Saturday, January 21, 2012

Bhupinder Singh



Bhupinder is a musician and a singer.  He was never top of the heap as a singer, his voice was kind of heavy as if someone was singing though a cold.  Indian voices are preferred sweet, especially for playback singing.  He was the best guitarist in India at one time.  He has provided the guitar sounds for such songs as Dum maro dum and Chura liya hai tumne jo dil ko.

According to wikipedia he used to play violin and guitar over Doordarshan.  It was Madan Mohan who heard him and offered him a song in Haqeeqat.  He provided music to some songs and sung some songs for Gulzar's movies.

During the 80s when Jagjit Singh spearheaded a ghazal wave, he also cut a few ghazal albums with his wife Mitali.  He was seen again on Doordarshan in the typical 'ghazal' uniform of kurta pajama with a shawl slung by his side,  his pretty wife beside him, singing ghazals.  We don't see much of him now, but I still have fond memories of the lovely songs he sang.  Here goes my tribute to his unusual singer.

1.  Hoke Majboor Mujhe:   This is the song that started it all.  He even played a small part in this movie, he was slim and handsome then. This lovely Kaifi Azmi/Madan Mohan song has many singers, wait till you get to Bhupinder.



2. Kisi Nazar ko tera :  What a lovely song from the movie Aitbaar.  Also an excuse for looking at the lovely Ms. Dimple Kapadia.



3.  There is nothing like Gulzar's poetry, the images it invokes, the words he uses. Wow.  Bhupinder's voice is as unusual as his poetry, no wonder they produced so many good songs together.  The beautiful music is by Jaidev.



4.  Dil dhoondta hai : Gulzar-Madan Mohan-Bhupinder-Lata.  This song is pure magic.

Dil dhoondta hai phir wohi fursat ke raat din
Baithe rahe tasavure jaana kiye hue.

Gulzar picked up the lovely sher from Ghalib and added his own lyrics to create this magical song.


5.  Jaane yeh mujhko kya ho raha hai:   Ek baar Phir is not very well known I am afraid, but it was a lovely little movie starring Pradeep Kishan (who?), Deepti Naval and Suersh Oberoi. Music by Raghunath Seth, with lots of guitar, maybe by Bhupinder.   


6. Do diwane shehar me: Runa Laila teams up with Bhupinder for this rollicking song.  It has a sad version too, but I love love love this song.



7.  All these songs are great, amazing, wonderful.  But my most favorite Bhupinder is this.  It is a beautiful nightclub song to die for. Music is by Khayyam. Lyrics by none other than Kaifi Azmi.  Bhupinder plays the guitar and sings for us, onscreen too.  Enjoy!

Rut jawan jawan, raat meherban
chedo koi dastaan


16 comments:

  1. Bhupinder! Such a lovely voice, so husky and sexy! He was in his own way very good-looking too!
    My favourite song of his ek hi khwab from Kinara. It is so sensuous!
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xsiYMX24LY
    I also like naam gum jayega from the same movie.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hE2NUPewB8

    The other one which I like a lot is biti na bitayi raina from Parichay.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0AC56j4auQ

    Kabhi kisi ko muqamal from Ahista Ahista is also one of my fav of his.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN1yQ_nMdMc

    Khaiyyam's karoge yaad to from Baazar is a haunting rendition of his, which I love!
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-T7bF8pMCU

    Thodi si zameen is so moving and funny (bajro ke kheton me kavve udayenge) at the same time.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOeZc9WlEHM

    Rut jawan jawan was totally new for me. Very beautiful! Nice to see him in the video!
    The ghazal from Ek Baar Phir was also not known to me, but don't know if I like it.

    Bhupinder was part of Pancham's team. He used his guitar playing skills quite often in his compositions.

    Here you can listen to him sing is mod se jaate hai in his own composition.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoHxOUb3mhI

    Thanks for reminding us of this exceptional artist!

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  2. Lovely songs, Ava - and we share the same favourite Bhupinder song! Just the very thought of Rut jawaan jawaan gives me gooseflesh. I'm listening to it right now. :-)

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  3. I never knew he was this handsome. Wow!! Kisi Nazar ko was my first intro of this singer and later I loved Karoge Yaad (Naseer-Smita) in train sequence. That was haunting song. (You missed it or did not like that much)

    Sahi hai. Aise yaad dilate raha karo in gems or legends ko. :)

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  4. Harv: Thats a value add indeed. Kabhi kisi ko muqammal is such a wonderful song. Does not Bhupi get to sing such meaningful songs? I had forgotten totally about Karoge Yaad. I named my daughter because of a line in this song. 'Hatheliyon ki hena, yaad kuch dilayegi'

    No probs... You had to do some hard work also. I did my bit by writing the blog eh?

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  5. Harv listen to the ghazal from Ek Baar Phir ek baar phir, and then ek baar phir, you will grow to like it D

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  6. Madhu, Rut jawan is magical, I listened to it 2-3 times yesterday while posting this. Will do again. :D

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  7. Vee oye - I forgot the train song, karoge yaad. Look at my comment reply to Harvey, Isi gane ke peeche apni beti ka naam rakha tha. Koi baat nahi, tumne post kiya maine post kiya sab barabar hai. :D

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  8. Lovely post Ava. Have lurked around here ever since I saw your review of 'Do Raaste' ('Do Hanky' :-D) in PFC a few years back.

    LOVE Bhupinder! Totally on board with you on 'Aakhri Khat's' "Rut jawaan jawaan". Early Khayyam that and then there's this late Khayyam with Gulzar's lyrics and Bhupinder in "Aaj Bichde Hain" from 'Thodisi Bewafaii' (1981) that plays in the beginning of the film and intermittently later on. One of Bhupi's best IMO. And I can't leave without saying that Rajesh looks very very good in it - ah that dark blue kurta :-)

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  9. Sorry, here's the link to 'Aaj bichde hain'.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSo1aYa-mg4

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  10. Suhan... haha.. do hanky.. do raste, thanks for reminding me. I am flattered.

    Bhupinder's rich voice added so much to every song. I am glad you, vee and harvey have added to the Bhupi list.

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  11. Lovely selection of songs. The first time I heard his voice stood out for me was with "naam gum jaayega" - it was a big hit. In general, his voice is so distinctive (and his quantity of songs quite limited) that it is a pleasant surprise when you come across a Bhupinder song.

    Difficult to pick one favourite but I can understand "rut jawan jawan" being right up there. Very romantic!

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  12. Thanks Raja.

    I quite agree with Harvey when he says Bhupinder's voice was sexy. I love each and everyone of the songs mentioned here and and in comments. But Rut Jawan is something else, I have loved it for years but could not find it on you tube in early days. Now I think you can find almost every song you wish for there.

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  13. thanks for the lovely compilation and tribute. he's one of my favorite!

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  14. A new addition here:
    jab kabhi mud ke dekhata hoon main from Hip Hip Hurray
    https://youtu.be/iONQQ6Y2Kls

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  15. I have spotted many lovely Bhupinder songs after I wrote my post. Maybe I should do a part II. If I can ever get around to it. Or maybe you can.

    Thank you for the addition, Harvey.

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