OP Nayyar...Loss of the Veteran composer - Page 19

Nayyar's nine nuggets

Veteran music composer O P Nayyar passed away into the ages on Sunday, January 28.

As a tribute to him, Dinesh Raheja and Jitendra Kothari spotlight nine of his musical scores that mark his creative crescendo.

Aar Par (1954)

This Guru Dutt film was O P Nayyar's breakthrough hit, coming two years after the music director had made his movie debut with Aasman. Geeta Dutt (who had sung the seductive Dekho jadoo bhare more nain in Aasman) was the one who introduced the tall, thin, struggling but arrogant composer to her husband; and the result was the formation of a terrific team. Aar Paar's musical mood is one of flirtatious gaiety and sheer light-headedness. Nayyar liked full-throated voices: so while the wonderful Shamshad Begum held her own in the title song, Geeta sang her heart out in a string of glittering gems for heroine Shyama (Yeh lo main haari) as well as vamp Shakila (the superhit Babuji dheere chalna). Nayyar also brought out the innate anguish in Geeta's voice in the film's only two sad numbers -- Ja ja aj bewafaa and Hoon abhi main jawan, aye dil. Besides being a landmark score for Nayyar, Aar Par was also Guru Dutt's first hit as an actor and a comeback for lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri after his Shahjehan-Andaaz heydays in the 1940s. When Majrooh dashed off the Arrey wah-wah-wah-wah aisa kaisa jadoo refrain, even Nayyar baulked; but the resultant melody defines the film. Rafi's voice too took on an added jauntiness with Nayyar's new Punjabi sound.

Unfortunately, Dutt and Nayyar fell out after completing a hat-trick of successes (with Mr And Mrs 55 and C I D). The duo made up in 1960s with Baharein Phir Bhi Aayegi but Dutt passed away mid-way through the film.

Naya Daur (1957)

Asha Bhosle had had stray hit songs before. But this B R Chopra blockbuster in which she sang all the songs for an A-list heroine (Vyjayanthimala) firmly established Asha as the playback singer second only to Lata Mangeshkar. It also established Asha as a fixture in Nayyar's oeuvre. At the peak of his successful streak with Naya Daur, Nayyar proved that a composer could be a thumping success -- and consistently so -- even without using Lata's vocals ever! Naya Daur's crowd-pleasing score is limned with the robust Punjabi rhythms of the bhangra in songs like Reshmi salwar kurta jaali ka, Yeh desh hai veer jawano ka and the ever popular Uden jab jab zulphein teri.

Nayyar won the Filmfare award for Best Music Director for Naya Daur but his brusque personality didn't find him place in any camp. Consider the irony -- Nayyar never composed for a B R Chopra or a Dilip Kumar film ever again!

Tumsa Nahin Dekha (1957)

The ghoda-gaadi rhythms in Nayyar's songs are justifiably famous. Be it Naya Daur's Maang ke saath tumhara, C I D's Aye dil hai mushkil jeena yahan, Baap Re Baap's Piya piya piya mora jeeya bulaye, or Tumsa Nahin Dekha's Yun toh hamne laakh haseen dekhe hai... tumnsa nahin dekha, many of Nayyar's hit songs were picturised on tangas and followed the beat of horse hooves. It became known as Nayyar's signature tune.

Tumsa Nahin Dekha was Shammi Kapoor's first hit. The typical Shammi Kapoor song with Rafi's voice and swinging beats can be said to have been pioneered by O P Nayyar. Besides the hit title track, the film had three Rafi-Asha duets (Dekho kasam se, Aaye hain door se and Sar par topi lal) that are sure to energise hotsteppers even 50 years after Nayyar composed them.

Nayyar's nine nuggets (contd)

Howrah Bridge (1958)

Nayyar was in the transitional stage when he switched allegiances from Geeta to Asha; but before the inevitable happened, he gave Geeta an incredible swan song -- Howrah Bridge's rocking Mera naam Chin Chin Choo the song that set Helen on the road to becoming Bollywood's definitive cabaret cutie. Amazingly, in the same film, Nayyar composed for Asha an equally seductive scorcher -- Aaiye meharbaan baithiye jaanejaan -- that was bewitchingly picturised on heroine Madhubala.

The best of the rest of the film's songs is Asha's Yeh kya kar daala tune -- yes, on the famous tanga beat.

Sone Ki Chidiya (1958)

By the late 1950s, Nayyar had made a reputation for himself as a conjuror of jaunty numbers that hit the box office bull's eye (though, ironically, his earliest famous songs were the sonorous Preetam aan milo and Aasmaan's Is bewafaa jahan mein). Sone Ki Chidya showcased Nayyar's talents in a more mellow light.

He sidelined his favoured Rafi (actor-singer Talat Mehmood being the hero of this film) and came up with some sweet songs. The Talat-Asha duet Sach bata has its moments but the iridescent gem is indubitably Talat's Pyar par bas toh nahin hai mera lekin phir bhi with Asha's unforgettable Ah ah ah ah refrain imaginatively employed.

