Legendary singers who have made their own mark in the music arena have departed this year. Since early March, the melody world has lost Indian nightingale, Lata Mangeshkar, followed by disco music promoter, Bappi Lahiri, and later, a versatile new generation singer, Kay Kay. That list just got longer in July this year with the disappearance of Bhupinder Singh, a well-known ghazal singer since the 1970s.
Bhupinder, as a shorter and crispier appellation to Hindi song lovers, was a crooner with a more guttural vocal tone that resonated as he echoed lyrics composed by eminent artists like Madan Mohan, Khayyam and Anand Bakshi. At a time when Hindi music was overtaken by the voices of Mukesh, Kishore Kumar and Mohammad Rafi as male playback singers, crooners had little room to carve out a path to popularity and national fame. Former singers like Talat Mehmood and Hemant Kumar shared wonderful melodies which attracted select audiences but could never achieve stardom compared to the three singers mentioned earlier.
Bhupinder emanated from the generation of upcoming ghazal singers which included great artists like Anoop Jalota, Yesudas and later, Jagjit Singh. Ghazals are basically classical Urdu songs with heavy influence of poetry and selected idioms and terms which are coined by the audience due to the impact they effortlessly create. It was said that Bhupinder’s songs were those of the male often imbued with sadness and dull pain. Despite this, the ghazals he performed were of a magnificence where the common man could find himself well at ease listening to and even humming his splendid compositions.
Bhupinder started his career playing a small role in movie ‘Haqeeqat’ (1962) directed by Chetan Anand. The director, noticing his ability to sing, offered him the opportunity to perform a solo song ‘Ruth jawan’ in his inspiring film ‘Akhree Khat’ (1969). Such an enchanting melody made audiences groovy in a movie that witnessed the advent of a future superstar, Rajesh Khanna.
Bhupinder’s years of grace were well into the 1970s when new wave directors like Gulzar or Basu Chaterjee crafted movies with simple storylines featuring the ordinary citizen. These film makers dealt with social themes such as unemployment, poverty, family life, etc. with a sense of humour typical of parallel cinema. In such movies, inspirational songs of ghazal singers and crooners could find a pathway.
The songs that Bhupinder offered to Hindi cinema were appealing. Composed of few instruments and accompanied by a velvet touch voice, the singer hummed memorable hits like Bitna bitaaye raina (Parichay), Gum jaye ga (Kinara), Do deewane Shahar mein (Gharaonda). The singer voiced Dil Dhondta (Mausam) in two different tunes and they were both attractive.
Entry into commercial cinema remained difficult for crooners as Hindi films better embraced sophisticated modern tunes from the late 1970s. Ghazals, however, maintained their rhythm in Hindi music and culture. Bhupinder performed memorable songs like Kissi Nazar pe tera (Aitbaar) and Huzur iss kadar bhi (Mausam) which charmed all audiences and revealed the bewitching rhythm of such a style in an environment invaded by pop music.
When it comes to ghazal singers, performers emphasise the vocal component of any song with subtle variation in the tunes as well as the ability to emphasise certain notes. Despite the difficulty of singing correctly a ghazal compared to a pop song, every singer comes to understand the greatness in composing such songs. The musical accompaniments are soft but refined. This is where the enchanting beauty of the ghazals comes into its own.
One might remember an album that Bhupinder and Hemlata created for the movie « Sahhas » (1980). Although all the songs were recorded as an album before the movie was released, they were unfortunately not included in the movie playback songs and were replaced with modern tunes by other singers. The Mauritian public praised Bhupinder’s album which combined traditional tunes with modern musical accompaniment which gained immense popularity at that time. To name a few: Ab tum ho hamare, Babuji kya loge…
In his later years, Bhupinder and his wife, Mitali Singh, toured in India and abroad. In an interview for Sunrise Radio (UK), Bhupinder was asked if he would like to perform in Mauritius. He responded positively after saying he had heard good things from our island and wanted to sing for the local audience. Unfortunately, unlike Anoop Jalota and Jagjit Singh, Bhupinder never performed live here.
Bhupinder’s passing away definitely brings sadness to Hindi music lovers. Mauritians may not have heard his compositions in other languages but, for sure, they know that Bhupinder sang with so much languor underlying the pain of the common mortal. Incidentally, his songs never sounded aching or boring, rather they were filled with levity, serenity and evocative charm. The songs then seemed meek with flowing emotions, never boring. Simply, the volume of the radio might be increased to listen to the melodious voice of the crooner. One of those tunes could surely be that of Bhupinder Singh.
Nirmal Kumar BETCHOO