Bhupinder Singh, the voice of everyman’s heartache, passes away

Eminent singer and guitarist Bhupinder Singh, who gave voice to a wounded heart for years, passed away in Mumbai on Monday evening because of multiple health issues at the age of 82.

Over the years, Singh’s heavy bass voice captured the weariness of the soul like no other. “ Dil Dhoondta Hai Phir Wahi Fursat Ke Raat Din” (Mausam) remains a trusted balm for heartache. The contemplative ghazal “ Kabhi Kisi Ko Muqammal Jahan Nahin Milta” (Ahista Ahista) continues to make a statement on the incompleteness of life. Not just a versatile singer, the guitar pieces he played for Ustad Vilayat Khan in Kadambari. Or for that matter, the beguiling “ Rasiya Man Behkaye” that he rendered for M.B. Srinivasan in Manju, puts him in the rarefied classical universe.

Born in Amritsar, Singh grew up in Delhi’s West Patel Nagar and was introduced to music by his father Prof. Natha Singh who was also a musician. Interested in playing different instruments from a young age, there was never a doubt that he would take music as a career.

After learning guitar, he started working as a casual artist with the All India Radio under the guidance of composer Satish Bhatia. He found Singh’s voice had a different tonal base and started giving him opportunities to sing. It was Bhatia who introduced Singh to Madan Mohan when the composer was on a visit to Delhi. He sang Bahadur Shah Zafar’s “Lagta Nahin Hai Dil Mera Ujade Dayar Main” for him. Impressed, he called Singh to Mumbai and offered “ Hoke Majboor Mujhe Usne Bhulaya Hoga” in Haqeeqat . Like most of his numbers, the song has withstood the test of time.

While rehearsing, he realised that it is not a complete song but could not muster the courage to ask the composer. Only later, when Madan Mohan introduced him to Rafi , Manna Dey, and Talat Mahmood that he realised that he didn’t want Singh to feel the pressure of singing his first song with such stalwarts.

Soon the news of his proficiency with the Hawaiian, Spanish and electric guitars also spread and he became part of the famed R.D. Burman team. The “ Dum Maro Dum” riff, emerged from Singh’s instrument. “When Dev (Anand) sahib narrated the situation in his inimitable style, he said imagine smoke and clouds of heroin. Moved by his descriptions, I started playing a tune on my electric guitar, and R.D. said, this is it,” Singh once told this journalist.

Singh followed it up with an equally impactful “ Tum Jo Mil Gaye Ho” ( Hanste Zakhm ) for his mentor Madan Mohan and Chingari Koi Bhadke (Amar Prem) and “ Chura Liya Hai Tumne” ( Yaadon Ki Baarat ) for R.D. again. It was the time when Hindi cinema was going through a generational churn where his youthful guitar was more in demand than his sombre voice. So even as he was getting to sing classics like “Beeti Na Bitai Raina” (Parichay), he was noticed more as a guitarist. He used the time to good effect by cutting private albums where he introduced the guitar to ghazals.

His voice texture was not suitable in playback singing and perhaps that’s why it took him time to find acceptance as the voice of the hero. However, he used to say that he could survive because his voice was different from that of the reigning trinity of Mohammad Rafi, Kishore Kumar, and Mukesh.

When Madan Mohan called him again to sing for Sanjeev Kumar in Mausam , Singh was ready to deliver one song Dil Dhoondta Hai in two flavours and two speeds as Madan Mohan had composed the sad and happy versions in two different taals.

The mid-1970s was also the time when the everyman was giving the angry young man a good fight at the box office and Singh’s voice could convey the pain of the common man struggling to find a niche in the big city well. Most of his songs live on because they generate the same emotions as they did in the late 70s. Being a migrant himself, he could identify with the emotional dilemma expressed in “Ek Akela Is Shehar Main” (Gharaonda) or the urge to embrace life in “ Zindagi Zindagi Mere Ghar Aana” (Dooriyan)

Outside the sublime world of Khayyam and Jaidev, Singh also struck a chord with Bappi Lahiri when he sang the irresistible ghazal, “ Kisi Nazar Ko Tera Intezar Aaj Bhi Hai” ( Aetbaar ) for him.

In the 1980s, he once again focussed on private albums and with his wife, Mitali Mukherjee emerged as a force in ghazal singing. She helped him in adapting to the requirements of stage shows. The duo regaled millions during the New Year programmes of Doordarshan.

Singh won numerous awards but he was elated only when the Sangeet Natak Akademi conferred him its award in the sugam sangeet (light music) category.

Singh would rue the lack of depth in computerised music but kept dreaming of recording with a live orchestra.