Of course, Rafi does have a presence on the soundtrack with the memorable Raat bhar ka hai mehman andhera, for which Nayyar reteamed with Sahir after Naya Daur.

Ek Musafir Ek Haseena (1962)

At the cusp of the 1950s and the 1960s, there was a sharp dip in Nayyar's career. His temperamental nature and high asking-price brought a quick downslide. Qualitatively, Nayyar still soared high (for 1960's Kalpana he composed the evergreen classical song: Tu hai mera prem devta besides the ghazal Beqasi had se jab guzar jaaye) but commercially he was being edged out. Ek Musafir Ek Haseena marked a thumping comeback for Nayyar. Three Rafi-Asha duets from the film -- Main pyar ka rahi hoon, Bahut shukriyan badi meharbani and Aap yuhi agar humse milte rahe -- breathed a die-hard romanticism that still entrances listeners.

The film's producer Shashadhar Mukherji was that rare filmmaker who consistently backed Nayyar -- from Tumsa Nahin Dekha to Ek Musafir to Sambandh to Ek Baar Muskura Do. Nayyar spoke fondly of the love and pampering that Guru Dutt and Mukherji lavished on their creative team and said: 'S Mukherji will inspire even my ashes after my death.'

Nayyar's nine nuggets (contd)

Kashmi Ki Kali (1964)

While Nayyar may have been commercially more successful in the 1950s, his 1960s work gives one the feeling that the composer was more relaxed. It could be that the assignments were fewer that Nayyar paid more attention to nuances. His Kashmir Ki Kali songs have some wonderful orchestrations and music pieces. The rumbustious Yeh chaand sa roshan chehra with its Tareef karoon kya uski jisne tujhe banaya refrain is, of course, perennially popular. But then Nayyar's baton also serves up two Rafi-Asha duets -- Deewana hua badal and Isharon mein dil lene wale -- which have a dreamy, transporting-to-another-world quality about them.

Rafi sounded incredible as he sang to Hai duniya usiki zamana usika while Asha sounds crystalline as her voice simply glides through the high and low notes of Balma khuli hawa mein.

Mere Sanam (1965)

No mention of Asha's repertoire can be complete without the mention of two songs from this film -- Jaiye aap kahan jayenge (picturised on Mere Sanam's heroine, Asha Parekh) and Yeh hai reshmi zulphon ka andhera na ghabraye (picturised on the film's vamp, Mumtaz). As Asha soars to the high notes of Jaiye aap kahan and inveigles with a husky unforgettable laugh in Yeh hai reshmi there's no denying Nayyar's crucial contribution to Asha's legend.

Nayyar's fondness for western instruments like the guitar and the piano is perfectly poised alongside traditional melodies in songs like Jaiye aap kahan and Rafi's sublime Pukarta chala hoon main.

Humsaaya (1968)

When S Mukherji's son, Joy Mukherji, turned filmmaker it was evident that he would, like his father, also turn to Nayyar. The result was a scintillating score for this Joy-Mala Sinha-Sharmila Tagore thriller. Three musically and thematically dramatic Asha solos -- Kitna haseen hai yeh sama, Woh haseen dard de do and Aaja mere pyaar ke sahare abhi abhi -- all but steal the show. But the film also has Dil ki awaaz bhi sun, in which Nayyar's makes his musical instruments echo Rafi's plaintive mood. As a bonus there is also the sprightly duet Mujhe pyar de de and O Kanhaiya, which Nayyar had shortlisted as one of his best compositions. Nayyar's career as a frontrunner drew to a close in the 1960s. His composing genius, however, was still present. His much vaunted team with Asha Bhosle flared one last time with 1974's hit Pran Jaaye Par Vachan Na Jaye (Chayen se humko kabhie, Aa ke dard jawan hai, Ek tu hai piya and Bikaner ki chuinri odhi) before being snuffed out forever.

In 1992, the veteran composed for two big banner films -- the Salman starrer Nischaiy and Pranlal Mehta's Zid -- but thereafter, preferred to return to the sidelines and take his rightful place among the legends.

Originally posted by: punjini

There must be a reason why Asha does not acknowledge OPN. She must have been shabilly treated by the pompous man with an oversized ego. Just look at how his arrogance flows out of his every sentence! He thinks every woman singer was attracted to him. "You must remember I was a very handsome man in my youth, tall, fair with typical Punjabi good looks," he says! Oh yeah? Even when he gives credit to women for inspiring him, he sounds so patronising

No wonder his family took him to court.

Asha would have succeeded with or WITHOUT OP Nayyar. SD Burman was there, RD Burman was there. Asha would never have had a dearth of music directors hankering after her. So this man had better stop shooting his mouth.

I'd rather listen to his music than read the nonsense he talks!

Right now we are talking about how we donot have good MDs and thats why we are not able to produce goood singers..it is intersting to see this therad where we talking about the other way around...Meaning singer( eg. asha ji ) would have done good better without him...

