Bappi has his own unmatched personal style. He is the perfect blend of East and West, and his wardrobe ranges from the traditional Indian kurta and sherwani to the western sweatshirts and blazers. He is fond of wearing pieces of jewellery that represent significant symbols in his life. Bappi is famous throughout India for his trademark gold ornaments and sunglasses.
Talking about his love for the yellow metal, Bappi Da said in an interview, “I have everything in gold, right from my glasses, rings to my watches and all my ornaments. Mere jaisa ornaments aaj tak koi bhi nahin pehenta hai. Main gold ko lucky manta hoon. I believe that whatever work I have done in the last 50 years and I am still doing, is because of the grace of the Goddess Lakshmi.”
Bappi Lahiri was born in Calcutta, West Bengal on 27th Nov1952 into a family with a rich tradition in classical music. He began to play the tabla at the tender age of three. Even at that tender age, Bappi showed signs of greatness as he played the tabla with the proficiency of an experienced professional.
His father, Aparesh Lahiri was a famous Bengali singer and his mother, Bansari Lahiri was a musician and a singer who was well-versed in classical music and Shyama Sangeet. His parents trained him in every aspect of music. Kishore Kumar was his maternal uncle.
At the age of 19, he became an independent composer in a Bengali film. His first Hindi film as a composer was 'Nanna Shikari' released in 1973 but the film which established him in Bollywood was Tahir Husain's Hindi film, Zakhmee (1975),
He shot to fame in the 80s and 90s with foot-tapping disco numbers. He introduced Vijay Benedict and Sharon Prabhakar to the Bollywood and paved the path to fame for Alisha Chinai and Usha Uthup through his compositions.He is also known for soundtracks like Wardat, Disco Dancer, Namak Halaal, Dance Dance, Commando, Gang Leader, Sailaab and Sharaabi
Along with Biddu, Bappi popularized the use of synthesized disco music in Indian cinema with an Indian flavour. Most of his songs werer rendered by singers such as Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhosle In 2011, he sang the song Ooo la la Ooo la lain the movie The Dirty Picture for Vishal-Shekhar. In late 2016, Bappi Lahiri lent his voice to the character of Tamatoa in the Hindi-dubbed version of Disney's 3D computer-animated fantasy adventure film Moana; he himself also composed and sang a song in the film