Guest article by Ravindra Kelkar
(OP Nayyar was a craze for some years from the mid-50s. Every music director was imitating his style, composing OP-type songs from time to time. If you thought it was simply a bandwagon effect, our OP Nayyar-expert Ravindra Kelkar unravels several factors that were at play. Some did it voluntarily, some under producers’ pressure, and some also with the not so noble intention of cutting OP out – flood the market with OP-clones to drive out the original. According to Mr Kelkar’s fascinating thesis, even redoubtable names like Naushad, C Ramchandra and SD Burman were not untouched by the OP-influence. After his inaugural article on ‘The three distinct phases of OP Nayyar’s career’ and the second article on OP Nayyar-Geeta Dutt songs, Mr Kelkar comes up with another Ace on OP. Just close your eyes and enjoy these ‘OP’ compositions by several other MDs, with profuse thanks to Mr Kelkar. – AK)
OP’s musical career took off from Aar Paar (1954). A succession of musical hits followed, in the next two years, like, Baap Re Baap (1955), Mr & Mrs 55 (1955), Musafirkhana (1955), Chhoomantar (1956), CID (1956), Hum Sab Chor Hain (1956), and many others. Some of them were big hits, however, most of the movies managed to recover the money invested by the producer, largely due to the lilting music by OP. His music had freshness, liveliness, was infectious, easy to identify with, easy to hum and it was distinctly different from others. He had created his own style. It was easy to guess the identity of the composer as soon as you listened to the intro music of the OP song. Even the title music of the films had an OP stamp. It would be typically breezy and include a clarinet/flute/violins combo piece as well as a sarangi piece. In fact, OP would try to compose the title music in such a way that he would time the clarinet piece or sarangi piece when the title would show “Music Composed by O.P. Nayyar” on the screen. All this created a certain mystique around the name of O.P. Nayyar. Also, OP was easy to work with as long as you paid his price and didn’t interfere with his work, by giving him full freedom in composition, selection of song writers and singers. He didn’t really care about the star cast, story, name of the banner etc.
OP was a great believer in the “Time” factor; he used to say, “Adami ka waqt chalata hai, adami nahi chalata”. In later years, he always claimed that it was his time (1954 to 1958), so whatever music he composed, became hit. Thus, by the end of 1956, OP had built a solid reputation of a “hit” composer. Then came year 1957. OP scored big in 1957, with smashing success of Naya Daur, followed by Tumsa Nahi Dekha. OP considered this point of time as the zenith of his composing career. He was at the peak of his popularity. By end of 1957, he had consolidated his position as a composer of sure shot hit music. In this period, the financers of the film, used to invest the money as soon as the producer told them that OP was the music director of the film. They would buy the distributing rights in a jiffy, without giving a second thought about other factors like star cast, film director, etc. The film distributers held that if the film has OP’s music, it will be a hit, or at least it will run enough to enable them to recover the invested money. That was the reason behind OP’s assertion, when asked about why he didn’t work with too many big banners, that ‘My name itself was a banner, the film used to get sold without any problem if I was to compose the music. In the film posters, my name used to be written in big letters, other details used to be written in small letters. The question is why should they do it? They were not my relatives. It was because they thought that by doing this the movie will succeed at the box office’. This is also corroborated by Javed Akhtar when he told the story that OP was the only music director having his picture of playing the harmonium on a film poster, the poster didn’t have pictures of the hero or heroine. This happened for the film Mujrim (1958), which had Shammi Kapoor and Ragini as the lead pair.
At this point of time another thing happened. Sonetime in April 1958, OP hiked his fees to Rupees one lakh per film after he bagged the Filmfare award for Naya Daur. Due to this, he became out of reach for small time producers. The result was that these producers hired other music directors and started to put pressure on them to compose music in OP style, believing that it will help them in selling the film to the masses. Film industry is a fully commercial industry and it is very normal that once a film succeeds big time there are always a clutch of films made having similar story/plot/formula. The same logic applies here also – seeing that OP-styled music was lapped up by the masses, other music directors started giving music to resemble the OP-style either willfully or due to pressure from producer/distributer. Another important point to be remembered is that OP was not using Lata Mangeshkar as a singer and majority of the other music directors were heavily dependent on her. Mainly due to this reason, OP was always treated as an outcast by other MDs. If you come across any old photograph of a group of MDs, OP Nayaar is nowhere to be seen. So all these MDs were in a dilemma, how to overcome this situation? It was apparent to them that OP needed to be put in place, so they hit upon the idea that they should compose music like OP and prove that there was nothing special about OP. Once they succeed in doing this, OP would lose his sheen, with the result that there would be no takers for OP. OP in one of his interview has commented that there was an all-out effort in the film industry to cut him out.
To sum up the situation, we have three scenarios of the songs composed by other MDs which sound like OP:
1) Those songs which were composed in OP style willingly
2) Those songs composed in OP style due to pressure from producer/distributor
3) Those songs composed in OP style with the intention of cutting OP out
Just to prove that this is not a figment of my imagination, I quote here, excerpts from an interview of Anil Biswas, taken by Piyush Sharma, from an article written by him in the book, ‘OP Nayyar, King of Melody’. This book was written by Lata Jagtiani and was published in 2013. This book also contained some articles written by other authors. Piyush Sharma is a well-known music expert and has extensively interviewed many music personalities from the Golden Era. This interview took place sometime in the late 90s when several composers were felicitated in a programme held in Mumbai. The composers honoured included Anil Biswas, Naushad, OP Nayyar, Khayyam, Bulo C Rani etc.Tthe interesting thing was, after receiving the memento, OP touched Anil Biswas’s feet.
Here are the excerpts (answers given by AB were in Hindi, which I have translated), which are relevant to the theme of this post:
Piyush Sharma: It was a surprise to see OP Nayyar touch your feet on the stage. He respects you so much.
Anil Biswas: Possibly, he holds me in high esteem because I remember that in the 1950-60 decade, when the popularity of OPN’s music was sky high, all music directors started copying him; I was the only music director who didn’t compromise by copying his style. That could be the reason he admires me.To remain in the film industry, all other music directors did this. Those who were clever, they copied in a subtle manner, by camouflaging it, like Naushad in Kohinoor, and Shankar-Jaikishan (in several films). Others, who were not so clever, did it openly, like Roshan in Wallah Kya Baat Hai.
In the same article, Piyush Sharma also mentions that Ravi was always pressurised by BR Chopra camp to compose in the style of OP Nayyar’s Naya Daur.
To substantiate all these arguments, I made a conscious attempt to listen to the songs in the period 1958-1960. Though it was impossible to listen to all the songs, it was noticeable that majority of the films had one or two songs composed in OP style in that period. So, all in all, I stumbled upon more than 100 songs which had OP influence. My guestimate is that if one listens to all the songs in that period the number would be around 200. It was quite astounding to come across so many songs. This is again a pointer to the sort of impact OP had on the Hindi Film Music industry in that period.
There were some success stories and many failures of these attempts. However, by the end of 1960, OP found himself out of work. Other than the fact that OP had become out of reach for small producers and some standard tiffs with producers like BR Chopra, Guru Dutt, S Mukherjee, one must conclude that the strategy of the MDs to give OP-styled music paid off handsomely in sending OP into oblivion. As if this was not enough, OP picked up a fight with Radio Ceylon, due to which it stopped playing his songs (as per information given by Raju Bharatan). OP also felt that his songs of the film Do Ustad were not included in Binaca Geetmala program for some monetary gains. The result was that OP lost his clout with the financers/distributers. All this forced OP to do an honest introspection of the state of the affairs and after intense reflection came to the conclusion that he must start all over again by remodeling his composing style. It was obvious to him that his old style of composing had served its time and he needed to re-engineer his orchestration as well as put more emphasis on melody without compromising the rhythm orientation. After a gap of a year, he made a successful came back by incorporating all these changes in his music with the magical score of Ek Musafir Ek Haseena in 1962.
Now let us listen to some of the songs. I have tried to include as many different MDs as possible.
Usha Khanna
1. Bolo bolo kuchh to bolo…Pyaar ho to kah do yes – Dil Deke Dekho (1959) – Rafi – Majrooh Sultanpuri
This was a Nasir Hussain film under the banner of Filmalaya (S Mukerjee had formed his own banner after quitting Filmistan). Following the grand musical success of Tumsa Nahin Dekha (1957), OP had a tiff with S Mukerjee, insisting that his music was the main contributor behind the success of the film. One more instance of OP’s foot in mouth tendency!! S Mukerjee didn’t like it. So, to prove the point to OP that he was not indispensable, he gave a break to Usha Khanna and insisted upon her to give music in OP style. In my view, Usha Khanna did a fabulous job and the film proved to be a hit at the box office, with its music being appreciated by all. In fact, the music resembled OP style so much that many people believed that OP was its music director under a pseudonym. To her credit, from her next film, she created her own identity by composing music in her own style.
SD Burman
2. Hum aap ki aankhon mein is dil ko basa de to – Pyasa (1957) – Rafi – Sahir Ludhiyanavi
Originally this song was not a part of the film. When the film without this song was shown by Guru Dutt to a selected audience, including the financers/distributers, it was suggested that the film is too serious and needs to have some light moments and to satisfy them, Guru Dutt asked SD Burman to compose this song, hinting that it could be a duet in OP style.
