O P Nayyar
O.P.Nayyar is no more.
And every person is jumping the bandwagon with cliched statements like ‘maestro par excellence’ and ’survivor from the golden era’, forgetting that he was virtually neglected in the autumn of his life, and that his valiant comeback in the nineties was received with a freezing shoulder and not-so-charitable remarks.
Worse, the media is doling out mis-informations and factually incorrect statements which makes me wonder if they are really doing any justice to the man in bringing out these pieces. Sample the pile of anomalies thrust on us in the past one day- one daily mentions Jhumka gira re as his composition (it definitely wasn’t - Madan Mohan was the creator there), and the same newspaper talks of Andaz Apna Apna as his ‘comeback film’ (errr… if that is so, then who was Tushar Bhatia credited in the film?). Amar Ujala did quite a heart-felt tribute - till the time they came to mention Junglee as his film. No way! Junglee was out and out Shankar Jaikishan score. This sudden fixation for thrusting the ‘yahoo‘ credit on OPN is very strange. I believe TOI’s Marathi edition has also carried this non-fact. Aaj Tak showed a clip from ‘Kashmir ki kali hun main mujhse na rootho babuji’, another S-J song! Dudes, the film Kashmir Ki Kali was OPN’s baby, not this song. I can’t believe that these oh-so-serious media ‘knowledgeables’ have such paucity in resources that they can’t even verify their facts. And who are they fooling by bringing out such tributes? By mentioning other music director’s numbers (and that too direct contemporary rivals to OPN), they have only belittled the composer’s achievements.
Personally, I really have nothing to say. I can make some politically correct statements as well. But that would then be travesty of having a personal blog in the first place. This is due to the fact that I don’t have much knowledge about his music - in fact, the only cassette I have of his is from a flop film called Hong Kong, which came bundled alongwith Singapore - and since the latter itself is a rare film album to find, hence I had to per force buy this odd combination. Other than this, I have no song by OPN, not even in some odd compilation! It’s quite a record since I can boast of a huge collection (including a large chunk not pertaining to Lataji).
Unfortunately, OPN never used Latadidi’s voice, stating that his ’style didn’t match’ (though he had tried to get her on board for his debut film, but due to some reasons she couldn’t make it there). Equally unfortunately, I couldn’t force myself to like his style and stayed away from his music.
May his soul rest in peace!
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January 29th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
I came to know about this new yesterday eve at my uncles house when I was flickring the channels.
Media is the who gives the correct informations also the wrong information.
I have few songs of his - KKK, Baaz, Aarpaar, Mere Sanam etc.
I like few of his commotions are - kazar mohabbat wala, Aao hazoor tum ko - Kistmat, Aaj ki raat piya - Baaz, Mang ke saath tumhara, Ude jab jab julphe teri - Naya Daur, Ek pardesi mera dil le gaya- Phagun, Deewana hua badal - KKK, Aaiye meherbaan - Howrah Bridge etc.
And I know why you don’t have his songs in your collection
May his soul rest in peace.
January 29th, 2007 at 5:30 pm
Am surprised that you don’t have any of his music… the soft crooning ‘aaeye meharbaan’ from howrah bridge is pure delight
What about these -
Babuji dheere chalna & ae lo main haari piya from aar paar
Boojh mera kya naav re, leke pehla pehla pyaar, ankhon hi ankhon mein or aye dil hai mushkil jeena yahan from CID
Maang ke saath tumhara, Ude jab jab zulfein teri from Naya Daur
Thandi Hawa Kali Ghata from Mr & Mrs 55
Piya Piya Piya from Baap Re Baap
Ek Pardesi Mera Dil le Gaya from Phagun
Aapke Hasen rukh pe from Baharein phir bhi aayengi
Mein Pyaar Ka Rahi Hoon from Ek Musafir ek Hasina
Deewana hua badal, ishaaron ishaaron mein dil lene waale from KKK
these are gems indeed….! i must say you are missing something if you don’t have these songs in your collection!
January 29th, 2007 at 5:37 pm
Juneli / Anks - Dont know y, but none of the songs move me. It’s not that i hvnt heard them ever - in fact, when u listed out, i cudnt even differentiate one from the other, they all sound and feel and hear the same…sigh! I guess, pasand apni apni
January 29th, 2007 at 8:13 pm
I am not surprised becuse we have already discussed this long back. That time I was bit surprised but i do understand ki yeh sab apni apni choice hai and everyone possesses the right to respect his own choice. I wont say that he is my favourite MD like SJ, MM, Naushad, SD, LP, etc but yes I do like his music to some extent. In fact Ashaji ke jo bhi gaane mujhe pasand hain usme se kafi saare OP, SD aur RD ke hain. Same is the case for Geeta Dutt’s songs.