Originally posted by: Swar_Raj

Punjini ji
Agree with you that arrogance flows with his sentences but i have seen that with quite a few of them. Not only him. No one has openly said (including his family) that he was arrogant with them too. And may be women were attracted to him and may be he was too.
May be that was the real reason for him to drift away from his family...there are so many may be...
that is why I said..who knows what happened in real. We should acknoledge his greatness in giving us such wondeufl melodies. What he is now , what he says..does not matter. Any one leaving a family and staying with some one else is not acceptable to me either. But in case of some kalakaars we have no clue what exactly happens.
So we should should just respect them for what they have given to us.

Undoubtfully Asha got the advantage...Sudha MAlhotra, Vani jairam, Suman kalyanpur ..if they had a mentor like him..they would have also reached to a great height. not that Asha is any less then them but that time they were not less either. If they got the oppurtunity to sing for OP .....a song is not popular because of only who sang it or who wrote it or who composed it..Yes name is a factor (As NAushad was a selling factor of movie) but untill and unless all the factors are combined and present a good song..then only it is a success for long run.

agreed with you swar on this !!

Originally posted by: Swar_Raj

Punjini ji...Cannot change your point of view. But singer is always polished by the composer. Yes today Asha ji best...but we are talking about her deput time.

Listen this aong of Chandrani Mukherje 'Mere mehboob shaayad aaj kuchh naaraaz hain mujhse ...' from Kitne Door Kitne Paas (1976...i think)

Listen to Other singers as I mentioned...if they had a mentor like OP ..they would have been success. Yes both sister have tried ruling the industry and were successful

May be OP was hurt after Asha left and lost interest..who knows but my respect to him is still the same. Even these sisters have done nasty things even against each other..but I respect them for what they have given us. Genius like them are respected for wha tthey have given us..their arrogance can not be judged by us.

and right now we are having a debate on the subject... "dreath of music directers ...not singers.." 😕...

Originally posted by: sareg

Actually he is right, most of the songs that stick in memory for us are due to the situations, the lyrics and the music that goes along with it, Hardly any songs that remain memorable have horrible lyrics, but good music.

But there are songs with minimal music and excellent lyrics that remain forever

example: Jinhen Naaz hai Hind pe, or the songs from Pyaasa(I am listening to them right now, and all I can remember is the lyrics, the music is pretty much ornamental)

indeed it is !!

Originally posted by: *dolly*

Right now we are talking about how we donot have good MDs and thats why we are not able to produce goood singers..it is intersting to see this therad where we talking about the other way around...Meaning singer( eg. asha ji ) would have done good better without him...

So where's the contradiction? I am saying that Asha could have succeeded with or without OPN. What does that mean? With OPN she succeeded. But even if OPN was not there, SD was there, RD was there, so her talent would have been utilised even otherwise. Am I saying that even if all MDs were useless, Asha would have succeeded? Dollyji, I would appreciate if you make some effort to understand what people are saying.

Coincidence. Was watching OPN special yesterday that I recorded from TV Asia show broadcasted when we lost him.

Actions speaks more then words. See the variety and types of songs offered to Asha by OP and Burmans. Also if you really want to go in depth, It could also be said, Asha first used OP then Burman.
Together Asha & Lata left no stone unturned to make sure no other singer is promoted in their golden era. Plus Asha never confronted OP on what he said. Lata and Asha are such legends that people donot care about their personal life and give them immense respect to what they have given us and same is the case for OP. Hwat an MD 👏 👏

The name Omkar Prasad Nayyar doesn't mean much to today's Bollywood fans but his passing on January 28th marks the end of an era for Hindi cinema's golden age. Born in Lahore in 1927, he was almost as famous for what he did not do in Bollywood as he was for his unforgettable melodies. What he did not do was to record a song with the legendary Lata Mangeshkar - ever. He felt her voice did not suit his compositions and instead made a star out of Asha Bhonsle (Lata's younger sister) who was a virtual unknown before becoming his favorite chanteuse. O.P. Nayyar stopped composing songs for the most part in the late 1970's but he remains an indelible part of Bollywood's musical history.

The two selections for today are from Bollywood's golden era and while the songs may have been released over thirty years ago there is a reason why they are remembered as 'evergreen'. The timeless vocals and melodies remain as fresh and vibrant today as they did when my parents heard them via shortwave signals on All India Radio every evening. Like I have said before - if you haven't heard a song before - it's new for you.

The first song is Uden Jab Jab, a duet by Mohammed Rafi & Asha Bhonsle from 'Naya Daur' starring Dilip Kumar & Vaijantimala. This album won the Filmfare Award for the best soundtrack of the year (1958) and remains one of the sweetest duets that ever graced the silver screen - see it here.




The second song is Isharon Isharon Mein, also a duet sung by Rafi & Asha from the movie 'Kashmir Ki Kali' starring Shammi Kapoor & Sharmila Tagore. The music for this song is exquisitely layered and the singers hit every note just perfectly - it remains one of my wife's favorites to this day after she heard it (multiple times) on her last plane ride to India - see it here.


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