Sambandh and OP Nayyar
Narsingh
music: OP Nayyar, Lyrics: Pradeep). The music is so un-OP Nayyarish,
at least nothing like what he composed during the fifties. I would
have guessed Roshan or Ravi as the music director for this movie. I
don't have any post 1969 music of OP Nayyar in my collection. For the
OP's fans, I have the following questions:
1. Did OP change his music style in late sixties?
2. How often did OP collaborate with Pradeep?
3. How often did Hemant Kumar and Mukesh sing for OP?
Narsingh
asad
1. Pradeep and OP collaborated only once in Sambandh
2. (a) Hemant only sang for OP in Sambandh.
(b) Mukesh sang in three films for OP. "jhukaa jhukaa ke nigaahe.N
milaaye jaate hai.N" from Miss Coca Cola (1955)
"chal
akela" from Sambandh (1969)
and "chehre se
zaraa aa.Nchal" & "ye dil lekar nazraanaa aa gayaa diiwaanaa" from Ek
Baar Mooskura Do (1972). Apart from "chal akela", rest of the songs
are duets with Asha
Asad
Saket
> music: OP Nayyar, Lyrics: Pradeep). The music is so un-OP Nayyarish,
> at least nothing like what he composed during the fifties. I would
> have guessed Roshan or Ravi as the music director for this movie. I
> don't have any post 1969 music of OP Nayyar in my collection. For the
> OP's fans, I have the following questions:
> 1. Did OP change his music style in late sixties?
Not except this movie, if you are not referring to the use of horse-
cart beats.
Kismat & Humsaaya('68), Ek Baar Muskura Do & Pran Jaye Par Vachan Na
Jaye all had similar music.
> 2. How often did OP collaborate with Pradeep?
> 3. How often did Hemant Kumar and Mukesh sing for OP?
>
> Narsingh
Saket
Khans...@gmail.com
1. His style of the 60s did change somewhat from the 50s. But that
would be natural. However, his signature and his stamp is there on
every song. Listen to his last movies Mangni, Nischay and Zid as late
as 1992/93.
2. Just once with Kavi pradeep for Sambandh, which had 12 songs. Akeli
Hun Mein Piya Aa is a gem. One can trace at least a dozen raags in it.
Chal Akela, of course, is a story in itself.
3. Hemant Kumar only in Sambandh. Mukesh songs are few and far between
- 4 songs in 3 films. The duet with Asha Chehre se zara anchal jo aap
ne sarkaya from Ek Baar Mukura Do is a collector's item. OP had
mentioned that he woke up one morning with this song all composed and
he could not even conceive this in a voice other than Mukesh's.
Narsingh
Narsingh
Sunil Dandekar
I agree with you. I see a changing OPN in the later part of his
career. The changed OPN was as captivating as his heydays of 60s. To
my ears songs in films like Sambandh, Bahare phir bhi aayegi, Ek baar
muskura do or PJPVNJ do not sound as extrapolation or natural
evolution of his earlier style, but almost like a mutation. I somehow
would like to attribute it to external causes. It is more interesting
that way.
It would be difficult to reconcile OPN of 'Chal Akela' , 'Andhere
main jo baithe hain", 'Chain se hum ko kabhi' or "Ek baar muskara
do...", or "Wo has ke mile hum se hum pyar samajh baithe" with OPN of
PWDLH , Mere Sanam, Kashmir ki Kali or AarPaar.
Perhaps OPN's song absorbed the darker hues of his personal life in
the later part of his career. It might be a flight of my imagination,
but his output in the evening of his career did start showing flashes
of the melancholy lot more frequently than earlier. Or perhaps he
simply chose to experiment when he was firmly out of rat race.