Madan Mohan
Madan Mohan is a very curious case. I had an opportunity of attend an interactive program with Sanjeev Kohli (MM’s son) a couple of years ago. He showed a film/documentary made on MM and took up questions. He categorically mentioned that the lack of commercial success of his films, in spite of having high quality songs, affected MM heavily throughout his musical career of 24 years. He desperately tried to correct this situation by all tricks, but to no avail. Thus, during the period of 1958-1960, he composed quite a few songs cast in OP mold. Unfortunately for MM, none of the films clicked at the box office. This disheartened him further, but made him realize that copying others is not going to work and, fortunately, never tried to do it after this. He had everything in life. He was born rich; he was universally admired by cognoscenti as an MD. He had a nice family and he also had Lata. But lack of commercial success of his films continued to rankle him till the end. This, plus, fondness for alcohol probably hastened his death. Everyone rightly admires the longevity of SD Burman for giving quality music till the end. In my opinion MM also gave quality music till the end (his last film Mausam had some excellent tunes). And to my knowledge, he was never ever out of the work as such, through-out his career, so it’s altogether quite sad that he died so early. I list here two of his songs which I like most as I feel he has caught the OP mood beautifully.
3. Hum bulate hi rahe – Dekh Kabira Roya (1957) – Rafi and Asha Bhosle – Rajendra Krishna
4. Tum saamne aakar – Khazanchi (1958) -– Rafi andAsha Bhosle – Rajendra Krishna
Bipin Babul
5. Aaha ek nazar ek ada – Raat Ke Rahi (1959) – Rafi – Vishwamitra Aadil
C Ramchandra – The interlude music is OP based.
6. Lene se inkaar nahin – Amardeep (1958) – Rafi – Rajendra Krishna
Chitragupta
Chitragupta also composed many songs in OP style. His OP like songs have the quality of making you happy, like OP. He was another MD after Usha Khanna, whose film Kali Topi Laal Rumal (1959) enjoyed success at box office, mainly due to the OP like music. I list two of his songs.
7. Yaaron ka pyar liye – Kali Topi Laal Rumal (1959) – Rafi and Asha Bhosle – Majrooh Sultanpuri
8. Jawab nahi gore mukhde par til kaale ka – Kangan (1959) – Rafi and Geeta Dutt – Rajendra Krishna
Hansraj Bahal
9. A bibi ji, maine kaha ji ye mausam hai suhana – Milan (1958) – Rafi and Geeta Dutt – Prem Dhavan
Kalyanji Virji Shan
10. Unchi ediwaalon ne – Bedard Zamana Kya Jaane (1959) – Rafi and Geeta Dutt – Bharat Vyas
Khayyam
There is a nice episode told by Khayaam himself about OP. This happened sometime in the years 1957-1958. Khayyam had gone to collect some dues from a producer. The producer refused to pay him on one pretext or another. As he was just coming out of the office, Khayyam bumped into OP who was visiting the producer to collect advance for a film which he had signed. After exchanging pleasantries, OP asked Khayyam, how come you are here? Khayyam told him the whole story. OP was indignant after listening to his woes. He quietly asked Khayyam to wait outside. OP went inside the office. As soon as the producer handed OP his advance, OP called Khayyam in and handed over the pending dues to Khayyam in front of the producer and coolly asked the producer to pay him the remaining advance. As the producer desperately wanted OP to score music for his film, the producer had no option but to pay OP the remaining money.
11. Itna husn pe huzoor – Mohabbat Is Ko Kehate Hain (1965) – Mukesh – Majrooh Sultanpuri.
I suppose this film must have got delayed, since the composition must have happened in 1960 or so.
N Datta
He also had a few songs composed in OP style
12. O chhokri wo tu hai ras bhare phalon ki tokri – Bhai Bahan (1959) – Rafi and Suman Kalyanpur – Sahir Ludhiyanavi
(I should add here, to complete the OP-effect even Suman Kalyanpur sounds a great deal like Asha Bhosle to me. –AK)
Naushad
He composed two songs in Kohinoor in OP style. A Rafi-Lata duet, Chalenge teer, and Jadugar qatil by Asha Bhosle. AK in his post on Naushad-Asha had excluded this song for the reason that it resembled OP composition. (If I had said this, after hearing this song carefully I have revised my opinion. The sitar prelude and interludes very clearly bear Naushad style and matches with other pure Naushadian composition in other songs in the film. Only Asha Bhosle’s singing style shows some OP influence. – AK)
13. Jadugar qatil – Kohinoor (1960) – Asha Bhosle – Shakeel Badayuni
Ravi
Ravi was the most flexible and accommodative of composers. Thus, it’s no surprise really, that he has quite a few songs aping style of OP.
14. Ruk ruk chamke – Pehli Raat (1959) – Rafi – Majrooh Sultanpuri
Roshan
Roshan also has a few songs influenced by OP. The most famous being the Rafi- Asha Bhosle duet Khan ke to khan ke kyun khan ke from the film Wallah Kya Baat Hai (1960). I list here a less heard song.
15. Aji maine poochha aap ko – Maine Jeena Seekh Liya (1959) – Rafi – Sahil Gorakhpuri
(This song also has a twin version in Asha Bhosle’s voice. An OPN fan would be by definition also an AB fan. So here is her version for the faithfuls. – AK)
S Mohinder
16. Mera dil tujh pe qurbaan – Naya Paisa (1958) – Rafi and Geeta Dutt – Manohar Khanna
Sardar Malik
17. Koi chaand koi tara –Taxi 555 (1958) – Rafi and Geeta Dutt – Prem Dhavan
Shankar-Jaikishan
The interlude music is OP based.
18. Hum aur tum aur yeh sama – College Girl (1960) – Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar – Rajendra Krishna
(Readers would recall Usha Khanna gave a fabulous Rafi solo with the same mukhada ‘Hum aur tum aur ye sama’ a year earlier in ‘Dil De Ke Dekho’. If SJ felt compelled to copy from a copy, that is a double tribute to OP – AK)
Salil Chowdhary
19. Koi dekhe to kahe tujhko kahin diwana na – Aparadhi Kaun (1957) – Asha Bhosle – Majrooh Sultanpuri
There are many songs composed in OP style by other small time MDs during this period. As a representation of this breed I present the following song.
20. Tumhee ne dil mera chheen ke – Air Mail (1960) – Rafi and Suman Kalyanpur – music Shardul Kwatra – lyrics Anand Bakshi
This is a very melodious song.
I conclude this with a song from film Andaz Apna Apna. The composer was Tushar Bhatia. He is a great fan of OP Nayyar. I met him on 16th Jan 1994 on OP’s birthday, when OP was living in a two-room flat in Virar, which is a suburb in Mumbai. This particular song, was a deliberate attempt on his part as a tribute to OP Nayyar and Naushad. It’s a delightful song. The use of sitar interlude reminds you of the tonga song Udan khatole pe ud jaoon from the film Anmol Ghadi. This song remains quite popular among the new generation also.
21. Elo ji sanam hum aa Gaye – Andaz Apna Apna (1994) – Vicky Mehta, Behroze Chatterjee – Majrooh Sultanpuri
{ 97 comments… read them below or add one }
Akji and KelkarJi,
A great article, I myself was thinking about the same as a theme, but i couldn’t come out in time!
Nevertheless, i can add a few songs in the list
Madanmohan
husna jab jab ishq se
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Yf2OmuUzYg
Bach gaye hum dono
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Luk4AxBSuJU
Sardul kwatra
maine kaha suno zara
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGxUq0vWuP4
Roshan
khanke to khanke kyun khanke
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQCOamUn_xQ
nainon mein kyun aan base
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r22bhlFNNt4
G S kohli
o matware sajna
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGZdHeDwulQ
hansraj behl
chalo cha;e dil le chale jahan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHg9PolVmCY
All the songs have the same rhythm of Ghoda gadi, except husna jab jab and khanke to khanke, which have O p’s style of music.
It mimics O P’s style.
In a few songs, its interesting to listen, Lata’s voice in O P style songs, though we actually couldn’t hear the combo as such!
Kelkarji
A well researched top grade article composed with painstaking effort and you have more than amply proved your theory beyond doubt. But for your presentation I would have fallen into an error assuming all these to be the creation except that of Usha Khanna, which film I had seen in 1957. Thereto I thought that OP had in a generous mood lent his genius to the budding lady to launch her on her career.
You had collected lot of anecdotes and embellished the article in no uncertain manner. I am now totally lost in admiration of the genius of OP which had spread across the entire gamut of Bollywood and forced or induced as the case may be any MDs to do a crude or subtle imitation of his style.
Horse beat songs which first saw the light of day in Doctor (1942, Punkaj Mullick) was taken to lympian heights by OP and he established his own brand of this genre.
This will be a great jewel amidst the excellent articles of the site and I also offer my heartfelt thanks to big boss AK in bringing before his committed audience.
I expect you to continue this series going into further details of this MD. Once I started I could not stop and in between devouring the pages also listened to the imitations.
Once again my congratulations on your article.
I fully agree with D P rangan in bestowing superlatives on this article, in particular for the premise, and the solid indisputable research buttressing it.
I too was unaware of most of these copycat songs, and now to listen to all these has been a most interesting revelation.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading through it. Easily one of the SoY best. My rich compliments and profuse thanks to Ravindra kelkar.