Besides the songs mentioned above, i like..
Jara haule haule chalo more sajna-Sawan ki Ghata
Piya piya na lage mora jiya-Phagun
Chal akela chal akela tera mela peeche chuta rahi chal akela-Sambandh
Ek too hain piya, Aa ke dard jawan hai-Pran Jaye par Vachan na jaye
Jawaniyan yeh mast mast bin piye-Tumsa Nahin Dekha
Chota sa balma-ragini
Dekho kasam se kasam se kehte hain tumse haan-Tumsa nahin Dekha
Tarif karu kya uski-Kashmir ki Kali
Aap yun hi agar humse milte rahe-Ek Musafir Ek Haseena
Pukarta chala hun main-Mere Sanam
Woh haseen dard de do jise main gale laga lun-Humsaya
May his soul rest in peace!
January 29th, 2007 at 11:44 pm
I personally like most of his songs. However, it is indeed unfortunate the way the “News Channels” would sell something in the name of a ‘tribute/news’
May his soul rest in peace.
January 30th, 2007 at 4:24 am
Wow….quite a few posts in a few days.
Well, yesterday when i read about OP Nayyar’s death, somehow I thought that I will see a post on him on your blog…and here it is.
January 30th, 2007 at 6:04 am
I didnt know! May his sould rest in peace. I liked this post for its “matter of fact” attitude
January 30th, 2007 at 6:48 pm
I would very strongly recommend the album, “Ek Baar Muskura Do” which has these memorable tracks …
> chehre se zara aanchal jab aapne sarkaaya
> ek baar muskuraado kahaan se utthe hai qadam yaad rakhna
> kitne atal the tere iraade
> roop tera aisa darpan mein na samaaye khushboo tere tan ki madhuban
> savere ka suraj tumhaare liye hai
I think he was well known for his penchant for the “thup-thik thup-thik” horse beat songs in his movies.
January 31st, 2007 at 10:12 am
Madhu - Yep , i remember our convo… But then, i m not going to start investing his songs now
Anz - Yeah, i m surprised they cant get basic facts right - in the age of ‘google’ it shudnt be tough!
Mannat - Yeah, the creative juices are flowing…Amen to that!
Kaush - A lot is left unsaid, which i hope discerning readers will understand
Ezepze - Yep hv seen that film. I dont like his ‘thup thik’ stuff at all. Individual choices, i guess…
February 1st, 2007 at 3:53 am
O P Nayyar was a class act. As an artist one has to focus on two aspects.
1. the creation process
2. the marketing process
Part of the marketing process that O P Nayyar became beholden to was the fact that he never needed to use Lata.
I find it hard to believe that O P Nayyar could not have discovered a new part of his talent had he collaborated with a new voice and a person. This is the usual Indian Akkad that gets us down.
We need to be aware of it. Celebrating something as a success also means we can lose the sight of the price paid for it.
February 1st, 2007 at 9:42 am
Mumbaikar - A warm welcome to the blog
Precisely , what i dont comprehend is that why he had to show the usual ‘Indian Akkad’ in stubbornly not using Latadi’s voice?
Else, when he said that the ’styles didnt match’ , it didnt speak too greatly about his talent - that he couldnt compose a single song in his entire career to suit Lata’s voice, esp. when she herself doesn’t really hv a ’style’ , is known to moulding her voice as per the requirements of the composer, and has a proven track record of working with multifarious composers with vastly varying styles!
March 10th, 2007 at 7:45 am
I have been an OP Fan since the age of 11. (At present I am 44). Have a good collection as well. I think he made at least 74 movies. I can say I have a song from each movie.
OP, in my opinion was a genius, but not necessarily consistent for many years. He ruled the late 50’s and 60’s. I must say a good number from OP is absolutely mesmerizing while a bad one is pretty low. This is very much unlike SD or SJ who had better averages.
OP also did movies under unknown banners, but his songs were excellent. In many interviews, I believe he stated that he would do it for anyone who paid him his asking.
I have read a lot about his arrogance which you refer to as the “Indian Akkad”. Personally, I don’t this quality of his, since we Indians expect subservience once we get to a position of power. In the context of OP, I am refering to the movie producers, leading actors et al who wanted their way with the music directors. I am glad some one stood up to it. Maybe it was to some extreme. OP even realized that he lost out on some good deals because of this, but did not care. Hey, if he did not mind it, who am I to say. I would say it was the movie maker’s loss.
One thing I would request is If you do not have anything nice to say about him, better not say it. If his music does not float your boat, so be it.