Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 19, 2020)

After “Dus Bahane” 2.0, Baaghi 3 has brought back another chartbuster, “Ek Aankh Maaru Toh”, from Tohfa (1984). While the original, composed by Bappi Lahiri, was a playful Kishore Kumar-Asha Bhosle duet, the 2020 version, titled “Bhankas”, has Tiger Shroff and Shraddha Kapoor doing a tapori dance at Riteish Deshmukh and Ankita Lokhande’s shaadi. It was shot over three days on a set in Mumbai with 300 background dancers.

“Bhankas” has been recreated by Tanishk Bagchi and sung by Bappi Lahiri, Dev Negi and Jonita Gandhi. “Thirty-five years ago, I created 'Ek Aankh Maaru Toh' for Jeetendra and Sridevi and it got me a lot of love,” reminisces Bappi da, adding that the phrase ‘Aankh Maarna’ was used for the first time in this song. “Indeevar ji wove it in beautifully. It was Sajid Nadiadwala’s (producer) idea to get the iconic track back as he believes the song can be a superhit again. Given that Varun (Dhawan) and Alia’s (Bhatt) 'Tamma Tamma' worked big time, I am sure this one with Tiger and Shraddha will also do wonders because my songs from the ’80s are relevant even today,” he asserts.

In the Ahmed Khan directed Baaghi 3, Tiger is on a mission to rescue his brother, Riteish, from a Serbian-based terror outfit.

Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; November 2, 2018)

The name Lalji Pandey will not ring a bell even if you are a Bollywood aficionado but mention Anjaan and he’s not anjaan anymore. One of the most versatile and prolific lyricists, his words spun heart-felt melodies and foot-tapping chartbusters in equal numbers over five decades.

Among his frequent collaborators was India’s ‘Golden Man’, the irrepressible Bappi Lahiri who teamed up with Indeevar for the South potboilers, usually featuring Jeetendra and Sridevi, and scored equally big with Anjaan with Big B bonanzas like Namak Halaal and Sharaabi to name just two. “Indeevar and Anjaan ji were to me what Hasrat Jaipuri and Shailendra were to Shankar-Jaikishan. Anjaan ji and I gave innumerable kamaal ke superhits, including all the Disco Dancer songs, except for one Farukh Kaiser’s 'Koi Yahan Naache'. Hamara choli-daman ka saath tha and it was a proud moment for me to see the Tri Services band marching down Moscow’s Red Square to the beat of 'Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Aaja Aaja, our song,” Bappida beams. This Disco Dancer track was also used in the Adam Sandler film, You Don’t Mess With The Zohan.

Bappi da goes on to inform that more recently, Dev Patel’s Oscar-nominated Lion also incorporated one of their songs from Kasam Paida Karne Wale Ki, “Come Closer”. Also, a special Hindi promotional clip of Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 had featured another popular song from the film, “Jhoom Jhoom Jhoom Baba”. The film’s leading man Chris Pratt reacted to it, exulting, “Whoa.. wow… I wonder if it’s too late to put that music in... instead of the music we’ve played... whoa... people are going to flip out!”

Prod the singer composer on the man himself and a picture emerges of Anjaan as a largehearted person with absolutely no ego, sincere and hard-working, who had a way with words. He flashbacks to Prakash Mehra’s 1984 film Sharaabi which bagged him the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director, and in particular “Manzilein Apni Jagah Hain Raaste Apni Jagah” for which Kishore Kumar, who had given playback for the song, took home a Black Lady as well. “Prakash ji gave Anjaan ji a mukhda he had scribbled telling him he could rewrite it if he wanted. Anjaan ji told him, ‘You have written such a beautiful mukhda, let me write the antaras for you now.’ He didn’t change a word of what Prakash ji had written which just goes to show his generosity of spirit,” Bappi da asserts.

He is also all praise for every antara of “Mujhe Naulakha Mangaa De”, saluting the wordsmith with, “Kya baat!” He then goes on to reveal that Amitabh Bachchan had requested Prakash ji to incorporate “De De Pyaar De” in the Sharaabi score. “Anjaan ji had written the song and I had recorded it in London with Runa Laila for the album Super Runa. In the film, they used two versions, one with Kishore mama and the other with Asha ji. Both superhit!” he avers. He adds that their song, “Gori Hain Kalaiyan” for Aaj Ka Arjun, was the No 1 song of 1991 on the countdown show Binaca Geet Mala.

Memories are mixed with melodies as Bappi da goes on to recall how Anjaan ji, when he was visiting him, had requested his singermother Bansari Lahiri for a Rabindra Sangeet. “My mummy sang 'Tomar Holo Shuru, Amar Holo Shara' and he reworked the lyrics to come up with “Chukar Mere Man Ko, Kiya Tune Kya Ishara” for Rajesh Roshan in Yaarana. Bahut pakad thi, he had a tremendous grasp over language. His son, Sameer, is a fabulous lyricist as well, with whom I have done a lot of good work, but aaj bhi main Anjaan ji ko bahut miss karta hoon. When he passed away, my heart broke and for a while I wondered how I would make music without life. Life goes on, but the musical memories remain,” he sighs, crooning “Yaad Aa Raha Hai Tera Pyaar, Kahan Hum, Kahan Tum, Hue Tum Kahan Gum…”