However, the guitar was not Bhupinder's first choice. He explains, "I cameto Mumbai at the invitation of noted music director Madan Mohan, who wantedme to sing for Haqeeqat. But I realised it would take a Herculean effort tocarve a place for myself in the film industry as a singer. After all, therewere the likes of Mohammed Rafi, Mukesh, Talat Mahmood, Kishore Kumar andManna Dey to compete with." It is to his credit that he cultivated asizeable fan following with the relatively few film songs he did sing. Andlater with his ghazals.

In the early days, however, a despondent Bhupinder even thought aboutreturning to Delhi. That was when a friend suggested he take up playing theguitar because he had always had a knack for musical instruments. "Iapproached eminent guitarist Bhanu Gupta, who was happy to take me on. Hetaught me the basics of the guitar -- how to hold it, the function of theright and left hands, and how to strum," he says.

Bhupinder was a keen student. He didn't even have his own guitar then, butborrowed one from friends. "It was a question of survival," he says frankly."I worked very hard for two years. Few people know that I practised from 11pm to 3 am because that's when I could concentrate best. So you can say Ialmost got no sleep for two years. During the day, Pancham (R D Burman) andI would hang out together. Both of us had little work in the 1960s!" Being asinger, Bhupinder knew the quality of sound he wanted from the guitar.Also, he would listen avidly to contemporary greats like Castro, BonnyD'Costa, Dilip Naik, and Pyarelal's brother, Gorakh. In fact, it was withLaxmikant-Pyarelal that he started playing at a professional level, around1969-70. He remembers, "Pyarelal is a wizard with instruments. I learnt somuch from him."

Bhupinder says some of the best years of his working life were spent in thecompany of R D Burman. "He and I were both sentimental players, or should Isay sentimental fools! I played the guitar for all of his songs, startingfrom Dum maro dum (Hare Rama Hare Krishna), Chura liya (Yaadon Ki Baraat),Pyar Ka Mausam... right up to Satte Pe Satta. He gave me a free hand to playhow I thought best. Of course, so did most other composers," he says.Bhupinder is familiar with every kind of guitar, whether electric, acousticor 12-string. "In fact, I introduced the 12-string guitar to Hindi cinema.Most music directors knew I had a flair for instruments. I was even made toplay the Middle Eastern oudh for the film, Abdullah, although I had nevereven seen the instrument before! This was because I listened to a lot ofworld music. I have a collection of 3,000 LPs of all kinds of music, evenChinese and Uzbek."

"It is fun to play for knowledgeable music directors," he says. "Yet, thereare others who don't even know what a guitar sounds like. They bring you amandolin or accordion piece and ask you to play a 12-string alongside that.One has to explain why that will not work. Also, the guitar composition hasto be smooth so that the rest of the orchestra can play at ease. I don'twant to have to run over my instrument like a horse. The movement of myfingers has to be fluid. The guitar is a handicapped instrument. You have toomit certain notes for a chord without making it obvious. The listenercannot tell, but you have to know what notes to leave out."

The ace guitarist confirms that his is an instrument for all moods. "You canplay rock and roll, the blues, Indian classical, lilting music, children'smusic, anything. The guitar is a plucky instrument. Of course, only thosewho play it correctly can enjoy it. They have to know the techniques ofsliding and bending the string," he explains.

Among his best numbers as guitarist is Ghulam Mohammed's theme music ofPakeezah, which Bhupinder played with the 12-string guitar. "I used theinstrument like the sarod, giving it the classical murkis. Then there isAmbar ki ek paak surahi (Kadambari), which is the only film composition ofUstad Vilayat Khan. The songs I did for Razia Sultan with Khayyam stand out,as does the immensely popular Tum jo mil gaye ho (Hanste Zakhm) for MadanMohan. I did a lot of solos for Madan Mohan. Of course, I have also done alot of work with Naushad, Sonik-Omi and Raam-Laxman," he says.

No occupation is without its hazards, and Bhupinder says that funnysituations crop up when the artist one has played a solo for, cannot performwith the guitar on screen. "Often, one is playing the highest note, but theactor is seen with his finger on the lowest note in the scale!" he laughs."Here I must commend actor Tariq, who acted in Yaadon Ki Baraat. He wouldcome and watch me play for hours in order to get a feel of the instrument."Bhupinder thinks Indian guitarists have an edge over Western artistes. "Inthe West, they have set exercises to make you memorise the fingerboard. Youlock yourself up in a room and practise them until you are thorough.

Moreover, 99 per cent of the music there is printed. But we Indians have avery big advantage. Apart from the fact that we have a good ear, we canmemorise a page after seeing it once. We also tend to give the guitar anIndian touch, which sounds really good. I'm sure that if an Indian learnsabroad he will do well, and will even surpass foreign learners," he saysencouragingly.

Yet, practical problems get in the way. Bhupinder regrets that guitar pegsand strings are not easily available in India. "They are also expensive. Asingle set of guitar strings costs around Rs 500, which makes me wonder howyoungsters are expected to sustain their interest. The government shouldreduce the import duty. Ideally, a single set should not cost more than Rs50. As for me, I depend on my trips abroad to pick up guitar strings, andoccasionally ask friends to get them for me," he rues.

Among Bhupinder's cherished possessions is a very costly 100-year-oldguitar, and a rare classical one. Although his concerts leave him littletime to play regularly, he does play for his wife, Mitali, while she singsor composes. The rest of us will have to rely on recorded music.