho', 'Hari Om Hari' and 'Yaar bina chain kahan re'.He was the pioneer of disco beats in India and his refreshing, vibrant, and rhythmic music had the entire nation dancing in 80s and 90s.
 He began to play the tabla at the tender age of three. Even at that tender age, Bappi showed signs of greatness as he played the tabla with the proficiency of an experienced professional. He received his first opportunity in a Bengali film, Daadu (1972) at the age of 19 and the first Hindi film for which he composed music was Nanha Shikari (1973). The film which established him in Bollywood was Tahir Husain's Hindi film, Zakhmee (1975),
He introduced Vijay Benedict and Sharon Prabhakar to the Bollywood and paved the path to fame for Alisha Chinai and Usha Uthup through his compositions.
He is also known for soundtracks like Wardat, Disco Dancer, Namak Halaal, Dance Dance, Commando, Gang Leader, Sailaab and Sharaabi 
Along with Biddu, Bappi popularized the use of synthesized disco music in Indian cinema with an Indian flavour. Most of his songs werer rendered by singers such as Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhosle  In 2011, he sang the song Ooo la la Ooo la lain the movie The Dirty Picture for Vishal-Shekhar. In late 2016, Bappi Lahiri lent his voice to the character of Tamatoa in the Hindi-dubbed version of Disney's 3D computer-animated fantasy adventure film Moana; he himself also composed and sang a song in the film

Song from Zakhmee 1975

Song from Chalte Chalte (1976)

Song from Aap Ke Khatir (1977)

Song from Suraksha (1979)

Song from Pyaara Dushman (1980)

Song from Wardaat (1981)

Song from Namak Halaal (1982)

Song from Himmatwala (1983)

Song from Disco Dancer (1983)

Song from Sharaabi (1984)

Song from Thanedaar (1990)

Song from Dirty Picture 2011