One of Hindi cinema’s most admired music composers, OP Nayyar died in 2007 at the age of 81. Curiously, no major tribute was held for him by the film industry stalwarts that he worked with, he was cremated in far-off Thane, and not a single member of his family attended his funeral.
Nayyar had specifically requested that they not be allowed to attend, following a falling-out several years earlier. He lived the last decade-plus of his life in Thane, with a family of well-wishers, having surrendered his fame and fortune. He wasn’t penniless, but he wasn’t well-off either. He had just enough to survive, and wanted nothing to do with the glamorous world of films.
Born in Lahore in 1926, he made a name for himself with his instantly recognisable musical style in the 1950s and 1960s. He was the one who introduced the world to the talents of Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhosle, with whom he had a well-publicised affair. He was also known to be mercurial, having severed ties with Mohammed Rafi permanently, and cutting off the likes of Asha, Shamshad Begum and Geeta Dutt.
Music director OP Nayyar reading a book. (Express archive photo)
He first moved out his house and away from his family in 1979, but returned some time later. He left for good in 1989, and moved in as a paying guest with Rani Nakhwa and her family in Thane. Speaking to OPNayyar.org, Rani recalled her first interactions with the legendary composer. “I used to work in an STD booth. He used to come there to make calls to his friends. He was staying with a friend then. At that time I just knew him as a person dressed in lungi and kurta coming to make calls regularly. I didn’t know he was such a great personality. We got to know each other because he would talk to me. One day he asked me if I knew anyone offering paying guest accommodation because he said he wanted to live with a family. I immediately said, ‘Why don’t you stay with us?’ That time we were living in a one-bedroom house. We gave him one room. So that is how he moved into our house. My parents were quite happy. I felt he could live in our place like my grandfather did. I told him that. We used to call him babujee. He used to call me his daughter. He didn’t like my name Rani and always called me Raju.”
She said that he ‘lived like a king’ with them in Thane, despite his limited funds. “The fact was that he had only enough from the royalties to take care of his needs. He was a very stylish man-his clothes had to be perfect-the kurtas starched, silk lungis ironed and for parties he’d wear suits with his hat. He was very particular. He lived like a king here. He liked having a beer in the afternoon and had his staple of two pegs of scotch in the evenings, never to exceed his limit though.”
Film star Shammi Kapoor with music director OP Nayyar. (Express Archive Photo)
She said that he would avoid talking about his past life in the films. He would also decline any offers that would come his way. “He even refused to meet people from the industry. People used to come with offers but he was pointblank with them, ‘I can’t give you what you want and you wouldn’t like what I’d give you. So there is no point in going back into the industry.’ He never talked of his family except in the beginning when he told us about his children. We never asked him anything again because it used to pain him to talk about the past,” she said. Recalling his death, Rani continued, “I couldn’t believe he was no more-no last words, nothing. He was okay one moment and gone the other… He had told us not to inform his family on his death. We performed his last rites.”
Following his death, tributes poured in from the industry. Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt told news agency PTI, “Asha Bhosle owes whatever she is to him. The distinct sensuality that was injected into Asha’s singing was the contribution of this extraordinary man.” Lata Mangeshkar, who conspicuously never worked with him, said, “He had a distinctive style, which was completely different from the popular music at any given time. Contrary to what people believe, we had never been in a quarrel. We had the utmost respect for each other.”
Music director OP Nayyar with his wife Saroj Mohini and daughter in 1962. (Express archive photo)
Singer Madhuri Joglekar, who was in a relationship with the much-older composer till 1996, looked back on their years together in an interview with Filmfare. “He had separated from his family (those days he lived at his rehearsal room in Miramar on Warden Road). I was the only one he had. Naturally, he grew possessive about me. I liked looking after him because he was much older than me. I respected him,” she said.
Over the course of his legendary career, OP Nayyar composed songs such as “Kajra Mohabbatwala,” “Aye Dil Hai Mushkil Jeena Yahaan,” “Jaane Kahan Mera Jigar Gaya Jee,” “Yeh Desh Hai Veer Jawaanonkaa,” among dozens of others.