Bhupinder Singh: The Popular Voice That Drawing Room Singers Were Drawn To

Whenever one thinks of the booming pain-lashed voice of Bhupinder Singh, one thinks of Gulzar and Khayyam, not always together, although once, in a Rajesh Khanna-Shabana Azmi starrer Thodisi Bewafaai, Bhupinder, Gulzar and Khayyam did come together for an underrated  haunting melody Aaj bichde hain kal ka darr bhi nahin zindagi itni mukhtsar bhi hain hai. Today’s parting doesn’t bother you about  tomorrow…life isn’t that short.

Indeed, life was not short for Bhupinder. He lived a long satisfying life in a world of music. He died there as well. He sang some of the most beautiful film songs in recent memory, many of them in Gulzar’s films.

I know that you're thinking about Beeti na bitayee raina in Gulzar’s Parichay and Naam ghum jayega in Kinara.

In all fairness, these were not Bhupinder’s songs although he did sing in them. They were Lata Mangeshkar’s songs. For vintage Bhupinder in  Gulzar’s cinema, please turn to Koi nahin hai kahin in Kinara. It is a heartstopping R.D Burman composition where Bhupinder creates a momentous mood of isolation, desolation and despair.

R.D Burman and Bhupinder were bonded for life. Bhupinder played the guitar in some of RD’s most celebrated compositions including Kishore Kumar’s Chingari koi bhadke in Amar Prem.

Bhupinder's voice, like Mukesh's, was the one that drawing room singers were drawn to. He didn’t always sing in tune. But he never failed to sing from the heart. I remember asking  Gulzar why he insisted on Bhupinder’s voice for some of the greatest songs in his cinema when  there was Kishore Kumar.

Gulzar Saab had given me a shriveling look. “Beta,tum nahin samjhoge. It’s  not always about getting the sur right.  The emotions underlining the song are far more important than technical correctness in the rendition. In  my Mausam, only Bhupinder could have sung Dil dhunta hai phir wohi phursat ke raat din. In Kinara, Kishore had Jaane kya sochkar nahin guzra. But for Koi nahin hai kahi, it had to be Bhupinder and Bhupinder only.”

I remember asking Bappi Lahiri why he chose Bhupinder for Saiyyan bina ghar soona  in the film Aangan Ki Kali and Kissi nazar ko tera intezaar aaj bhi hai in Aitbaar.

Bappi’s reply was revealing:  “These two compositions had a very strong classical base. I needed a male voice to match Lataji and Ashaji’s  proficiency with Hindustani classical music.”

Among the great music composers of Hindi cinema , the mighty Khayyam  was the one to repose optimum faith in Bhupinder’s unique baritone. The  singer sang some of his most memorable songs for Khayyam beginning with the little-known solo Rut jawan jawan in 1966.

Khayyam enlisted Bhupinder’s vocal  skills for songs like Karoge yaad toh har baat yaad aayegi in Bazar and Kabhi kissiki muqammal jahan nahin milta  in Ahista Ahista. In  Muzaffar Ali’s Anjuman , Khayyam brought together  Bhupinder and Shabana Azmi for the rare duet Gulab jism ka  yuhin nahin khila  hoga.

Shabana recalls the experience with happiness. “I  was so besura. Bhupinder Singh was such an accomplished  singer. He patiently waited  for me to get it right.”

While his film songs often got eclipsed in the background score—and Bhupinder himself admitted to me  that he was not the hero’s voice—he was right up there on stage with his wife Mitali Mukherjee belting out one successful Ghazal after another, the most famous among them being Shama jalaye rakhna jab tak ki main na aaoon…

I met Bhupinder only once. He was recording a song for Vishal Bhardwaj.  Gulzar was also there. He introduced me to Bhupinder. When I told him how much I liked  his duet with Lataji  Thodisi zameen thoda aasman  from the  film Sitara, Bhupinder in all humility replied, “Oh, but that song is special because of the little nuances that Lataji brought into it.”

In a world filled with self-glorification, Bhupinder liked to just do his work and move on. He never looked back. There was always the next song.