Omkar Prasad Nayyar passed into history yesterday. He was one of those mavericks who created history. He brought a new freshness to film music. It was Nayyarsaab who lent new dimensions to Asha and Rafi. His music was a blend of the east and the west - folk, Indian classical, jazz and symphonies all fused to create the O.P.Nayyar brand of music.
Nayyarsaab was first noticed when he composed for C.H.Atma that unforgettable geet "priitam aan milo". He went on to create a host of classic songs with this singer in films like "Aasmaan" and "Dhaake ki malmal" as well outside films. In fact, Atma's "diyaa to jalaa sab raat re baalam" in "Dhaake ki malmal" remained one of Nayyarsaab's personal favourites. Its a song that immediately displays the unsung facet of O.P.Nayyar - the non-typical O.P.Nayyar. "Aasmaan" was his breakthrough film which had one unforgettable melody after another - Atma's "is bevafaa jahaa.N me", "sach samajh nahii aae" and "raat suhaanii ha.nsate taare", Geeta's "dekho jaaduu bhare more nain" and "pom pom pom baaje" and Rajkumari's magnificent "piyaa aa na sake more nainan me". Each song a treasure.
He created the Nayyar-sound, the very typical melodies which combined the usage of the saarang, the electric guitar and the harmonica, with Guru Dutt's "Aar paar" in 1954. "ye lo mai.n haarii piyaa", "sun sun sun zaalimaa", "mohobbat kar lo jii bhar lo" and the ever-touching "jaa jaa jaa bevafaa" were instant successes catipulating Nayyar into star-composers league. He followed it up with "Mr & Mrs 55" (1955) and C.I.D (1956). B.R.Chopra then roped in Nayyar to compose for "Nayaa daur". The film was a musical treat and showcased Nayyar's flair for Punjabi folk music. He created some of the most popular bhangras ever in "uDe jab jab zulfe.n terii" and "ye desh hai viir javaano.n kaa". Tune in next to the ever-popular "maa.Ng ke saath tumhaaraa" - one of Nayyarsaab's earliest "ghodaa-gaadi" songs. In the same film, he turned in one of the most moving devotional songs ever - "aanaa hai to aa raah me".
If you noticed, Asha Bhosle had crept into Nayyarsaab's music room by this time. The two combined first in "Mangu" and though Nayyarsaab used Geeta Dutt and Shamshad Begum occasionally later, he had fallen completely for Asha's vocals. The two created a treasure of compositions that stand out as amongst the best ever. In my books, Asha-OPN is the third best combo ever (Lata's combos with C.Ramchandra and Anil Biswas taking the first two).
"Nayaa daur" fetched Nayyarsaab his first Filmfare award and he was on top of the music world. Then inexplicably, things started going awry. "Do Ustaad" and "Jaali note" flopped. And though "Tumsaa nahi dekha" was a success, it needed S.Mukherji's "Ek musaafir ek haseenaa" to resurrect Nayyarsaab's career. I rate this film as the best of O.P.Nayyar. This was music - classy and wonderful, yet so popular. Rafi and Asha were at their best. Have they ever sounded as romantic as in "aap yuu.N hii agar ham se milate rahe" ? Has Rafi sounded as romantic as he did in "mujhe dekh kar aap kaa muskuraanaa" ? What melodies !!
The 60s were the "chocolate" years of Hindi films - sweet romantic fluffy stories with little substance, sweet looking heros who couldnt act.. and all built on music. It was O.P.Nayyar's music that made stars out of non-actors like Biswajeet and Joy Mukherji. "pukaarataa chalaa huu.N mai.n" is what we remember Biswajeet for while "ba.ndaa paravar thaam lo jigar" is Joy Mukherji's definitive cinematic moment.
Compare what O.P.Nayyar composed for the ebullient Shammi Kapoor in "Tumsaa nahi dekhaa" and "Kashmir ki kali" with Shankar Jaikishan's songs for the same actor. While S-J thought Shammi was about loudness, OPN brought so much melody and softness to his songs while still being very ebullient. Which is why a "ye chaa.Nd saa roshan cheharaa" is so much more memorable than a "diivaane kaa naam to puuchho" which had Rafi just bellowing the lines.
However, the Nayyar wave was about to collapse. He broke off with Rafi in the late 60s and got Mahendra Kapoor to sing most of his songs. And finally, in 1972, Asha also broke away from him literally ending his career. It was an impact as huge as Lata's on C.Ramchandra. "chain se ham ko kabhii" was Asha's swan song for the great composer. We dont know if there is any deeper significance to those words, but the fact is that O.P.Nayyar was never the same without Asha.
So how will history remember Nayyarsaab ? As a composer par excellence ? As an arrogant man who bowed to none and had fights with a number of film makers ? As the creator of some of the most loved and popular melodies of all time ? Whatever it may be, there is no question that we owe Nayyarsaab lots of thnak-yous for bringing so much joy into our lives with his music. For that reason alone, he will remain a legend - never to be forgotten.
My 10 favorite O.P.Nayyar melodies (in no order) :
1. diyaa to jalaa sab raat re baalam (C.H.Atma / Dhaake ki malmal / 1956)
2. ae dil hai mushqil jiinaa yahaa.N (Md Rafi & Geeta Dutt / C.I.D / 1956)
3. Gariib jaan ke ham ko na tum (Md Rafi & Geeta Dutt / Chhoo mantar / 1957)
4. pyaar par bas to nahii hai (Talat Mahmood & Asha Bhosle / Sone ki chidiyaa / 1958)
5. dekho qasam se dekho qasam se (Md Rafi & Asha Bhosle / Tumsa nahi dekha / 1959)
6. aap yuu.N hii agar hamase (Md Rafi & Asha Bhosle / Ek musaafir ek haseenaa / 1962)
7. jaaiye aap kahaa.N jaaye.nge (Asha Bhosle / Mere sanam / 1964)
8. diivaanaa huaa baadal (Md Rafi & Asha Bhosle / Kashmir ki kali / 1964)
9. ba.ndaa paravar thaam lo jigar (Md Rafi / Phir wahi dil laya hoon / 1965)
10. chain se hamako kabhii (Asha Bhosle / Pran jaaye par vachan na jaaye / 1971)
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