There was a time he hated music and instruments — thanks to the fact that his father, Prof Natha Singh, a trained vocalist and his early music teacher, was extremely strict.
But singer Bhupinder Singh, 82, who passed away on Monday at a Mumbai hospital, went on to produce along with his wife, Bangladeshi singer Mitali Mukherjee, several memorable songs including “Dil dhoondhta hai”, “Do diwane shahr mein”, “Naam gum jayega”, “Karoge yaad to”, “Meethe bol bole”, “Kabhi kisi ko mukammal”, “Kisi nazar ko tera intezaar aaj bhi”, and “Ek akela is shehr mein”.
He was suffering from colon ailment and had a cardiac arrest.
Born in Amritsar, quite early in his career, Bhupinder performed on All India Radio and was attached to the Delhi Doordarshan Centre. Soon, he started learning violin and guitar.
He was invited to Mumbai by music director Madan Mohan, who gave him a break with “Hoke Majboor Mujhe Usne Bulaya Hoga” in war film “Haqeeqat”, where Bhupinder had to contend with the likes of Mohammad Rafi, Talat Mahmood, and Manna Dey.
Boasting of a unique voice, the singer was given a solo by Khayyam in the film “Aakhri Khat”.
Instrumental in introducing bass, drums and guitar to ghazals, by late 1960s, the singer strarted releasing private albums with his wife. Gulzar wrote the lyrics for his third LP- “Woh Jo Shair Tha”.
He is survived by his wife Mitali and son Nihal Singh who is also a musician.
