Often labelled as \u201cindividualistic\u201d, \u201caloof\u201d, and a \u201cmaverick\u201d, Omkar Prakash Nayyar may have been all that, but few would deny that he was among the leading musical talents in the Hindi film industry of the 1950s and 1960s.<\/p>\n
Born in Lahore on January 16, 1926, O.P. Nayyar, who gave us such classic hits as \u201cJhumka Gira Re\u201d and \u201cPukarta Chala Hoon Main\u201d, came from a family with no background in music. His father was employed in a medical shop.<\/p>\n
Though he studied music for a short while, Nayyar had little formal training in music. He used to sing at local functions as a child and the All India Radio that had just opened its Lahore branch invited him to sing there. He would perform at the radio occasionally.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
His family moved to Amritsar during Partition but Nayyar, headstrong even at that young age, was initially reluctant to shift. In an interview to the senior journalist Chandan Mitra in 2005, Nayyar recalled: \u201cWe had a Muslim neighbour who sheltered me when the riots began. But one day, a mob arrived at his house and demanded that the Hindu boy he was hiding in the house be handed over. My kind protector organised a tonga and smuggled me out of the back gate. I reached the refugee camp somehow and then made my way to Amritsar in November 1947, a good three months after Partition. Since I had no other skills and was too proud to ask my family for money, I got myself a job as a music teacher in Patiala.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nayyar went to Bombay in 1949 and found work immediately, composing background music for the film \u2018Kaneez\u2019, directed by Krishan Kewal. His first film as independent music director was \u2018Aasmaan\u2019 (1952). In the 1950s he worked with legendary director-producer Guru Dutt in films like \u2018Baaz\u2019, \u2018Aar Paar\u2019 and \u2018C.I.D\u2019. \u00a0<\/p>\n
His music for the film \u2018Mere Sanam\u2019 was very popular, with songs like \u201cJaayiye Aap Kahaan Jaayenge\u201d and \u201cPukarta Chala Hoon Main\u201d. Later, his music for \u2018Kashmir Ki Kali\u2019 was also a huge success, with the singer Mohammed Rafi being the voice of Shammi Kapoor in such memorable songs as \u201cTareef Karun Kya Uski\u201d.<\/p>\n
Nayyar, whose evergreen numbers include \u201cMera Nam Chin Chin Choo\u201d, \u201cAakhon Hi Akhon Main\u201d, \u201cJaane Kahan Mera Jigar Gaya Jee\u201d and \u201cBabuji Dhire Chalna\u201d, worked with several singers such as Geeta Dutt, Asha Bhosle, Rafi and Mahendra Kapoor \u2014 but never with Lata Mangeshkar.<\/p>\n
As Surya Prakash wrote in The Hindu<\/em> in a tribute to Nayyar after his death: \u201cThe music director who dared to go on without the Nightingale\u2019s golden voice, delivered hit after mega hits with Asha Bhosle. One only has to listen to songs like \u2018Jaayiye aap kahan\u2019 (Mere Sanam), \u2018Raaton ko chori chori\u2019 (Yeh Raat Phir Na Aayegi), \u2018Zara haule haule\u2019, \u2018Meri jaan tumse sadke\u2019 and \u2018Aaj koi pyar se\u2019 (all in Sawan Ki Ghata), \u2018Aayiye meherbaan\u2019 (Howrah Bridge) and \u2018Aankhon se jo utri hai dil mein\u2019 (Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon) to sense the profound wavelength the two worked on. The heady cocktail of OP-Asha captured the imagination of music lovers as never before and swept away even powerful competition from Madan Mohan-Lata combine.\u201d<\/p>\n His music in \u201cAayiye Meherbaan\u201d, which was sung by Asha Bhosle, was pitch perfect for the mood of the song that features a glamorous Madhubala in \u2018Howrah Bridge\u2019, a crime thriller directed by Shakti Samanta.<\/p>\n Once asked to compare the singing of Lata Mangeshkar with Asha Bhosle, Nayyar said that while both were great singers the flexibility in Bhosle\u2019s voice and \u201cthe control on her breathing, laughter and sighs, and the romanticism in her voice\u201d made it perfect for his kind of music. On the other hand, Lata\u2019s voice was \u201cvery melodious and sweet\u201d.<\/p>\n In 1974, however, Nayyar and Bhosle parted ways and after that he slowly faded away from the film music scene. He died on January 28, 2007 following a cardiac arrest.<\/p>\n In a tribute to Nayyar, film critic Lata Khubchandani wrote in Outlook<\/em> magazine: \u201cThe truth is that he didn\u2019t compose, he had no training. He just tuned into the soul and drew out magical melodies that connected at once with his listeners. His songs lack effort \u2014 they are spontaneous expressions of gay abandon, of joyous moments of romance; of the thrills and frills of life\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n O.P. Nayyar himself had once said: \u201cThe fact is I don\u2019t know the ABCD of music. It was all a gift from God that I composed so effortlessly and people liked the music I made. I didn’t set out to be a music director, just drifted into it.\u201d<\/p>\n Also on this day:<\/p>\n 1901 \u2014 Govind Ranade, scholar, social reformer and founding member of Indian National Congress, passed away<\/p>\n 1920 \u2014 Nani Palkhivala, jurist and economist, was born<\/p>\n 1942 \u2014 Jaipal Reddy, Congress leader and union minister, was born<\/p>\n 1946 \u2014 Kabir Bedi, Indian television and film actor, was born<\/p>\n 1954 \u2014 Baburao Painter, pioneering Indian film director, passed away\u00a0<\/p>\n 1997 \u2014 Dutta Samant, trade union leader, died\u00a0<\/p>\n 2000 \u2014 T.N. Kaul, Indian diplomat and foreign secretary, passed away \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Often labelled as \u201cindividualistic\u201d, \u201caloof\u201d, and a \u201cmaverick\u201d, Omkar Prakash Nayyar may have been all that, but few would deny that he was among the leading musical talents in the Hindi film industry of the 1950s and 1960s. Born in Lahore on January 16, 1926, O.P. Nayyar, who gave us such classic hits as \u201cJhumka Gira Re\u201d and \u201cPukarta Chala… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history"],"yoast_head":"\n