MUMBAI: People come and go, but one who came, won hearts and continues to do so, is none other than the legendary Bappi Lahiri. The singer-composer has been one of the iconic personalities of the Indian music industry. From Chalte Chalte, Disco Dance to The Dirty Picture Bappi has given some unforgettable compositions to the Indian music industry. With a career span of 47 years, the singer- composer still manages to rule the hearts of the folks. Currently, he is judging a reality show on DD National called Suron Ka Eklavya, where he is heading the Kishore Kumar Gharana.

Radioandmusic.com spoke to the composer about the show and his other ventures.

On the show, Bappi said that Suron Ka Eklavya has a unique concept, and it pays tribute to the pillars of the music industry, Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi.

On his maternal uncle, the iconic Kishore Kumar, Lahiri said, “Kishore Kumar is one and only, and is eternal.”

Bappi also composed music for the songs sung by Kishor Kumar, for award winning movies like Chalte Chalte, Sharaabi, Namak Halal and Himmatwala, in fact, Kishore Kumar sang the last song of his life Waqt Ki Aawaz, for the composer.

Lahiri will be organising a grand show on his Mama’s birth anniversary --  4 August -- to pay him a tribute.

The Ooh La La hitmaker has been a part of nearly twenty reality shows, some of which include popular names like Indian Idol, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, K for Kishore and many others. “Reality shows help the talent to grow. Singers like Armaan Mallik, Arijit Singh, Shreya Ghoshal, Shekhar Ravjiani and many others have emerged from reality properties.”

Pondering upon the changing times the composer said, “Even today the music is good, but the only thing that has changed is the lyric writing. The words used in the songs back then were beautiful.”

Lahiri considers himself fortunate for having not faded away with the changing times. He stated that his compositions are still liked by the people. “Tamma Tamma and Zubi Zubi are my old compositions but they are still being used in movies and are super hit with the listeners. Old is gold!”

The music composer’s 651st composition happens to be Indu Sarkar. Other than that he has composed a new age album called Divine Power, which is about Lord Krishna.

His upcoming projects include a movie directed by Partho Ghosh—Do Pal Pyar Ke, Pyar Ke Phir Twist and Ram Ratan.