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16 January 1926: O.P. Nayyar, film music director, was born
YB WEB DESK. Dated: 1/16/2021 11:27:10 AM
Often labelled as “individualistic”, “aloof”, and a “maverick”, Omkar Prakash Nayyar may have been all that, but few would deny that he was among the leading musical talents in the Hindi film industry of the 1950s and 1960s. Born in Lahore on January 16, 1926, O.P. Nayyar, who gave us such classic hits as “Jhumka Gira Re” and “Pukarta Chala Hoon Main”, came from a family with no background in music. His father was employed in a medical shop. Though he studied music for a short while, Nayyar had little formal training in music. He used to sing at local functions as a child and the All India Radio that had just opened its Lahore branch invited him to sing there. He would perform at the radio occasionally. His family moved to Amritsar during Partition but Nayyar, headstrong even at that young age, was initially reluctant to shift. In an interview to the senior journalist Chandan Mitra in 2005, Nayyar recalled: “We had a Muslim neighbour who sheltered me when the riots began. But one day, a mob arrived at his house and demanded that the Hindu boy he was hiding in the house be handed over. My kind protector organised a tonga and smuggled me out of the back gate. I reached the refugee camp somehow and then made my way to Amritsar in November 1947, a good three months after Partition. Since I had no other skills and was too proud to ask my family for money, I got myself a job as a music teacher in Patiala.” Nayyar went to Bombay in 1949 and found work immediately, composing background music for the film ‘Kaneez’, directed by Krishan Kewal. His first film as independent music director was ‘Aasmaan’ (1952). In the 1950s he worked with legendary directorproducer Guru Dutt in films like ‘Baaz’, ‘Aar Paar’ and ‘C.I.D’. His music for the film ‘Mere Sanam’ was very popular, with songs like “Jaayiye Aap Kahaan Jaayenge” and “Pukarta Chala Hoon Main”. Later, his music for ‘Kashmir Ki Kali’ was also a huge success, with the singer Mohammed Rafi being the voice of Shammi Kapoor in such memorable songs as “Tareef Karun Kya Uski”. Nayyar, whose evergreen numbers include “Mera Nam Chin Chin Choo”, “Aakhon Hi Akhon Main”, “Jaane Kahan Mera Jigar Gaya Jee” and “Babuji Dhire Chalna”, worked with several singers such as Geeta Dutt, Asha Bhosle.