In spite of preponderance of his happy songs I do believe that he had
a real knack for the sad songs. Sad songs by other composers rely
largely on some common principles like usage of komal notes, usage of
violins, subdued rhythms and hence they sound interchangeable between
the composers. For example it is easy to imagine that "Rula ke gaya
sapana" could have been composed by Madan Mohan or SDB could have
composed "Bairan nind na aaye", if you ignore the interludes, as the
interludes more often give away the composer because of his favorite
instruments. But it is very difficult to imagine Chain se hum ko or
Andhere main jo baithe hain being composed by anybody else. Like the
well known tomato sauce they are just different.
These melodies gave his music the depth that was perhaps missing in
50s and 60s. Great composer.
regards,
Sunil
vijay...@my-deja.com
Perhaps you should listen to tracks like Sone Ki Chidiya & Baaz, and
to his work with CH Atma.
I believe OP always had a fair amount of variety in him, but given
the success of films like Mr. & Mrs. 55, CID, Aar Paar and Naya Daur,
there was some pressure on him from producers to recycle the "in"
music as long as he could. That carried on into the 60s to some
extent, although he bucked the trend a little with Kashmir Ki Kali -
which spawned its own followers.
Come the end of the 60s, OP resumes his own sensibilities and
created tracks like Samband, Ek Baar Muskura Do & Praan Jaaye
par vachan na jaaye.
The 90s output was again a fallout of commercial pressures that
wanted him to recreate his late 50s magic. Maybe he himself
thought that was his best shot at success...
Like many of our MDs and lyricists, I believe OPN had great talent
but the pressure of having to produce day-in day-out drains the
creative juices a fair bit.
Vijay
Sanjeev Ramabhadran
>
> > During my recent trip to India, I bought a VCD of Sambandh (1969,
> > music: OP Nayyar, Lyrics: Pradeep). The music is so un-OP Nayyarish,
> > at least nothing like what he composed during the fifties. I would
> > have guessed Roshan or Ravi as the music director for this movie. I
> > don't have any post 1969 music of OP Nayyar in my collection. For the
> > OP's fans, I have the following questions:
> > 1. Did OP change his music style in late sixties?
> > 2. How often did OP collaborate with Pradeep?
> > 3. How often did Hemant Kumar and Mukesh sing for OP?
>
> > Narsingh
>
> I agree with you. I see a changing OPN in the later part of his
> career. The changed OPN was as captivating as his heydays of 60s. To
> my ears songs in films like Sambandh, Bahare phir bhi aayegi, Ek baar
> muskura do or PJPVNJ do not sound as extrapolation or natural
> evolution of his earlier style, but almost like a mutation. I somehow
> would like to attribute it to external causes. It is more interesting
> that way.
>
> It would be difficult to reconcile OPN of 'Chal Akela' , 'Andhere
> main jo baithe hain", 'Chain se hum ko kabhi' or "Ek baar muskara
> do...", or "Wo has ke mile hum se hum pyar samajh baithe" with OPN of
> PWDLH , Mere Sanam, Kashmir ki Kali or AarPaar.
Agree with the observation for *some* of these songs, but listen to
"Phir Thes Lagi Dil Ko" (Kashmir Ki Kali) and "Wo Hanske Mile
Hamse" (Bahaaren Phir Bhi Aayengi) back-to-back. The two songs are
very much in the same mold.
Sanjeev
Afzal A. Khan
> Sunil
I think you make a valid point here, about his personal vicissitudes
affecting his musical output later in his career. I remember seeing
the film "Sambandh" and thought it was quite a morbid movie ---
the alienation between the father and the son, and the latter's
pathological hatred for his father. I still like to think that the
song "Chal akela, chal akela, chal akela, tira mela peechhe chhooTa"
reflected the change in OPN's personal and professional life.
