Bhupinder Singh: I saw Lataji as a professional singer — sincere and diligent

It was Bhupinder Singh’s birthday on Sunday and the musician woke up to the sad news of Lata Mangeshkar's demise. “I can’t say it is a happy one anymore. With Lataji’s death, it is the end of an era. There will be no one else like her,” said the veteran singer, who had recorded multiple iconic playback numbers with Lata Mangeshkar, including Naam Gum Jayega.
When asked to share the experience of recording the song, Bhupinder said, “I was called by composer RD Burman.It was a routine recording. We went and recorded the song. There was little story in the making. Har gaane ki story nahi hoti. But it was a song composed by RD and I did the recording. In those days, we never used to feel overwhelmed by each other’s presence. We used to focus on the song and try to understand the song. We worked like a team.”
But that was not when Bhupinder met Lata Mangeshkar for the first time. “We used to meet at studios and greet each other – ‘good morning’, ‘goodbye’ etc. The first film song that we recorded together was Beeti Na Bitai Raina for Parichay in 1972. Naam Gum Jayega was the second one. We sang various songs together. I saw Lataji as a professional singer. She was sincere and would sing each song with diligence. Those days artistes used to be sincere and respectful towards each other,” he said.