A tribute to Khayyam (18.2.1927–19.8.2019) on his third Remembrance Day
A reader mentioned some time ago that Khayyam has not been covered on SOY. Then I realised that the only post I have included under his name in the side-roll is devoted to his wife, Jagjit Kaur who sang most of her songs under his baton. This is an obvious omission. Khayyam, though not in the race for top billing, always created top class music right through the Golden Era when hundred flowers bloomed, to the post-70s dominated by the triumvirate of RD Burman, Laxmikant-Pyarelal and Kalyanji-Anandji.
His debut in 1948 makes Khayyam predecessor of Shankar-Jaikishan by a year, and of OP Nayyar by several years. In the era of the stalwarts, Khayyam composed great songs for Footpath (1953); Lala Rukh, Phir Subah Hogi (1958); Shola Aur Shabnam (1961); Shagun (1964); Mohabbat Isko Kahte Hain (1965); Aakhri Khat (1966); and post-1970s when his stalwart peers had lost relevance, he kept on creating sublime melodies without joining the bandwagon of the new trend, in Kabhi Kabhi (1976), Noorie (1979) and Thodi Si Bewafai (1980). In the 80s, he gave some timeless music in Umrao Jaan (1981), Bazaar (1982) and Razia Sultan (1983).
Born as Mohammad Zahoor Khayyam Hashmi to a father, who was a muezzin in a mosque, in Rahon village in Jalandhar district, the child Zahoor was influenced as much by the azan of his father as by the aarti sung by his teacher’s wife in a temple. He tried his hand at acting in Lahore and Bombay but he could not succeed. His initial mentors in music were Pt. Amarnath and Husnlal-Bhagatram. On return to Lahore, he went to the famous music director there, Baba Chisti, who was composing a tune on the harmonium, but when he played it again, he got stuck at one place and couldn’t remember how exactly it went. The stranger Khayyam who had been listening to it attentively, offered to do it, and reproduced it perfectly. Highly impressed with him, Baba Chisti made him his assistant. Chisti, while provided Khayyam food and lodging, didn’t initially pay him any cash for his work. In the need of money, he joined the Indian Army and took part in the Second World War in South-East Asia. On return from the war, he came to Bombay in 1946 where, courtesy Husnlal-Bhagatram, he sang a duet with Zohrabai Ambalewali, Donon jahan teri mohabbat mein haar ke, the famous ghazal of Faiz Ahmad ‘Faiz’, in the film Romeo and Juliet (1947).
He started as a music director under the name Sharmaji with the film Heer Ranjha (1948) with two others, Vermaji (also a pseudonym, for Rahman) and Aziz Khan. He continued under the name Sharmaji as the sole music director in Parda (1949), and next composed a memorable Rafi solo, Akele mein wo ghabraate to honge, in the film Biwi (1950). He first composed under his real name in the film Footpath (1953), in which he gave Talat Mahmood’s immortal song, Shaam-e-gham ki qasam. He was immediately recognised as a highly talented composer. He started on his grand journey which is too well-known.
No description of Khayyam is complete without his non-film songs. We just celebrated the 75th Independence Day. Rafi’s two patriotic songs, Awaaz do hum ek hai and Watan ki aabroo khatre mein hai taiyar ho jaao, were on everyone’s lips on National Days. Rafi’s other famous non-film songs, Ghazab kiya tere vaade par aitbar kiya, Tum aao rumjhum karti payal ki jhankar liye; Mukesh’s Ashaar yun to mere zamaane ke liye hain; CH Atma’s Chalo na gori sambhal sambhal kar abhi to balapan hai; Meena Kumari’s album, I write, I recite, which had the all-time favourites, Chaand tanha hai aasman tanha and Aagaz to hota hai anzaam nahin hota; his NFS with Begum Akhtar, Asha Bhosle, Talat Mahmood and so many others, established Khayyam as one of the greatest composers, if not financially most successful.
He got awards and honours galore: Filmfare Awards for Kabhi Kabhi and Umrao Jaan, the latter also fetching him the National Award; Sangeet Natak Akademi Award; Padma Bhushan etc.
Thus, he remained at the Mountain Peak throughout his career. Subodh Agrawal once mentioned, Lagta hai Khayyam saheb pahaad se kabhi utare hi nahin. He meant that in the sense of Khayyam’s fondness for Raga Pahadi. There was melody of the hills in his music, a haunting, ethereal quality. Coming from folk roots, there is something universal about Pahadi, which was very prominent in Khayyam’s music. In the first part of my tribute to Khayyam on his third Remembrance Day I post his songs in Raga Pahadi. I have mentioned wherever KL Pandey has identified more ragas in his Hindi Cine Raag Encyclopedia for our experts to mull over, while we enjoy the songs.
1. Shaam-e-gham ki qasam aaj ghamgeen hain hum by Talat Mahmood from Footpath (1953), lyrics Majrooh Sultanpuri, music Khayyam
The first landmark song has a Pahadi-feel. KL Pandeyji identifies two more ragas, Yamani Bilawal and Manj Khamaj, too, in the song. The song consolidates Dilip Kumar’s image as a Tragedy King, and makes Talat Mahmood his preferred voice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zgla37GgYWM
2. Pyas kuchh aur bhi bhadka di jhalak dikhla ke by Talat Mahmood and Asha Bhosle from Lal Rukh (1958), lyrics Kaifi Azmi, music Khayyam
Among the lyricists who transcended the worlds of both the Urdu literature and film songs, Sahir achieved the most fame, but I have a special fascination for Kaifi Azmi. And he got the music directors who converted them into immortal songs. This is my most favourite Talat-Asha Bhosle duet. (KL Pandeyji identifies Khamaj, too, in this song.)
