Bappi Lahiri will compose three songs for SRK's 'Knight Riders'

Bappi Lahiri, who did an impromptu song titled OK for Om Shanti Om, is now recording three different tunes for Shah Rukh Khan’s IPL team. After Vishal Shekhar, Bappi Lahiri is the second composer to contribute to the Knight Riders tunes. Here Bappi da talks about singing for SRK, his inspiration for composing the ‘cricket’ tunes and his secret plan to make SRK sing!

How did you get on this project?
I am a huge SRK fan, and he knows that. In fact, whenever
we’ve met he’s talked about my music and I’ve talked about
his films. So it was really exciting when I got a call from him, asking me to work for his team Knight Riders.

How many tracks are you composing and who will sing them?
I am doing three songs for Shah Rukh. I will be singing one song, Usha Uthup is singing the second and this Bengali band called Bhoomi sings the third. We are planning to do the recording some time next week. I am very excited about working with Ushaji, because we have given several super-hit songs together. Also I am eager to work with Bhoomi because these guys are really good. The songs will be in Hindi with some Bengali words in between.

What kind of inputs did SRK give you?
He’s very sure about the kind of sound he wants and was quite involved. He wanted me to incorporate a powerful rocking sound that sends the message of courage and victory. I am also a huge cricket fan and share the same passion as Shah Rukh. I think Knight Riders is going to be an amazing team.

Any plans to rope in SRK to sing for you?
Of course, I am not going to let him off so easily! We are still discussing the melodies and deciding how the song will shape up. I want to keep a few surprises for the listeners when the song releases.

Mid-Day

P.S. In a recent poll, SRK's fans in Bengal declared him the most popular and loved star in West Bengal and conferred upon him the new nickname... 'Lion Eyes'!