Raju Bharatan - HT Café (Bombay Edition) 26/11/2007

[shooganpr...@yahoo.co.in]

SWEET OL' TUNES

Each time I write on O P Nayyar's being stuck on Asha Bhosle, I get
calls asking how fair was this composer to Geeta Dutt.

"I was most unfair to Geeta" as O P himslef told me. "This super
singer to whom I owed my Guru Dutt connection, actually rang to know:
'What have I done wrong that you no longer call me'?".

Care or not

" I had no rational answer to that, so I rang off. So hooked was I on
Asha Bhosle that I took no notice of even Geeta' last solo for me
'mera naam chin-chin-choo' picturised on Helen in HOWRAH BRIDGE,
proving a runaway hit. In fact all this time, I even resented Geeta'
'mera naam' outstripping Asha's 'aaeeye meherbaan', going on Madhubala
in the same HOWRAH BRIDGE.

Was Opee Asha-pro from the word go? Let me quote Opee himself to
underscore how much he once cared for Geeta Dutt, even for wife Saroj
Mohini Nayyar.

A Saroj Mohini, whom we instinctively link with that C H Atma classic,
'preetam aana milo', so sensitively tuned by Opee in his salad Lahore
days.

The number Saraoj Mohini Nayyar wrote as an ode to her falling in love
with Opee.

Let's then weigh O P Nayyar under his own byline, "is Geeta-Rafi's
"yahaan ham wahaan tum' from SHRIMATI 420. The mukhda is my wife Saroj
Mohini's own and I have been much complimented upon tapering music of
the words - 'bolo kahaan ajee yahaan'.

Indeed, Opee goes on to place, at number one among his Ten Best, Geeta-
Rafi's. 'yeh hai bombai meri jaan' (on Kum Kum- Johny Walker) in CID,
noting how "it's been my best selling record so far".

Which are the other Geeta-Rafi duets making it to this prize Opee
listing till end 1956? 'udhar tum haseen ho', filmed on Madhubala-Guru
Dutt in MR & MRS 55 and 'gareeb jaan ke' on Anita Guha-Johny Walker in
CHHOOMANTAR.

Are there, then no Geeta solos in OP's vintage pick? Of course, there
are - Geeta's 'zaraa saamne aa zaraa' from BAAZ. In fact, Opee
identified 'zaraa saamne' as "one of my best compositions", as enacted
by the peerless Geeta Bali enticing Guru Dutt in BAAZ.

This and that

Also listed is that snazzy Opee solo only Geeta Roy could have
resonated for this trend setter - 'yeh lo main haaree piyaa' going on
Shyama in Guru Dutt's AAR PAAR.

"Even now, after my rapid rise," writes Opee, "I encounter producers
who ask: Don't you think this tune's too jazzy?"

"When I say it isn't, they withdraw their objection but remain
sceptical" concludes the originator of the Binaca Geetmala signature
tune:'Pom-pom-pom baajaa bole dholak dhin-dhin-dhin' - so infectiously
put over by Geeta Roy in Opee's 1952 debut film: ASMAAN.

[shri37]

I was most unfair to Geeta" as O P himself told me Says Raju Bharatan.

AAj kal ye bahot chala hai.Mehboobne muje ye kaha tha vo kaha tha.
.Kl saigalne mujhe ye kaha tha- Mehboobsaab ne mujhe kone me lejakar
vo kaha tha....
vagaira vagaira.Kehne vala mar gaya.ab kisko jake ye puchhe ye sach
hai ke nahi ? jaise
advt. me ata hai "Kya Sabut hai" kuchh bhi nahi.

[guz...@hotmail.com]

Dilip Kumar once told me to stop this 'name dropping' habit.:-)

[veekay]

On Nov 26, 3:11 pm, shooganprotect-c...@yahoo.co.in wrote:

One more Geeta -Rafi duet is from Musafirkhana. Quite lively.

Dekho ji dekho meethi ada se, jalne wale jalen apni bala se.

[maild...@yahoo.com]

This article certainly was written in a month, other than June.
The writer neither 'bahao any Paseena', nor took a 'Shafa' to
refresh his memory. How could one ignore Madam Marina and
her Fevicol / Crazy Glue - Grade 'Bemaar-e-Gham'

Any then there was a 'Dil' which 'Dar ke mare ban gaya Chhuha'.

Sudhir