“One day, Bhisham said he came from Pancham Da’s (RD Burman) house and that he had promised him to do his film and now he keeps delaying it because he is so busy. Khanna said he had suggested Lahiri’s name after Burman and Laxmikant-Pyarelal couldn’t devote time to Kohli’s film.
Kohli, who was also known as an actor by his screen name Vishal Anand, had featured in the movie opposite Simi Garewal. “Around the same time Dev Anand’s nephew Bhisham Kohli (known as Vishal Anand), also an actor, was going to produce his first film,” Khanna told PTI. I liked the young boy, he was hardly 21-22 then and had come with his parents.
“I told him that you play some music and I will see where I can promote you. Khanna recalls meeting Lahiri a week before the two teamed up for “Chalte Chalte” in Mumbai at Navketan Films, a production house started by actor-filmmaker Dev Anand and his elder brother Chetan Anand, where the latter had come to meet few people. Mumbai, Feb 16 (PTI) Lyricist-filmmaker Amit Khanna says singer-composer Bappi Lahiri got his big break in Hindi cinema with 1976 movie “Chalte Chalte” after celebrated composers RD Burman and Laxmikant-Pyarelal had to back out due to their busy schedules.ĭirected by Sunder Dar, the film remains popular till date for Lahiri’s composition for the titular track “Chalte Chalte Mere Ye Geet”, which was sung by Kishore Kumar with lyrics by Khanna.