Kelkar ji ;
Once again one more Ace up your sleeve . I think OPN entered music scene around 1952 , starting with C H Atma songs and quickly changing over to urbanisation mode and coming up with melodies one after another hitting the target and jackpot too . No doubt his style was fav.of all the producers of those times who had eye on making quick money thru the music of this cowboy of the mid 50s . I am , however , baffeled by one of a teaser music director ….S D BATISH…. who during 1952 was composing the songs of quite a few movies and if one listen to them would surely take it to be OPN’s songs. A few example here for your judgement ; but who influenced who is the question . One may read inbetween that S D Batish later on became Asstt. Music Director of OPN followed by G S Kohli and Sabestian too at much later date .
1. Abhi kuch raat baki hai…..Lata…Betaab
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEhhstg6pyM
2.Yun na dekho meri jaan…..Asha….Saazish
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cm4Imrkx7M
3.Zara Idhar to aa matwali….Rafi, Asha….Saazish
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93Oe8sNUxxQ
4.Naache Umang Jhoome Tarang……Asha…..Tipu Sultan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBkeLVo_lvU
There are many more of such songs . One thing for sure that S D Batish had a stamping style of Hansraj Behl also if one listen to his other songs too.
This is truly an amazing post, both in conception and execution. I was aware of a couple of 90’s songs in OPN style, but I had no idea there was such a rich collection of songs with his stamp.
Here is another song from the 1993 film Shatranj featuring Divya Bharti with Anand-Milind’s music ‘Maine ne na jana, tu ne na jana’:
https://youtu.be/Voj_8KQBbIE
Kelkar ji,
A convincingly argued post. I would not, however, agree with your view that an OPN fan would, by definition, be an AB fan too!
Moti Lalwani ji may be able to add something to the Pyaasa incident that you talk about. In one of his articles that I recall, Raju Bhartan had talked about the OPN phenomenon having influenced SDB in Kala Pani: “Dilwale ab teri gali mein aa pahunche”: Rafi & Asha.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNSX42SsMpo
Excellent and well researched article.
For some songs it is unbelievable that it is not a OP’s song. The impact of OP is so powerful.
In MD Khhayyam’s anecdote, OP’s different, bold & helpful personality is reflected.
congratulations Ravi Kelkar!
Keep sharing ….
Sateesh Paknikar
Ravinder Kelkar Ji
My congratulations for such an excellent and a very different kind of article on the great OP Nayyar, with the lovely examples of songs posted, some known as well as not known songs.
Would love to add my bit to your post.
Mujhe teri nazar ne mara by Asha Bhonsle and chorus from Flying Rani, composed by BN Bali
Notable is the near similarly with
Udhein jab jab zulfein teri from Naya Daur
https://youtu.be/dO2_G31Y9rs
If the first one is slightly afar from the original, then this is a closer copy of
Ik pardesi mera dil le gaya from Phagun
Sapno mein sainya tum aaya na karo
Aa ke mujjhe ched ched Jaya na karo
By Manna De and Asha Bhonsle from Flying Rani composed by BN Bali
https://youtu.be/fLhJA9UNyTI
Here’s a lovely Madanmohan/Asha Bhonsle song from Ek Shola, a lovely Bhangra composition, having the OP Nayyar effect
Chudi khanke chalun main jab tan ke
https://youtu.be/WGsK5HEtwRo
Now for the last, here’s a lovely NFS by Mallika Pukhraj,Tasqeen Ko hum ne
who’s tune was copied by OP Nayyar for his Rafi song from Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon,
Hum Ko tumhare ishq ne
https://youtu.be/PASbaR5MWco
Thanks again for the beautiful post
It is indeed true that OP had influence on several music directors including seniors like Madan mohan. In fact some of MM s duets with Rafi in films like Adalat had clear influence of OP.For example a song from the film Taxi stand by Chitragupt AANA HAI TO CHALE AAO had real OP style and there are several such songs which was a tribute to him.
A very unusual and interesting topic.
Ravindra Kelkar,
The depth of your writing shows the adoration you have for OP. Mistakenly, once I had thought that OP was the MD of VKBH but never imagined that the plagiarism was that widespread.
Thanks for a detailed and well researched article; I am sure you are increasing OP fans.
AK,
When TV started in Bombay (then in 70s) doordarshan had a serial name “aisa bhi hota hai”
When I see the OP glorification on you blog I wonder:)
Mumbaikar8,
I am ever ready to do प्रायश्चित्त for the sins I might have ommmitted. I have similarly made a standing offer to you to write on Geeta Dutt and Asha Bhosle.
Mehfil Mein Meri #1,
Thanks for your praise. I feel happy that you also noticed this phenomenon of OP’s influence on other MDs. All the songs you have mentioned resemble OP style.
DP Rangan ji,
Thanks for your appreciation. I feel pleased that my post increased your appreciation of the musical genius of OP. You yourself are such a prolific writer that I feel honored that you liked my article.
You are right, in giving credit to AK as the main reason behind the success and popularity of SOY site.
Dinesh K Jain ji, #3,
Thanks for your overwhelming praise. I am glad that you enjoyed the article.
ksbhatia ji,
Thanks for your appreciation. The songs you listed have the OP style. SD Batish was also from Lahore(like OP) and was a good friend of OP.
Subodh Agarwal ji, #5
Thanks for your praise.
It was interesting to listen to the song you have listed. I don’t remember hearing it before. Well!!Even in 1993 we had some songs inspired by OP!!
Canasya #6,
Thanks for your appreciation. The comment that an OP fan has to be an Asha fan was from AK. Generally speaking I agree with the comment, though there might some exceptions, but as the saying goes exception proves the rule.
You are right about the Kalapaani song “Dilwale ab teri gali ” that it has an OP influence.
Sateesh #7,
Thanks for your appreciation and apt comments.
arvindersharma ji, #8
Thanks for your praise. The song listed by you substantiate my theory.
KB #9
I am pleased to note that you agree about my theme. You are right about MM and Chitragupta as well as Rafi duets.
Mumbaikar8 #10,
Thanks for your praise. Pleased to see you back. What is VKBH? Very Kind But Horrible? (Ha!). I haven’t heard the term before.
I will be pleased if my writing increases OP followers. It’s my firm belief that if you happen to connect with OP songs and enjoy them, the happiness and feel good factor increases in your life. Even the imitated songs listed in my article will also do.
About your comment addressed to AK, I felt sometime in 2014-15 or their-abouts, the SOY site started to become multi-dimensional. Till that time it was a bit one-dimensional and the credit for this transformation goes to AK….
AK,
Your प्रायश्चित्त is amazing; I would encourage you to commit more sins. I cannot accept your offer because I am not committed to either Geeta or Asha to do justice to them.
Ravindra Kelkar,
Oh VKHB is Vallah Kya Baat Hai.
Now is most apposite time to listen to his songs.
I totally agree with you that the credit of transformation goes to AK. He accepted his shortcomings, unless one accepts one cannot change.
#4 ksbhatia
In trying to suggest that OPN may well have drawn inspiration for his very popular music style from S D Batish, you have cited four compositions of the latter, but three of those are 1959 compositions, which scarcely buttresses your conjecture, for by then OPN’s style was already reigning supreme for years. Even for SDB’s composition of 1952, one has to recall that Aar Paar (1954) may have been OPN’s first major hit, but he was already composing for films for about a couple of years.
Also the fact that SDB later became OPN’s assistant would rather suggest that SDB displayed his mantle to be in sync with OPN, rather than the other way round.
Until you can produce a few definitive samples of SDB predating OPN’s signature compositions, it seems to me that your conjecture must remain just that, an unsubstantiated conjecture.
Kelkarji
Thanks for appreciating my views. My posts on themes pale by comparison with yours and are common place. My aim was to bring some material on the theme for the general knowledge of blog followers. I can write pages of astronomy with its full complexity but it will go through all and not easy to comprehend at all.
Did you notice the sitar prelude to the Kohinoor Asha song, which I heard after 20 years, is almost similar to the one composed by Madan Mohan for the song – Hum pyar karega, a female duet for the film Dekh Kabhira Roya, one of the great music pieces of this unfortunate MD, who never had a box office hit of his movies.
Rangan ji, if I may, the real unfortunate one in this respect was not MM who did have several hit movies (Mera Saaya, Woh Kaun Thi, Bhai Bhai, Anpadh, Laila Majnu, Veer Zaara, Adalat) though maybe not many superhits, but Khayyam who actually did not have any hits, that is, until Kabhi-Kabhie, and he did lament publicly that in all these years (despite consistently giving superlative music, and having worked with various top banners and stars) he had never had a hit movie. His misfortune was further aggravated when Kabhi-Kabhie actually remained his only hit and soon after it he faded away, musically, rather rapidly
There is another song from Roshan also in the same catagory NAINON MEIN KYOON AAN BASE with Lata and Mukesh singing the OP style song from WARRANT (1961). For ex,RAVI songs in films like VACHAN also used this style.Further I also found some songs tuned by SD and even NAUSHAD in the same style. All this indicate that OP was a trendsetter and most others also set to this trend. Such things happening when each composer had his own style and originality in those days really mean something !
Dineshji
I think that none of the superhit rang in cash register endlessly and creating a mini fortune for the producer. Instead of sinking in no time, they flicked briefly like a comet at its close approach to the sun and then back to the box. The music of these movies lingered long thereafter in the memory of people. Films he gave music did not have such box office collection as some film like Azad, Miss Mary which were blockbusters when released. This is just my view.
One of the best article on great music and style of the Maestro of music . A tip of the iceberg perhaps….