Also, I think the failure of his music in "Do Ustaad" was a sort of
watershed in his career. It was widely believed at the time that he
himself played a key role in popularizing his music (through fair
means or foul). And the sudden banishment of this film's songs from
the Binaca Geet Mala and Radio Ceylon broadcasts was thought to be
brought about by SJ and, their supporting camp. OPN was still
resilient enough to sort of recast his music style, and came up with
a superb score in "Ek Musaafir Ek Haseena", followed soon after by
"Kashmir Ki Kali" and "Mere Sanam". He was still a force to reckon
with when "Kismat" came along. "Pran Jaaye Par Vachan Na Jaaye" was
a sort of swan song for him. With his brash behaviour, he had few
friends left in the film industry. Like C. Ramchandra in the mid-
sixties, OPN too tried to resurrect his career through newspaper
advertisements (in tabloids like the "Blitz", for example). These
ads were pitifully small in size and talked about how he was ready
with several great tunes "all" of which would be put in his next
venture, through bright new talents like Krishna Kalle etc.
I think his last two films were "Nishchaiy" and "Zid" released in
the nineties. Their music did contain a legacy of his halcyon days.
I thought at the time that he had sort of come to terms with his
change of fortunes and made his peace with the world.
Afzal
Asif
>
> I think you make a valid point here, about his personal vicissitudes
> affecting his musical output later in his career. I remember seeing
> the film "Sambandh" and thought it was quite a morbid movie ---
> the alienation between the father and the son, and the latter's
> pathological hatred for his father. I still like to think that the
> song "Chal akela, chal akela, chal akela, tira mela peechhe chhooTa"
> reflected the change in OPN's personal and professional life.
Personally, I do not think the serene and serious compositions of
Sambandh had anything to do with OPN's own outlook towards changes in
his personal and professional life, whatever they might have been. I
also saw the film on TV years ago and found it depressing too. The
Geet Kosh says the film was based on a Bengali novel titled 'Pratham
Prem'. So I guess OPN and Pradeep together focused on possibly the
somber theme of the novel to bring out those rather un-OPN songs.
Pradeep's unconventional Hindi poetry probably played on OPN's mind
too. Nevertheless, he delivered 3 of his most memorable songs: chal
akelaa by Mukesh, akelii huu.N mai.n piyaa by Asha, and a.Ndhere me.n
jo baiThhe hai.n by Mahendra Kapoor. The MK solo is my top favorite
from this album. Does anyone know about the novel on which the film
was based?
OPN's next big film Ek Baar Mooskura Do (1972) found him back into his
happy mood. This is the album where I find him truly changing his
style, and I believe he also had the freedom to experiment here
because it was a home banner for him (Mukherjee brothers). The
outcome was awesome - 8 fantastic songs! I read somewhere that
'kitane aTal the tere iraade' was the first sad song set to a fast
beat, a real fast beat. And I think it worked too - while I marvel at
the composition while I listen to it, I also feel a lump in my
throat. The Mukesh-Asha duet 'chehare se zaraa aa.Nchal' is a
collector's delight.
Talking about Ek Baar Mooskura Do, I have a question for those who
know more about OPN, this album, and related facts. The only Rafi
solo in this album 'zamaane kii aa.Nkho.n ne dekha hai yaaro' sounds
straight from the '50s and stands out in this album for the very
reason. Did OPN really compose it then and finally use it for this
film? By the late '60s Rafi was out of favor with OPN, yet this song
found a place in this album. The song could be OPN's own favorite or
hero/producer Joy Mukherjee's after all? I would love to know more
about the song and its making. Thanks.
Asif
Manish Wadhane
> Afzal- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
Nicely put Sunil and Vijay. I too love his latter day outputs of
Sambandh and Ek Baar Muskurado as much as his 50's and 60's ones.
Vijay has rightly segregated his 50's and 60's outputs, both bringing
in endearing flavours.
The song "chal akela chal akela.. " is such a heart-wrenching one. It
chokes me without having seen the movie or even knowing the theme.
Afzal sir may have a good point here about OPN's personal life shaping
his musical flavours in his latter years. Even the title song of Ek
Baar Muskurado (which I like) has romanticism with a cold touch.
-Manish