Blessed with a deep baritone, his was a spirits-soaked voice that made people drool and ask for more. A calm and laid-back man, Bhupinder Singh truly enjoyed what he sang and poured his heart into it. Here are some of his rare but brilliant songs that need to be revisited.
Yeh paude yeh patte
A surprise hit of the early ’80s from a film titled Ek Baar Phir (possibly Deepti Naval’s second film) had this duet set to tune by the hitherto unknown Raghunath Seth. Bhupi’s lines Man kahe main jhumu jhumu linger like old wine and sets the triangular love drama (Naval with Suresh Oberoi and Pradeep Verma) in a great pace. No wonder it played on radio time and again, catching the fancy of many.
Dukki pe dukki
This isn’t such a rare song but strange to find Bhupi in company of Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle, Sapan Chakraborty and composer R.D. Burman himself in this racy number where Bhupi holds his own. Sure enough, when he closes on Koi farak nahi albatta, the trademark brilliance shows.
Jaane kyun aisa lagta hai
Barring aficionados, not many will remember this beautiful duet (with Asha Bhosle) for the Rakhee-Deepak Parashar sleeper hit Shradhanjali. The composer was Bhosle’s son Hemant who himself had a short run in the film industry but gave us rare gems like this. Bhupinder matches Bhosle in this song note for note and the colourful vignette he does with kyu is pristine and pure. It lingers long after the song is over.
Zindagi mere ghar aana
No less than matinee idol Uttam Kumar lip-synced to this beautiful song in Bhimsain’s Dooriyaan. A marital discord drama co-starring Sharmila Tagore, Jaidev gave Bhupi those low notes (Magar ab to aana) that he warbled with passion, calling out to a lost daughter. Less wonder listeners get teary-eyed when they hear this song.
Saiyan bina ghar suna suna
The tear-jerker Aangan Ki Kali would have been passed over by many a film lover with the cast of Laxmi and Rakesh Roshan had it not been for this haunting song by Bhupinder and Lata Mangeshkar. Surprisingly, it’s Bappi Lahiri who gives his melodic touch to this song and was one of the few occasions that Bhupinder sang for Lahiri. Wish there was more.