Ravindra Kelkar,
You have mentioned some markers of OPN music: Clarinet, sarangi, flute in a unique style. Another important marker, according to me, is Asha Bhosle (and Rafi generally). OPN’s AB is very different from say MM’s Asha. In several songs mentioned by the readers, absent AB and Rafi, the OPN- similarity becomes quite tenuous.
It is interesting to note that ‘ghoda-gaaadi’ beat has become synonymous with OPN. This beat has been used by Naushad many years before OPN. Pankaj Mullick used this beat still earlier in Doctor (1941).
Dinesh,
Did I read you correctly? From where did you get that SDB went on to become assistant to OPN? SDB debuted six years before OPN. Even though his fees did not hit the celing, he remained among the top MDs through his life.
Dinesh K Jain #24,
I don’t think SD Batish ever worked as assistant to OP. At least I have never come across any such information. OP had only two assistants in his career as MD-one being GS Kohi who used to look after Rhythm section and Sabastian Desouza, who was in charge of arranging western instrumentation. Actually when OP was living in Lahore, in pre-partition days, Sabastian was in charge of musical band at one of the prominent hotels in Lahore. OP used to frequent the Hotel whenever he used to have the funds and listen to the musical band. During these visits the friendship between them mushroomed. OP was highly impressed with Sabastian’s skills and would jokingly tell Sabastian that one day he(OP) will become a MD and then will hire him(Sabastian) as his assistant. These words turned out to be prophetic.
AK ji ;@30 ,
Dinesh is correct . By SDB he means S D Batish . Batish was actor, singer before he ventured into music direction. I think he was MD for nine or ten hindi films and in between he was asstt.to OPN in some movies during mid 50s thru mid 60s.
Dinesh K Jain #26,
I don’t think Adalat and Anpadh were box office hits. Laila Majnu and Veer Zara were released after MM had already left this world. In fact Who Kaun Thi(1964) was his first Siver Jubeeli Hit. Bhai Bahi(1956) should have been the first Silver Jubeeli hit for him but for some reasons the producer took away film from theatres after 20 weeks or so. This left MM very disconsolate. So the poor fellow had his first hit film after 14 years of his debut film Aankhe(1950).
But you are right about Khayaam. However I think after Kabhi Kabhi he had at least two hit films, Trishul and Thodisi Bewafai.
KB #27,
As I mentioned in my write-up I came of 100 songs and then I stopped searching for more. In my estimate if one listens to all songs, the number may swell to 200.
You are spot on about your comment that the OP impact. It was like a Tsunami and affected all other MDs.
Madhupati Sharma ji #29,
Thanks for your appreciation.
AK #30,
You are absolutely right about the quality of Asha singing under OP’s baton. It has special effect. About your comment on Ghoda Gadi rhythm, OP in his many interviews has publicly acknowledged that it was inspired Pankajbabu’s song Chale Pawan Ki chaal. He gives unhesitatingly the credit of introducing the Tonga rhythm to Pankaj Malik. In fact he has also said that on Lahore radio he sang that song a couple of times.
Also Dinesh ji, in his comments is referring to SD Batish, not SD Burman.
AK, in the context, SDB here was S D Batista!!
Not my info; I was merely commenting on ksbhatia’s comments
A good new posting and very well written. OPN sahib was a very fine composer who excelled in giving melodies and his use of western instruments. But as in the case of mostf music directors after reaching the peak their quality of composition started declining and OPN too.
Horse hoof or galloping sound, long interlude either in the beginning or
at the end are all OPN trade mark style of composing. OPN is among my top ten composers.
Dear Ravindra Kelkar ,
Nicely argued article !
Let me quote Asha Bhosle and Lata Mangeshkar.
“In my long career of over 50 years,I have sung with all the composers who had their distinct style and excelled
in their own branch of speciality.But there were just few trendsetters.They not only brought in a diffrent individual style
but also influenced others to follow it.O.P.Nayyar was one such revolutionary trendsetter.He had many a imitations,but he remained
the ORIGINAL.”
ASHA BHOSLE in her article on OPN in the book “The legendary O.P.Nayyar” by Vishwas Nerurkar published in 1999.
( The article was written after OPN & AB musical break-up” )
” He (OPN) was a very good composer,who like Gulam Haider and Shankar-Jaikishan before him ,brought in a totally
new musical style in film music.Every 12-15 years ,comes a composer who brings in a fresh perspective to music
and I include him in that category”.
LATA MANGESHKAR in her interview taken by Ameen Sayani included in the book “LATA MANGESHKAR” BY Dr. Madar Bicchu.( at page 355-356)
So When Great Maestro Anil Biswas,Great Asha Bhosle and none other than greatest among great, Lata Mangeshkar support your
case,who else on this earth would refute your argument !!
I will comment and share some very rare information related to your post afterwards.
Hemant Paknikar
Dinesh K Jain #38,
My apologies. You are right, it is ksbhatiaji who mentioned about it.
R Vasudevan #39,
Thanks for your praise.
Hemant Paknikar #49,
Thanks for the appreciation and providing the two quotes from Asha Bhosle and Lata Mangeshkar.
Ravinderji,
Congatulation for a well written article. You have argued your case with interesting narrations and anecdotes and approproate songs that it is very difficult to post a counter argument. A very well thought out post and one of the best indeed.
Let me add one by Hansraj Behl.
Bheega Bheega Pyaar Ka Sama by Md.Rafi and Shamshad Begum, film Sawan (1959), lyrics Prem Dhawan, music Hansraj Behl
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zsk-BfqAnDg
Ravindra ji,
Agree with much of what you wrote. It is an excellent post. Apart from the three scenarios you mentioned regarding compositions being similar to those of OP, may I add another influencing factor?
I have been closely associated with sports and tend to take another perspective even in the field of film songs.
If a player deeply admires a well-known sportsman, his own game tends to adopt the style of that famous player. Recent example is the leg-side back-foot flick played by V. Sehwag which is similar to that of Tendulkar. Similarly, back-foot off-side shots of B. Lara are copy of Gary Sobers.
It appears that some aspects of OP’s music were much admired by contemporary MDs and good mirrored in some of their own songs.
I have sometimes felt that OP and SJ got influenced by a few aspects of each other’s music in a permanent manner though they retained their distinct styles. It would have been wonderful in case Shailendra/Hasrat worked with OP in ninteen-sixties.
Naushad’s music was influenced in some aspects by Ghulam Mohd and his brother’s(who played percussion instruments).
Thanks
Ravindra ji:
A wonderful article. Usko nahin dekha hamne kabhi composed by Roshan from Daadi Maa also sounds very much like an OP Nayyar song. OPN created a distinct set of arrangements and style of orchestration that had the stamp of OPN.
N Venkatraman #44,
Thanks for your appreciation and I am happy that you feel that my line of thinking has merit. The song you mentioned reminds one of OP.
Ashok Kumar Tyagi ji, #45,
Thanks for your appreciation. You are right about Sehwag/Tendulkar and Lara/Sobers. It just happens at subconscious level without one realizing it. Your statement about OP-SJ, I don’t know. It’s of course quite possible.
Ravi #46,
Thanks for your appreciation.
Ravindra Kelkar ji ;
Two songs , one pre 1952 and other pro 1952 . Both the songs have the flavour of OPN tonga based rhythm and style.
Cheen ke dil kyun pher li ankhen….Rafi, Shamshad…Chandini Raat [ 1949]…Naushad
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aS7osz6lh24
Ek to surat pyari……Rafi, Asha….Vallah kya baat hai [1962]…Hans raj Behl
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhP1VEyIOa8
This song reminds me of another very close tune [ not related to this theme] …….alah jaane kaun hun mein kya hai mera naam…..manna dey…..RDB….Pati Patni .
Thanks Kelkar ji for taking a cue from my write up and acknowledging and quoting me as well. I feel elated.
The write up has turned out to be an interesting thesis, great job. My best wishes.
While I do believe that some music directors did use what was generally known as the OP style , particularly his tonga songs, it doesn’t seem to me, even with this article, that the established ones were influenced by OP Nayyar. To have an influence would mean that a particular MD would have a large opus displaying certain singular methods that were pioneered by OP Nayyar. I am sure every MD appreciated OP’s style but MDs such as Naushad, S D Burman or Madan Mohan had their own methods of creating songs and in many ways were versatile enough to be not pinned down to a style.
While I really like OP’s early songs, what was his strength was also a weakness. In his early phase he almost usually used fast paced short taalas with repetitive orchestral phrases in the interludes simple melodies with a syllable per beat. While his melodies were catchy and the repetitive phrases particularly the quick short runs of the flute and clarinet in unison made the tunes easier to follow, they were also easy to copy. This seems to be what is usually called the OP touch. The tonga song with its polka beat and the standard flute clarinet combo.
There were departures from this standard structure in songs like “Sun sun …zalima” where he does not emphasise rhythm, he probably was one of the early adapters of using a singer or instruments to deliberately teeter on the edge of tunefulness to consciously stretch so as to be out of tune like “Aayie meherban”. But those don’t seem to be what OP became famous for.
I much prefer his later phases where songs like “Yeh duniya usiki”, “Chain se hum ko kabhi” to indicate just two were musically far superior.
Incidentally in an exchange with Sanjoy Chowdhury, Salilda’s son, Sanjoy mentioned Salilda had a fondness for OP and composed this song as a sort of tribute to him.
