Rhythm King O P Nayyar: 100 years of burgeoning popularity

Gautam Ganguly

(gautamganguly2012@gmail.com)

Even the most passionate and involved followers of Bollywood films will be surprised to know that a legendary music director, who won the hearts of millions of music lovers by his melodious, foot-tapping compositions and earned the sobriquet ‘emperor of rhythm’, did not record a single song, solo or duet, with Lata Mangeskar, the ‘Nightingale of India’, in his illustrious career spread over nearly five decades.  To be able to keep off, Lata Mangeshkar, the ‘virtual empress of Bollywood films’, speaks volumes of the superlative quality of composition of O.P. Nayyar and his rich gamut of sensuous or sensually mellifluous songs that have kept the music lovers practically mesmerized by his haunting melodies.  

It needs to be reiterated that O.P. Nayyar belonged to the distinguished phase which is unanimously described as the ‘golden era’ of Bollywood film music. To quote Raju Bharatan, one of the finest critics, ‘The golden age of popular Hindi film music lasted from the 1960s to the 1990s.  Songs from this era proved to be much more memorable than tunes released in the 21st century.’ This era saw the flourishing of the Hindi film world with legendary music directors like S.D. Barman, Shankar-Jaikishan, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, R.D. Barman, etc. Needless to say, O.P. Nayyar stood on the same platform with his contemporary galaxy of musical genius and carved out an immortal place by his innovative style of composition. All his contemporaries had high regard for him. Even Lata Mangeshkar spoke about OPN with profound regard.  To quote Lata ji, ‘Nayyar’s music always carried its own distinct mark.’ His work was different from his contemporaries. One could always identify an OP song.’ Anil Biswas, another famous music director, commented forthrightly, ‘At a time when most music composers were copycats, Nayyar was an original.’ 

A study has found that ‘golden oldies stick in millennials’ minds far more than the relatively ‘bland, homogeneous songs’ of today.  A study conducted by a group of academics among youths of various parts of the country revealed that the youths exhibited remarkable keenness, familiarity and enchantment for the songs of the ‘golden era’.  The burgeoning popularity of the song ‘Pukarta chala hoon mein’, with its irresistible impact on admirers of successive generations, drives home the point. This song has 111.9k views and likes in the public domain up upto 2019 and has the whopping record of ‘re-mixed versions’. The opening buzz and the instrumental prelude in this song are mind-blowing and matchless. 

The musical ‘pundits’ describe the secret of O.P. Nayyar’s skyrocketing popularity as overcoming generation gap syndrome due to his superlative perfection of ‘horse beat rhythm’. ‘Clip-Clop, Clip-Clop’, the sound created by the hooves of horses galloping, is typical of his characteristic music. To quote famous music critic Bharadwaj Rangan, ‘Ghoda-Gaadi Beat’ had defined the music of an era. ‘Maang ke saath tumhara’ (Naya Daur) and ‘Piya piya piya’ (Baap Re Baap), ‘Zara haule haule chalo’ (Saawan Ki Ghata),  However, ‘Yun toh humne lakh haseen dekhe hain’ (Tumsaa nahi dekha) is unanimously rated as the mother of all horse beat songs with spirit-uplifting musical resonance.

The song ‘Deewana hua badal’ remains the milestone, the quintessential romantic song to date in the history of Bollywood that revolutionized the very concept and texture of Hindi film songs. The scintillatingly melodious song is one of the most popular songs irrespective of age, culture, and generation and transcends national boundaries. Composed as far back as 1964, this iconic song is one of the top twenty popular songs as per ‘YouTube’ views. Even neighbouring Pakistan, despite national animosity, takes pride in describing him as the ‘son of Lahore’, and two of their best singers, Khalid Baig and Nish Asher, have sung ‘Deewana hua’ superbly.  

One of the characteristic hallmarks of Nayyar’s compositions is his ‘opening buzz’, the instrumental prelude and the instrumental interlude, thereby enriching Hindi film songs like no other music director did. The opening notes of ‘Aakhow hi aakhow mein’ (CID), ‘Huzoor-e-Walaah’ (Yeh Raat Phir Na Ayegi), ‘Babuji dheere chalna’ (Ar Paar), ‘Chal Akela, Chal Akela’ (Sambandh), etc., are breathtaking. As soon as the opening buzz is played, people are seen humming these songs. Similarly, interlude instrumental renditions in ‘Yeh Chand Sa Roshan Chehera’ (Kashmir Ki Kali), ‘Mera Naam Chun Chun Chu’ (Howrah Bridge), etc., are unparalleled, to name a few. 

Foot-tapping orchestration and superb blending of instruments, especially guitar, saxophone and accordion, coupled with Indian classical instruments like Santoor, Sitar, Vina, Harmonium, Dholak and Tabla, etc., are the characteristic features of the maestro’s compositions. The use of harmonium in the classic song ‘Leke pehla pehla pyar’ and the use of mouth organ in ‘Kisi na kisi se’ (Kashmir ki kali) are par excellence. No other music director possibly can compete in creating such amazing melodies consistently over a period of sixty years.

One article is too small to highlight the greatness and multidimensional musical brilliance of O.P. Nayyar.  I conclude with the accolades of Javed Akhtar on the occasion of the maestro’s completion of a hundred musical years. To quote, ‘Any lover of vintage Hindi film music can identify a Nayyar tune as easily as any art lover would recognize an MF Hussain painting.’