Bappi Lahiri

Bappi Lahiri basically owned the late ‘70s and ‘80s Bollywood music scene—if you’ve ever tapped your foot to old-school disco beats in a Hindi film, there’s a good shot it was his doing. The guy started young, hit Mumbai at 19, and didn’t waste time making waves. His big break? Zakhmee (1975), where he went all-in, composing and even singing. From there, it was hit after hit—Disco Dancer, Chalte Chalte, Namak Halaal… you name it. He didn’t just stick to one style either; he was all about fusing disco with classic Bollywood, and it worked. Songs like "Jimmy Jimmy" didn’t just rock India—they somehow found fans in places like Russia, which is wild. Bappi wasn’t just about quantity (though, wow, over 5,000 songs in 500+ films is insane), but he had range. He recorded with the biggest names, from Kishore Kumar to Lata Mangeshkar. He even snagged a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for churning out 180 songs for 33 films in one year—imagine that workload. Plus, he dabbled in everything: ghazals, pop albums, and even soundtracks for movies outside India. And the whole time, he was rocking those gold chains and sunglasses like a true showman. Bappi Lahiri really was Bollywood’s original Disco King, and honestly, the soundtracks still slap.