Now while this has a tonga beat ir would seem unlike an OP song with its phrasing. It is not fast paced it is not pepy and the melodic lines stretch across beats but you can see how Salilda has worked in OP’s style right from the mukhda and the way the mandolin plays the phrases that would have been played by the flute clarinet combo (which does make an appearance at the end of each interlude).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iD5pNcyQdGU
ksbhatia ji #50,
As I mentioned in my comment #36, the tonga rhythm was invention of Punkaj Malik. In my view, Naushad used it (inspired by Punkaj Malik song) in his songs much before before OP, in Ratan as well as the song you have mentioned. OP was also inspired by the Punkaj Malik song and used it so successfully and took it to such heights that people formed the opinion that it was OP’s invention.
Peeyush Sharma ji, #51,
Thanks for your compliments, and wishes. I am pleased that you liked the article.
SSW ;
Nice comments and observations. To your Talat song …..Raat ne kya kya khwab dikhaye…. I will add one more of Talat Song……Jhoome re neela amber jhoome……from the same movie. In this song too the horse beats are different from the OPN’s horse seal tag beats .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkUctZEXoyY
O.P. an Influence or a Passing Phase
Return of the “Unique View”
Only one comment on this post I find very sensible and valuable is that of SSW at 52. He is polite and unpretentious but extremely contributory in the study of O.P. and outshines the rest the “Songs of Praise comments.” I wonder is the forum of “SoY” to discuss the songs of yore or just go on doing “Wahawa, Wahawa” of the singer on the stage?
In his introduction to the Guest writer, the host Mr AK says “OP Nayyar was a craze for some years……” He further says “it was simply a bandwagon effect, our OP Nayyar-expert Ravindra Kelkar unravels several factors that were at play.”
I agree with the word “craze” and further along the line the words “some years” but after the word “bandwagon?” I put a question mark”. These four words probably will not be accepted by the true fans and appreciators of the music created by O.P. To them he was a very truly creative musician and left Hindi film music lovers a sweet, seductive, attractive and “afalatoon” treasure of tunes to be listened again and again. And I agree and celebrate their cause of celebration because I think O.P. has created salient and striking music in the heightened musical period of the Bollywood.
AK also called Ravindra Kelkar “an expert” on the O.P.-Music. That needed to be tested. One would call him at present an involved lover of O.P. music and collector of the O.P.-
“Baggage”. An expert is the one who expertly comment on the achievements of a person or a subject taking consideration all sided views objectively. Just read the comment 52 again and again and you will have a “Zallak” of expertness.
From this post and his other posts he worked about O.P. Ravindraji set some guide lines and clues for himself and the readers to conclude his controversial perspective. In this line he might have invented the following Triad about the influence on other musicians.
I think “influence” is a risky word using to associate many self-made great, veteran and popular musicians of the very good period of musical films.
I grew up in the fifties when O.P. became a rage, and avidly read the Filmy journals along with my friends and brothers who were also passionate film watchers in the same period and my friends, brothers and I never felt there was a conspiracy knitted by the other musicians. If it was then we would have certainly aired it in our “Gupsup Adda” or it would have reflected in the filmy journals of the tim and the reviews of Blitz and other weighty journals. K.A> Abbas used to have a by-line last page in Blitz.
This is what Mr Kelkar wrote and needed to be contested:
“To sum up the situation, we have three scenarios of the songs composed by other MDs which sound like OP:
1) Those songs which were composed in OP style willingly
2) Those songs composed in OP style due to pressure from producer/distributers
3) Those songs composed in OP style with the intention of cutting OP out.”
The above three Newtonic laws Ravisaab fictionalised by the previous thesis that all other MDs in the “Bollywood fillum village” began hating the “new kid in the block” and also “because O.P. excluded Lata Mangeshkar” in his success had an added edge when others were in a way slave to Lata.
In this argumentation there are at once two unpleasant remarks: one is minus Lata O.P. has his domineering and demanding empire (the so called anecdote about demanding one Lakh Rupees fees) and also the insinuation that Lata could be at the root of the “Hate O.P. and send him to the Coventry” campaign conspiracy.”
This whole idea could be a presumed and copied understanding that later publication of the bio-book of C.Ramchandra in a chapter had described how Lata threatened film company owners that if C.Ramchandra would have been any time employed, she would never sing for their company etc. And then Ramchandra concluded “that ended the career of the great musician!”
Could this C.Ramchandra syndrome stimulated Mr Kelkar to counter Lata’s then might and created a similar shadow for Omkar Prasad Nayyar?
So when Ravindrasaab had such argumentation fixed in his heart and mind he used the rest of his writing to prove his tripled obsessive idea upside down about O.P. “craze” and turned it into “an influence” and rolled this post into a propaganda post and has stretched his fervent love for O.P. beyond the love of music and dragged along many readers to his “Russi Khetch” and eventually roped them in.
The other MDs who have done a few compositions in the style of O.P. music but did not carry on creating O.P. music rest of their careers to end or endanger the career of O.P.
Those songs of the MDs could be said anomaly in their creative world and not the normal norm. But at the same time should be understood that if demanded they could be quite capable to create an O.P. style music not to oust O.P. but perhaps outshine O.P. as they were proven great in their creativity and would not stoop to do cheaper tactics and play dirty games as they had no time for this kind of game as they were busy in their own creativity. This also show thee was no mysticism about O.P.’s creativity and style.
After all Bollywood is a free land for anyone to make or break their dreams of “Ek Bangla Bane Nyara, Sone Ka Bangala, Chandan ka Jungala……”
Usha Khanna did her best for “Dil Dekhe Dekho” almost a mint O.P. copy and the credit goes to her for her ingenuity and success and good for the film without any hitches, but that restricted her in her creativity and became one or two pegs down the line along with the other musicians with whom allegedly O.P. stood competitive.
In the film “Andaz” one song Lata sang in the style of Nurjehan and she liked her but she was not consumed by Nurjehan rest of her life and became a “Nurjehani”.
Many musicians if alive would have said, “Bazaar” se Gujara Hoon, Lekin Khardiar Nahin Hoon!”
AK @ 30
With reference to the statements “Clarinet, sarangi, flute in a unique style. Another important marker ”, according to me, is Asha Bhosle” etc this could be encouraged as there could be two different posts done independent of O.P. syndrome but for the sake of the study on Instruments and instrumental in the songs and Asha with different musicians! This could be extended to the other singers as well.
Mr Hemant Paknikar @ 40-As for the quotations given by Asha and Lata are “the after thoughts” to be generous and not so important for the subject and thrust of this post. Both the ladies were personally injured by O.P.’s loose cannon mouth.
I think that O.P. was not in competition with anyone but with himself; he was a King Emperor on his own!
It is the excessive passion for O.P. makes the present author like a religious zealot.
It is alright to show the readers that there is a scope and some mileage in the subject of the “O.P. like Songs” and similar with other musicians as well as the blog is for the Songs of Yore and many readers have by now shown their enthusiasm in pointing many songs and musical phrases that could come under the subject.
I think Mr Kelkar has too much subjectivity in O.P. love. He gets myopic vision about O.P. and not direct a detached view from the bridge.
He has good writing skills and I suggest that he should spend good time in the Film Archival Centre at Poona before setting up the tone and definition of his post and not depend on a negative understanding that as “there are no photographs of O.P. at the various filmy meets of Fillumwallas, hence he must have been hated by others and other similar argumentations”.
My contemporaries and I in fifties enjoyed freely O.P. music without attachments and reservations and still do.
But then there were surely: A Raj Kapoor Love Camp, a Dilip Kumar Love Camp, a Dev Aanand Love Camp and opposite of these were the “Hate Camps”!
But never heard of “A Hate Musician Camp!”
May be taking a cue from this article we may have following subjects for the SoY blog
1) Naushadi Influence- classical based songs post Baiju Bawara or Folkish songs
2) C Ramchandir songs- Classical songs that suited to Lata’s voice and Funny chorus songs.
3) SDeeyan songs that have origin in Bengal, Assam Meghalaya etc
4) Punjabi influence songs
5) R.K type songs from Hawamein Udat Jaye to Cry baby songs
6) Talatiyan Dilipkumariyan songs
7) Dev Anandiayan “Hum To Rahi Hai Pyarr Ke” type songs
8) Johnny Walkeriyan comical songs
9) Sahir Ludhiyani poetry based songs
10) Kishore Kumariyan comically serious and seriously comical songs
And so on. Sky is the limit
Shalan Lal
Ravindra Kelkar , SSW ji[s] ;
So far the discussion and contributions of songs covered the fast paced Tonga beats that perhaps indicate the happy scenerio of the demand of the situations . In contrast , Many Music Directors have excelled themselves in composing serious / sad song using slow rhythmic beats representing sadness . Most of such songs are filmed as slow moving Bullock cart or slow moving camels/horses caravans . Each of the MDs produced their own melodies and had no influence of a particular MD to follow or copy .
Here is a cross section of such songs that one would like to listen again and again ; specially during leisure time .
