A living encyclopaedia on music

Pradeep Singhi has a rich archive of Hindi film songs and western music that would make collectors green with envy.

Want to know which original number RD Burman plagiarised for his hit Sapna Mera, TutGaya or where Salil Choudhury drew inspiration for his Dil Tarap Tarap Ke Kehe Raha Hai number? Visit Pradeep Singhi at his Alipore home.

A self-taught composer, sound-recorder, remixer and much more, this 45-year-old corporate honcho-turned music aficionado has a rich archive of Hindi film songs and western music that would make collectors around the world turn green with envy. And what’s more, he’s a walking encyclopaedia of any and all information, including little-known nuggets, on music and music personas.

Singhi, who held top posts in a few MNCs but gave it all up to pursue music, was born into the lap of melody. His mother, Satyavati, was an avid music lover and a close friend of people like Mukesh, Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Brij Bhushan Kabra, Shiv Kumar Sharma, Gyan Babu Ghosh and many others.

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Pradeep Singhi has a rich archive of Hindi film songs and western music

In fact, it was Ghosh who inspired Singhi to start playing the keyboard and Kabra urged him to play the harmonica. “I grew up listening to these stalwarts. Music became my second nature,” Singhi told HT.

Over the years, Singhi has painstakingly built up a rare collection of Hindi film and classical songs. He has all the released and unreleased Hindi film songs from 1931 to 1999 and an equally large collection of western songs, including folk tunes.

His collection, in spools, records, cassettes and CDs, includes ghazals and classical numbers by little known singers from the sub-continent. “I have a database of more than 800 Hindi film numbers that were inspired by western numbers,” he said.