A savvy music composer who re-imagined rhythm, with a blend of Indian and Western beats

Hindustan Times

25-05-2025

MUMBAI: He loved to hate the world of Hindi cinema; gladly crossed swords with movie moghuls whose films became runaway hits because of his music. He refrained from doling out songs to Lata Mangeshkar, the reigning playback singer of the time, and yet held sway on Hindi film music for two decades. These delicious paradoxes define the life and times of Omkar Prasad (O P) Nayyar, the maverick composer whose birth centenary celebrations are underway in the city.
A Nayyar event was held at an auditorium in Mulund recently by the cultural department of the state government. 'We are planning more such tributes to the great maestro. His music is inimitable. He has stood time's test,' said Adhita Lele, who presented the Nayyar show in Mulund.
Nayyar burst upon the music scene in the 1950s — a 20-something Partition refugee from Lahore (his beloved 'Lawhore' where he was born in 1926) with savage confidence, he held his own against titans such as Anil Biswas, Naushad Ali, C Ramchandra, Shankar-Jaikishan and S D Burman.
Nayyar re-imagined rhythm, blended the traditional Indian 'theka' with Western beats and chose his musical instruments — whether double bass, clarinet, saxophone or a soft, serene 'sarangi' — with great care to enhance a song's tonal quality and aesthetics.
The 'ghoda-gadi' beat, Nayyar's USP, spawned a basket of breezy ditties down the decades: 'Yoon toh hamne laakh haseen dekhe hain', 'Laakhon hai yahan dilwaale', 'Ankhon se joh utari hai dil mein', 'Pukarta chalaa hon main' and, of course, 'Piya piya mora jiya pukare', the Asha Bhosle-Kishore Kumar duet from the film 'Baap Re Baap', which figured in the Binaca Geet Mala's annual list in 1955.
'Nayyarsaab worked hard on beat as no other composer did. He used 'jhap-taal', fairly unfamiliar to Hindi cinema, for 'Savera kaa suraj tumhare liye hai', the haunting Kishore Kumar number from 'Ek Baar Muskura Do'. This gave his songs a deeply musical quality,' said noted musician Suraj Sathe.
'Asman', Nayyar's debut film, was a miserable flop. 'Chham Chhama Chham' and 'Baaz' too met the same fate. However, 'Aar Paar' (1954) catapulted Nayyar to stardom, thanks to Guru Dutt. The legendary film maker urged Nayyar, who was weaned on the slow, pensive songs of New Theatres of Calcutta (now Kolkata), to switch over to peppy numbers.
In fact, a well-known story in the industry is that Dutt took Nayyar to Rhythm House, the once iconic but now-defunct record shop at Kala Ghoda, and gifted him records of Elvis Presley, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin and Nat King Cole. 'No harm in getting inspired by Hollywood music,' Dutt had pacified a hugely embarrassed Nayyar, it is believed.
'At least four 'Aar-Paar' songs — 'Kabhie aar kabhie paar laaga teer- e- nazar', 'Elo main hari piya', 'Hoon abhi main jawan' and 'Babuji dheere chalna' are adored by music connoisseurs, while the Gen-Z loves to groove on the zany beat of 'Jaane kahaan mera jigar gaya jee,' from 'Mr and Mrs 55,' said Rajil Sayani, noted music chronicler and son of the late Ameen Sayani, the renowned broadcaster. 'Also, 'Aye dil hai mushkil jeena yahaan,' the mellifluous Geeta Dutt-Mohammad Rafi duet from 'CID', topped the 1956 'Binaca' chart,' Sayani said.
Pointing out that Nayyar added colour to Hindi cinema's plaintive black-n-white era marked by sorrowful melodies much before cinema went Technicolour and Gevacolour, noted musician Arvind Haldipur said, 'Nayyarsaab had a style of his own. He never aped his peers. His fast-paced numbers went down well with the audience that was craving a change in film music.'
Cinema chroniclers say Nayyar will long be remembered for 'Mera naam chin chu', the oomph-oozing Geeta Dutt number from 'Howrah Bridge' made immortal on the silver screen by Helen — and, of course, 'Yeh hai Bombay meri jaan', the industry's handsome tribute to the city.
Although not trained in Indian classical music Nayyar could come up with 'Chhota sa balama ankhiyan neend churai ley gaya ho', a soul-stirring number from 'Raagini' (1958) in Raag Tilang. Also, he set to tune all 'Phagun' (1958) songs in Raag Pilu. 'Nayyarsaab had music streaming in his blood,' said Sathe.
According to Sayani, top musicians such as Pandit Ram Narayan, Manohari Singh, Parshuram Haldipur, Ram Singh and Sebastian were eager to work with Nayyar because he adhered to a well-planned schedule, and saw to it that the artistes were paid good remuneration, and on time.
While Nayyar teamed up with renowned filmmakers of the time such as B R Chopra, Guru Dutt, S Mukherjee and Shakti Samanta, he was happier doing low-budget flicks, with funny titles such as 'Baap Re Baap', 'Bhagam Bhag', 'Mr Lamboo' and 'Mangu', as producers pampered him, said a musician.
Also, he chose Asha Bhosle over Shamshad Begum and Geeta Dutt as his favourite female voice after 'Naya Daur'. In doing so Nayyar contested Mangeshkar's numerous uno status.
Once Geeta Dutt rang up Nayyar to ask him if he had forgotten her. 'I had no answer. Actually, it was Geeta-ji who had recommended my name to Guru Dutt during 'Aar-Paar' when my future seemed bleak. However, our 'karma' determines our life,' Nayyar said in an interview.
Film experts say Nayyarsaab invested Bhosle with a style to suit the romantic thrillers of the 1960s, awash with colour and often shot in the snow-capped Himalayas where ladies in bouffants — Sharmila Tagore, Asha Parekh and Sadhana — cavorted with Shammi Kapoor, Biswajit or Joy Mukherjee in musicals such as 'Kashmir Ki Kali', 'Sawan Ki Ghata', 'Ek Musafir, Ek Haseena' and 'Mere Sanam'.
The Asha solos under Nayyar's baton are a class apart :
'Chhota-sa balama' ('Ragini'); 'Aaj koiee pyaar sey dil ki baatein kaha gaya' ('Sawan Ki Ghata'); 'Koiee keh de zamane sey jaa ke' ('Baharein Phir Bhi Aayengi'); 'Yeh hai reshami zulfon ka andhera naa ghabaraeeye' ('Mere Sanam'); 'Yahi woh jagah hai' ('Yeh Raat Phir Naa Aayegi'); 'Akeyli hoon main piya aa' ('Sambandh') and 'Balama khuli hawa mein' ('Kashmir Ki Kali'), among many other numbers.
However, the Nayyar-Bhosle alliance went sour by the end of the 1960s only to make space for R D Burman. Recorded on a balmy August morning in 1972, 'Chain se hum ko kabhi aap ne jee ne naa diya', Nayyar and Bhosle's last song together, is an ode to love, separation and loneliness.
Nayyar lived in self-imposed exile for over three decades, making occasional appearance, in his trademark silk shirt, trousers and hat, at a television musical show or a live concert of his songs. He died in January 2007.