Jeeven se lambe hain bandhu…..Manna Dey….Aashirwad….Vasant desai
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNQvAzCbtfI
Dharti kyon viparit hui….Manna Dey, Lata…Sampoorn Ramayan….Vasant Desai
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOw9wz4NeOI
Chali re chali mein to…..Asha…….Saranga….Sardar Malik
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_jBByZ8xqk
Chal diya carwaan……Talat….Laila Majnu…..Gulam Mohdd.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOQwmsg3AoU
Kyun Uneh Dil Diya……Surendra, Shamshad…Anokhi Ada…Naushad
…..a song with very slow beats and slow rhythm , excellent composition.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKWNkL4guR4
Mr. Bhatia @55 yes that song is very different though it does have the same base polka 2/4 rhythm. Incidentally I had not heard the music that precedes “Jhoome re Neela ambar jhoome” before. If you pay attention to the prelude at 0:05 you will hear a short melody that Salilda used years before in a song that he wrote for the Communist Party . The original song was in two parts, it dealt with boatmen steering a boat in a storm, an allegory where the boat is the country and the boatmen are the citizens (Salilda wrote the lyrics himself) and the melody of the refrain was borrowed by Salilda from the tune from a 1940s Chinese song that was later on made famous in English as “Rose Rose I love you”. Here is the original Chinese song , you will recognize the melody …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-vv-tgoab0
Ref no 56.
SOY is a blog for music lovers especially film songs that were composed during the golden era of Hindi films and here readers submit their posts on various topics and are reasonably well responded. I take it in a lighter way. Enjoy the write up and the comments of members and of-course listen to lovely music videos that accompany them.
In my view, the articles/essays/write up need not come under very strict/serious scrutiny unless the write up contains big errors or blunders. . No writer is putting up their short essays or articles to draw applause or to see how many comments/postings it receive. It is written to highlight his or her views on a particular music director/singers and to express reasons thereof. The language of the writer differs from one person to another depending on various reasons he may be highly educated or may not, may have worked in Technical field not necessarily in administrative/teaching areas etc.
For example Madan Mohan, SJ, Ravi, SDB compositions I like most but it does not mean other MDs I do not listen or grade them inferior.
So to sum up, let us enjoy the news articles that come up, express our views freely, let us encourage writers and not pinpoint only mistakes
and omissions. This is my understanding of SOY. Let this be taken
in a sporting way.
AK Ji,
I fully endorse the views of Mr R Vasudevan above
A member of the not so sensible and Wah Wah club of SoY
SSW #52,
You have made some excellent observations. You are absolutely right that in his pre-Ek Musafir Ek Hasina stage., OP’s strength was also a weakness. I think you are referring to limited rhythm patterns as well as same set of instruments being used. This made easy for other composers to create tunes which sounded like OP.
Another point which you correctly state is that the already successful composers like Naushad, SD Burman, C Ramchandra and SJ were not influenced as such. In my view they were compelled to compose some songs here and there which had an OP touch due to the dictates of the commercial aspects of Hindi Film Industry. The case of Madan Mohan, Roshan and other MDs was a bit different in the sense that they were still not fully established as successful MDs. Anil Biswas has correctly summed up the situation of that time period. As can be seen ,this was a time bound phenomenon (1957-1960). All the above mentioned great composers had the talent and creativity to give their own music and once this phase had passed there was no trace of OP in their songs.
You are also absolutely right when you mention that the quality of OP’s music from Ek Musafir Ek Hasina was far far better than earlier. OP himself has acknowledged it a number of times.
Also the use of word “influence” is made in a broader sense to refer the songs of that period which has an OP touch. Nothing more than that.
I was pleased to notice that Salida was also fond of OP’s music.
Shalan Lal #56
Your uniqueness know no bounds. It is limitless. However, it is becoming fairly predictable. I genuinely enjoyed your highly entertaining and amusing comments. However, unfortunately, there is nothing in them which makes me change my perception of the situation prevalent in the Hindi Film Industry in the period 1955-1960. The evidence of massive number of songs, 100+, which have OP touch and Anil Biswas’s endorsement clinches my argument. It’s like finding murder weapon besides the body with finger prints of the murderer(100+ songs) and also having an eyewitness to the murder(Anil Biswas). I can imagine your response to the significance of Anil Biswas’s words by dismissing them the way you have dismissed Asha and Lata quotes mentioned in Hemant Paknikar’s comments.
Mr Kelkar, to some extent, what Ms Lal says is true. To talk of OPN’s ‘influence’ over other music directors is to place him on a pedestal while taking potshots at their creativity. I love OP Nayyar’s music but I have to agree with the substance of Ms Lal’s comments. Ms Lal doesn’t mince words (and she and I have had a run-in before) but I respect her no-holds-barred forthrightness.
I’d refrained from commenting on this article precisely because what Ms Lal wrote here is exactly what I thought, perhaps not as bluntly – liking OPN is one thing; praising him is one thing; but the slant of your article was more along the lines of fandom and aggrandisement rather than an interest in teasing out the scope of OP Nayyar’s influence in HFM of the golden age. Calling that out may be criticism but it is constructive – it helps to look at our own biases.
Shalan,
“I wonder is the forum of “SoY” to discuss the songs of yore or just go on doing “Wahawa, Wahawa” of the singer on the stage?”
I think it is incumbent on me to rebut.
We have some very well-informed persons on our forum you have named one of them. I do not know music, I love my music. I am ignorant and have an open mind.
I would believe the expert if convinced that bhangra originated in NorthEast or Baul songs has Punjabi origin.
Mr Kelkar had substantiated his point with songs for us to believe that most of the MDs were inspired by his music.
SSW said “Incidentally in an exchange with Sanjoy Chowdhury, Salilda’s son, Sanjoy mentioned Salilda had a fondness for OP and composed this song as a sort of tribute to him”. This validates what Mr Kelkar said.
Why it happened can be debatable,but cannot be proved cause it is like he said she said and I for one (have said it before) cannot believe the horses too. (when they cannot be substantiated)
One more point, Mr. Kelkar’s thought on Usha Khanna “Usha Khanna did a fabulous job and the film proved to be a hit at the box office, with its music being appreciated by all. In fact, the music resembled OP style so much that many people believed that OP was its music director under a pseudonym. To her credit, from her next film, she created her own identity by composing music in her own style.”
You thoughts on her “Usha Khanna did her best for “Dil Dekhe Dekho” almost a mint O.P. copy and t if he credit goes to her for her ingenuity and success and good for the film without any hitches, but that restricted her in her creativity and became one or two pegs down the line along with the other musicians with whom allegedly O.P. stood competitive.” I wonder if this would have been patriarchal if it was Mr. Kelkar’s view.
Anu ji, #63,
I sincerely respect your views. Please refer to my comment #62. This possibly explains my view with regards to your comments about creativity of other MDs and what I meant by word “Influence” in my title of the article. It was the commercial nature of the Hindi Film Industry that put OP at a high pedestal and within a matter of couple of years (end 1958) he was down in the dumps due the same force of commercial aspects which runs the Film Industry.
Mr. Kelkar yes I much prefer the OP compositions post Ek Musafir Ek Hasina , and I like listening to the simple tunes that he composed before.
I do not care much for Anil Biswas’s statement though it is quite possible it is taken out of context and possibly he meant something else. To say that everybody but he copied OP’s style to gain popularity is completely inaccurate. I think both Roshan and Madan Mohan had their fair share of hit songs before the OP influence and I would say that if they were induced in some ways to use some of OP’s signature arrangements it is more due to the lack of class or avarice of the people who were producing second rate films rather than a genuine influence. I mean a truly wonderful composer like Madan Mohan who composed songs for Madhosh and Railway Platform before 1957 should have been feted on his own terms.
Also I find it odd when people bandy the word “plagiarism” without a context. In that case OP who also borrowed from Western tunes should be a plagiarist but the fact is that he was not.
AK to your comment on “Hum aur tum aur yeh sama “, I don’t see anything there that would make it an OP tune. In fact in Dil Deke Dekho I think that is the one song that is Usha Khanna’s own, I don’t see any OP influence, the rest were Western tunes that probably Nasir Hussain wanted her to use. Usha Khanna’s “Hum aur tum” is a lovely song and to me has no resemblance to the SJ composition from College Girl. It is a pity that Usha Khanna was not able to compose more. Her tunes in “Hum Hindustani” very much her own compositions were a delight.
Lastly Mumbaikar8, my quoting of a exchange I had with Sanjoy Chowdhury does not in any way validate what Mr. Kelkar said. It merely means that Salilda liked OP’s music not that songs from Do Bigha Zameen to Choti Si Baat show OP’s influence. Every music director has borrowed freely from everybody else consciously or unconsciously. To repeat my original statement, to be influenced means that a large body of work by a musician has to show a predilection for certain melodic shifts, tonal changes, rhythmic embellishments etc. Pointing out a couple of songs from an entire body of work does not an influence make.
On the other hand you could say for example that C Ramachandra was influenced by jazz, Salil Chowdhury was influenced by chordal harmony in western music and folk traditions from all parts of India, Naushad’s music was steeped in a North Indian classical tradition and OP Nayyar was influenced by Punjabi folk and western popular song.
What we could say about OP Nayyar was that he very much had a style that was his own, he was the king of the tonga song without a doubt and there he certainly influenced the way the public and other music directors experienced such a situation, and all his compositions though rooted very firmly in the Indian song tradition were very rarely based on raagas and that gave it a freshness that was different and endearing and unique.
Mr.Kelkar @65, while I no great interest in commercial films, I would agree with you entirely. It is a fickle world.
@67 And that should be “while I have no great interest”, sorry for cluttering up the board.
SSW,
Let me first apologize for the use of the word “plagiarism”, it was just for the lack of better word:(
I am glad you talked about it. I was feeling uncomfortable of using it.
Salil Da had a distinct identity of his own and I believe we have discussed that many times before. I meant that at a point of time, though as a tribute, he did sound like O P
When I read first time on 31st August, I simply nodded in the affirmative, as I always had this hunch.
But I never had an iota of idea the extent to which OPN effect would have been so pervasive.
So waited, for a few days to let the idea soak into my mind and try to imagine how many songs I could lay hand on.
I have poor ear in so far as music sense is concerned. So I was not to succeed in my efforts, that was also foregone conclusion.
But by Jove, as you read more of the post and listen to all the songs that are getting added to, my jaw remains so wide open that Arjun may have seen not only this world but probably the whole world, if he would have chosen to peep into.
Hats off to Ravindra Kelkarji, for such an excellent treatise.
Ashok M Vaishnav Ji,
Thanks for your appreciation.
I became familiar with OPN’s music only in the mid sixties. Later I heard and got attracted towards some songs of his from fifties, mostly hugely popular films like CID etc. So I could not ‘notice’ distinct OPN style of which you have mentioned. But as an ardent admirer of OPN you have presented a strong case.
Cinema was and remains a very competitive field and it was not uncommon for producers to pressure the MD to come up with a song in tune with what they (producers) considered was the trend. (citing interludes of songs only as influence of OPN, I think is stretching it a bit). But please tell me if the songs “influenced” by the music of OPN became great hits.The irony is that by the end of the decade OPN did not have any assignment whereas all the others continued to get patronage!
Giri Ji,
Thanks for you appreciation.
Dil Deke dekho(MD-Usha Kanna) ,Kali Topee Lal Roomal(MD-Chitragupta) and China Town(MD-Ravi) were the only hit films which had a fare share of OP-like songs as far as I can remember off-hand. Kohinoor(Naushad) was a big hit but the OP-like songs from that film are hardly remembered. Amardeep(C Ramachandra) also did a good business but the OP-like was not noticed. Pyaasa(SD Burman) was a big hit but other songs were more admired.
So to answer your question, most of OP-like composed songs were only moderately successful, if one wants to put it kindly. This also is not really surprising, because they were imitations. Original is original.
For example, the film Adalat(MD-Madan Mohan) had three OP-like songs, viz. Dupatta Mera Malmal Ka (Geeta-Asha), Ja Ja Ja Balama(Asha) and Zameen Se Hame Aasman Par (Rafi-Asha), but people admired the wonderful Lata gazals (Un Ko Yeh Shikayat Hai and Yun Hasaraton Ke Daag) more, simply because composing gazals was the strength of Madan Mohan where he was at home and creative best.
Ravindra Kelkar ji ;
Your reference to Madan Mohan’s songs reminds me one more of MM’s song which one can say as the……. likes of OPN songs …..but without OPN’s signature four instruments like sarangi, clarinet etc..
Dekhta chala gaya mein zindgi ki ….Rafi, Lata, Johny Walker….Gateway of India
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M85F-C6EUMc
Last year “The Atlantic” had an interesting article on plagiarism in Western music:
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/09/music-plagiarism/499985/
Here are some excerpts:
“In pretty much all of Western music outside of the 20th-century avant-garde, only a limited number of sequences of tones and chords sound “right,” while others seem “wrong.” So it’s very likely that, if you come up with a sequence of chords that sounds good, someone else will have already used it. …”
“Crudely speaking, two chords fit together well if they—or the scales on which they’re based—share many notes in common. Countless songs use a shift from C major to A minor, for instance (think of the first lines of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”), because the respective scales are closely related. The relationships between chords can be represented as a kind of spatial map of “harmonic space,” showing which are close together and which are far apart. Typically, Western tonal music uses chord sequences that make only small steps in this space from one chord to the next. The paths are very limited, especially in the strongly formulaic and melodic forms of pop and rock. So expecting songwriters to avoid all echoes of other songs is a little like putting someone inside a maze and telling them to find an original way out.
“Purely in statistical terms, then you’d expect that the rules of “pleasant” harmony and melody will end up generating rather homogeneous bodies of music. Pop and rock mostly juggle with an extremely small range of artistic choices, and often genius and innovation is a matter of putting old wine in new bottles.”
The article also cites research by Simonton at UC Davis who constructed a measure of “originality” and “found that the popularity of a composition—judged from how often the works have been performed—initially increased with this measure of originality, but then did the opposite. People like a touch of freshness, but are less keen on melodies that depart too much from what they’ve heard before.”
Canasya,
Interesting. I remember an interview of Nashad. The interviewer mentioned the charge of plagiarism against him. His reply was, everyone uses the same seven notes. Therefore, there is bound to be similarity in compositions.
One more post before I retire from this and of course everything I say must be taken with a pinch of salt, I am not a musician or a musical theorist or even the much abused term “expert”.
1) In the S. Mohinder post Mr. Kelkar said that the use of the word “influence” should also be temporal. That is true but the gist of the article sand the subsequent responses of most people (only three people dissented , myself, Shalan Lal and Anu Warrier) seemed to indicate, to me , at least that OP Nayyar had a lasting effect on most music directors. I disagreed with that, and I accept Mr.Kelkar’s explanation of what he intended to convey .
2) Now tenuous attempts at linking OP’s style with Madan Mohan’s for example pointing out “Zameen pe mujhe..” or SD Burman’s song in Pyaasa is in my mind erroneous. This is not an OP style even though he used a somewhat similar sound in “Idhar tum haseen ho..” . These waltz rhythms (and SD’s song is a 4/4 rhytm not a 3/4) and orchestration techniques have been around in European music long before. Take a look at this old clip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge9b8jld1oM
Or a bit of of valse musette for Mr Bhatia and an SJ style.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd-zxyxUpN0
Mr. Canasya thank you for pointing out that article from The Atlantic monthly. I had forgotten about it and most of it pertains to popular folk and rock songs in a western setting.
However each culture has its own centre of what is pleasant and an Arabic makham will sound less pleasant to a Westerner brought up on a steady diet of western pop music than to somebody from North Africa. But for the musically adventurous the brain can learn to like both, so we can have some English palates be tickled by an authentic Andhra pulusu even if they are used to fish and chips or a a bland chicken tikka . 🙂
SSW @77;
Many thanks for the nice clips which I really enjoyed listening to .
I entirely agree to your observation/ comments made on SDB and OPN ‘s songs . I believe that during late 40s and 50s these MDs picked some of the best prevailing western and european music pre and post British Raj . Of course Pankaj Malik was the one who adopted western style a little earlier . Not only SJ but Naushad also picked waltz beats in his….. tarari tarari tarari ….duet song by Rafi and suraiya . There are two beautiful pieces on waltz as background score in Aan and Kohinoor also. Aan was appreciated in france for two reasons ; one was the actress Nimmi and the second was Naushad”s music ; so much so that Naushad was invited to conduct the London’s Philarmonic Orchestra some time during 1953/54 . Symphony styled music in Saathi [1968] pleased only a few . SJ and others , however , carried on with their fav. Waltz and Tango beats .
The famous SDB song …..chaahe kui khush ho….from Taxi Driver [1954] is an adoption of ……Tarantella Napoletana. Here is the clip..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jV4e9ySdwCM&index=12&list=RDcUVXDNJd-G0
Likewise the accordeon interlude of OPN’s duet song from Johny Walker [195 7]….Thandi Thandi Hawa ….is a straight lift from one of the french cafe music , the clip of which i have lost and will load when tracked . The difference that OPN make with others was that he would quickly change western rhythm ; changing over to dholak based stanzas and come back again to the western setup.
Is this western intrusion due to influence of Anglo Indian players of those times ? Here my respect goes to Sebestian who assisted many MDs for scoring such beautiful songs.
Shalan comments on comments:
Ravindra Klekarsahab @ 62
The comment “there is nothing in them which makes me change my perception of the situation prevalent in the Hindi Film Industry in the period 1955-1960. The evidence of massive number of songs, 100+, which have OP touch and Anil Biswas’s endorsement clinches my argument. It’s like finding murder weapon besides the body with finger prints of the murderer(100+ songs) and also having an eyewitness to the murder(Anil Biswas). I can imagine your response to the significance of Anil Biswas’s words by dismissing them the way you have dismissed Asha and Lata quotes mentioned in Hemant Paknikar’s comments.”
Mehraban ji thanks for acknowledging that I have a talent to amuse you. But there is also another talent “To take a horse to the water but if the horse does not want to drink then none can do”, except there is a phrase in America, the horse loving country, “They shoot horses don’t they?” but I agree you must be allowed to do your cracking gumshoe “Sharlocking” work and there is no harm in it. Peter Sellers had done it in many times in the series of the “Pink Panther” film series.
Incidentally your star witness Anil Biswas has been flattened by SSW in a straight ball. The game of cricket is always interesting if one has good patience!
Here is a shocking clue if your Gumshoes want to follow. When recently I was in America, in a gathering of the Indians marriage ceremony, I overheard a remark in a crowd of old Indian women chattering after an OP song being played “Many of the songs of O.P. were composed by one of his family members who stayed in the background.”
But I did not find a real witness, neither a smoking gun etc. etc., but there may be a dead decomposing body or a wounded living person or persons.”
Here is a quote from Sahir lyric song from the film “Gumrah” “चलो इक बार फिर से, अजनबी बन जाएं हम दोनो”
“तार्रुफ़ रोग हो जाये तो उसको भूलना बेहतर
ताल्लुक बोझ बन जाये तो उसको तोड़ना अच्छा
वो अफ़साना जिसे अंजाम तक लाना ना हो मुमकिन
उसे एक खूबसूरत मोड़ देकर छोड़ना अच्छा”
Fits on all occasions like a baseball cap!
Shalan Lal
Anu Warrier @ 63
Your comment,” Liking OPN is one thing; praising him is one thing; but the slant of your article was more along the lines of fandom and aggrandisement rather than an interest in teasing out the scope of OP Nayyar’s influence in HFM of the golden age. Calling that out may be criticism but it is constructive – it helps to look at our own biases.”
I would say this comment is very distilled and glowing as the pure liquid gold, clear in an expensive glass, simply wonderful!
How did you do it?
Shalan
Mr.Bhatia, perhaps Naushad conducted players of the LSO for an Indian album or show. I don’t think he would have conducted the LSO itself in its regular schedule.
Now in both the SDB and MM works pointed out you’ll notice that they do not segue into dholak beats they maintain a straight linear western narrative right through. The only OPN similarity is the percussion provided by the castanets. OPN used castanets heavily but that is neither here nor there.
Incidentally I think the string instrument playing the accompaniment in “Zameen se mujhe aasman pe..” is a Portuguese guitar. It is a lovely instrument not often heard.
I suppose the western intrusion if you were to call it such , would have come from the arrangers like Sebastian D’souza , Anthony Gonsalves etc but I am sure that the MD’s themselves would have also been familiar with these modes, films demanded a larger soundscape than the stage.
SSW @ 80 ;
Sir, I am learning a lot thru your comments and observations which are simple and easy to follow . SDB , MM followed straight line graph and without deviating from the beats and rhythm of western classic music is reflected in other songs too. For instance ……phelie huiye hain sapno ki bahen…..for SDB and …..hai unki wo nigahen ….for MM . In both the songs the MDs stick to their composition and that enhanced their melody factor for us to enjoy for ever . When ever I listen to ……hai unki wo nigahen….. I am reminded of the similar interludes appeared recently in one of the ….Bhag Milkha Bhaag ….movie song….slow motion angreza….but is faster based beats . The two songs are more than 50 years apart and still are listeners delight .
Hai unki wo nigahein…..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFOLdvhKgB8
Slow motion Angreza…….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aPnHl68SaU
My observation on Naushad for invitation to play and conduct music in london is based on my far long memory of having read an article that appeared in one of the issues of Filmfare in 1953 /54 . I may be wrong ; but some articles do appear hear and there which also state this fact .
http://www.india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=285326
http://www.filmkailm.com/naushad-marquee-magic/#comment-10991
Any way these are only passing reference of naushad Sahib on OPN article and I will not persue it further.
Mr.Bhatia, in my opinion the interludes in the two songs are different but there is a facile similarity in the violin piece played in the first interlude of “Hai unki woh nigahen” and the Bhaag Milka song. Both are nice to listen to.
On the second topic if you will forgive me, I tried looking at lists of guest conductors for the London Philharmonic and I did not find Naushad’s name there. I checked Raju Bharatan’s Naushadnama and he only mentions Naushad being in London to record the background music of Aan. At that time it was the BBC orchestra that played the notations, and he does not mention Naushad conducting.
It is highly unlikely that a well known classical western orchestra would have for one of its regular concerts a conductor who did not graduate from one of the prestigious western music conservatories and demonstrate great facility with western art music.
This is no insult to Naushad. The form of music he was familiar with is a world removed from the western classical repertoire.
So unless somebody can provide dates or programme notes I would not count those web links or rumours as fact.
AK ji,
In comments No. 78 onwards, there has been a discussion on Naushad conducting on the stage of LSO etc.
In my view, events moved as follows:
Aan being a Technicolor movie, the processing was done in the lab located in London. Also, Mehboob Khan arranged re-recording of some songs or all the songs of film Aan in London. The remarkable thing was that Aan was the first Hindi film wherein a 50-piece orchestra was used. The British technicians were greatly impressed with the way Naushad created the musical score using a large ensemble of musicians all of whom performed like a well rehearsed team of talented artists. Thus the famed team of Mehboob-Naushad created a lot of hype in England. Mehboob had excellent relations with Jawaharlal Nehru and because of that, a show or some shows were organized in England wherein Naushad and group presented their compositions live. I read somewhere that HMV were one of the main sponsors – all the copyrights regarding performance being held by HMV. I am not aware of the venues of these shows in England.
Thanks
Tyagiji,
Thanks a lot for the detailed information on Naushad-Mehboob Khan show in London.
Knocking the OPN door again is a similar styled song of Madan Mohan……Duppatta mera mal mal ka …..from Adalat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgShpoIeAwQ
As I was listening to these songs I was thinking of OP Nayyar’s influence on OP Nayyar. 🙂 OP Nayyar was influenced by his own tune in this song
Ankhon se jo utri hai dil mein…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qitBaM3Ly8s
Some three years earlier I think, he had composed this tune for Mitti me Sona.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wj9PMW_B4Q8
I find the earlier tune more to my liking. The later one has more instruments and on the surface they both follow the same ghoda ghadi 2/4 rhythm and the mukhda follows generally the same melodic pattern but the earlier song is highlighted by some lovely orchestral lines and great piano playing by Sonny Castelinho. The piano lines are not complicated but it is the way it is played that is beautiful, the feeling is palpable underlining the voice and lyrics and then coming forward for the solo in the interludes. Additionally through the vocal portions you can hear the accordion playing accompaniment in the background. Definitely one of OP’s compositions that I would take to a desert island with me.
SSW ;
Beautiful analysis of the orchestra interludes . To me both the songs are equally fantastic ….each following the same rhythm and beats . Yes, the parallel melody played by accordion is also very supportive .
OPN and some other MDs did some experiments of repeating songs by using mukhda of one song making it as stanza of another song composed in later years . And some songs carrying same interludes in different songs . Roshan and SDB did such tricks and for OPN , here are couple of songs where similarity gets noticed ; ofcourse ignoring minute differences …..
1 A Mukhda of Bhagam Bhag [1956] song
Humein koi gam hai…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy82mbkLwB8
1.B First stanza after mukhda of CID 909 [1967] song
Nadi ka kinara ho paani awara ho…….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVylCfeiwuI
[…….and whenever I listen to this songs electric guitar interludes I
turn to another of OPN song electric guitar dominated interludes of ….Hue hain tum par aashiq hum ….Mere Sanam…..]
2 A Trumpet interludes of Ek Musafir Ek Hasina [1962]
Mujhe dekh kar aap ka muskuraana…..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThIYyGLjXyE
2 B Same trumpet interlude after second stanza of Kashmir Ki Kali [1964] song
yeh chand sa roshan chheara….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txv7RCe8DXM
SSW & Bhatia sirs,
Excellent.
SSW, KS Bhatiaji
Such auto-inspirations run into hundreds. We have discussed such songs from time to time on SoY. There are also a good number of songs in which the MD has simply replaced the words as if in the karaoke track. I have posted some songs of this type in my last couple of anniversary posts. The interesting part is one of the songs becomes a dud and the other a superhit. The banner or the cast is not a very convincing reason.
To recapitulate some pair of songs:
1. Pehli nazar tere pyar ki mere dil mein utar gayi/
Mori kalaiya sukumar ho chubh jaala karejawa
2. Chhoota watan tumhara (?)/
Parwar digaar-e-aalam
3. Janam janam ka saath tumhara saath kabhi ye chhote na (?)/
Phul bagiya mein bulbul bole
There are also karaoke insertion songs by one MD in another MD’s songs which raises moral issue.
But there must be something which makes one of the pair sink and the other a roaring hit. It is probably more puzzling than the Twin songs in which the male version outshines the female version in general.
Just wanted to share my random thoughts.
AK ji , Tyagi ji ;
Very true . Coverage on such songs on SoY were very interesting and entertaining as well . Like this we have many instances where a very popular song appears as background music in some other movie , but that get noticed after repeat visits to the movie theater or watching over internet .
Similar tunes , when one sinks or get unnoticed , the other get applauds .
For instance ….
Deewana kaheke aaj mujhe phir pukariye…..Rafi ….Mulzim[1963]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wdQcmyRzRQ
Aap aaye to khayale nashad aaye…….MK……Gumrah [1962/63]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-aR83G2t94
ksbhatiaji,
Thanks for Deewana kahke aaj mukhe , Ravi and Rafi have some great songs with Shakeel Badayni too.
AK, ksbhatiaji,
This question puzzles me a lot too.
This pair just 1 year apart both B grade movies still one song unnoticed ( I like both of them) and other still popular.
Could it be promotion ? Making a guess!
Mentioned at Open house before.
Aaj mausam ki masti me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OgXDJsyMLM
Ek chameli le mandve tale Cha Cha Cha
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnnQz6EOFDM#t=102
But Laila Majnu and Veer Zaara released AFTER his demise, so he couldn’t see how successful they were.
I fully agree with the writer of this wonderful article about OP Nayyar, the muslic legend. The film Industry successfully managed to kill the music of the legend but they could not produce the melody of OP even though they copied his style. The lyric words could not synchronise well to the music. Probably OP used to change some words in the lyrics to suite his music, whatever there is hell of difference in the melody.
Jagadish,
Welcome to the Songs of Yore.
A very well researched top grade article
Truly very informative article for music lovers like me.
Suresh Bhale,
Welcome to Songs Of Yore.