3. Jaane kya dhoondhti rhati hain ye aankhen mujhmein by Rafi from Shola Aur Shabnam (1961), lyrics Kaifi Azmi, music Khayyam
Khayyam gave us a totally different Rafi. His Pahadi, too, is different from Naushad’s Suhani raat dhal chuki. Jaane kya dhoondhti rahti hain ye aankhein mujhmein seems to be beckoning you from the mountains. (Khamaj, too, identified by KL Pandeyji.)
4. Tum apna ranj-o-gham apni pareshani mujhe de do by Jagjit Kaur from Shagun (1964), lyrics Sahir Ludhiyanavi, music Khayyam
If you want literally the melody of hills, Parbaton ke pedon par sham ka basera hai, a duet by Rafi and Suman Kalyanpur is a more befitting song. But I am posting Tum apna ranj-o-gham, an undisputed immortal song, though it has Pahadi in the secondary position after Shuddh Kalyan (per KL Pandeyji).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8Yr1OOeOT8
5. Thahariye hosh mein aa lun to chale jaiyega by Rafi and Suman Kalyanpur from Mohabbat Isko Kahte Hain (1965), lyrics Majrooh Sultanpuri, music Khayyam
We do not have to wait long for my omission of Parbaton ke pedon par. Next year Khayyam composes another gorgeous duet for Rafi and Suman Kalyanpur, very different from what other music directors have done for the pair. Khayyam’s Pahadi makes the difference. (Pancham se Gara, too, per KL Pandeyji.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXdFbP_DMB8
6. Bahaaro mera jeevan bi sanwaaro by Lata Mangeshkar from Aakhri Khat (1966), lyrics Kaifi Azmi, music Khayyam
I mentioned Kaifi Azmi. Now combined with Khayyam at his mountain peak, you get this everlasting Pahadi. (Kahamaj, too, per KL Pandeyji.)
7. Aap yun faaslon se guzarte rahe, dil se kadmon ki aawaz aati rahi by Lata Mangeshkar from Shankar Hussain (1977), lyrics Jaan Nisar Akhtar, music Khayyam
In 1977, one didn’t expect such superb melody. Shankar Hussain had another song Kahin ek nazuk si ladki, a slow recital by Rafi in which Pahadi is more prominent as per KL Pandeyji. But I get the feeling of the ballad of hills more in Aap yun faaslon se guzarte rahe.
8. Chanda re mere bhaiya se kahna, bahna yaad kare by Lata Mangeshkar from Chambal Ki Kasam (1979), lyrics Sahir Ludhiyanavi, music Khayyam
The season of melody was never over with Khayyam on the Pahadi. A poignant song of a sister remembering her brother who is away.
9. Aa ja re O mere dilbar aa ja, dil ki pyas bujha ja re by Nitin Mukesh and Lata Mangehskar from Noorie (1979), lyrics Jaan Nisar Akhtar, music Khayyam
The innocent pahadi girl beckoning her lover through the mountains, this melody of the hills has to be in Pahadi. Khayyam was the master of such songs.
10. Aankhon mein humne aapke sapne sajaaye hain by Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar from Thodi Si Bewafai (1980), lyrics Gulzar, music Khayyam
The SOY byline ‘Songs of the 30s through 60s’ has to be amended, ‘…except for the songs of Khayyam’. This song set our master cruciverbalist, and punster, Ashwin on a million fanciful interpretations of ‘aapke sapne’.
11. Pyar ka dard hai meetha meetha pyara pyara by Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhosle from Dard (1981), lyrics Naqsh Lyalpuri, music Khayyam
Poonam Dhillon does not seem to be a pahadan, but she has a hill-maiden’s innocence. Since they are a modern couple, Khayyam introduces a more modern orchestration. (Manj Kahmaj too, per KL Pandeyji.)
12. In aankhon ki masti ke mastane hazaron hain by Asha Bhosle from Umrao Jaan (1981), lyrics Shaharyar, music Khayyam
Is there any other music director who debuted in the late 40s, and gave his most remarkable music in the 80s? As per KL Pandeyji, Bhopali and Shuddh Kalyan come before Pahadi in this song. Every song of Umrao Jaan, composed in a different raga, was a masterpiece.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpNAOiJmS2c
13. Karoge yaad to har baat yaad ayegi Bhupinder from Bazaar (1982), lyrics Bashar Nawaz, music Khayyam
Thirty-four years after his debut, Khayyam gave another landmark score in which all songs were outstanding. This is Bhupinder’s one of the most soulful ghazals. A sad Naseeruddin is sitting in the midst of the hills and water-steams, when this melody flows through in the atmosphere, reflecting his own inner pain. The expert says, it is Shivranjini+Pahadi.
Note: I have not embedded video links of some songs. The uploaders have blocked playing them on another site. But I have given their YT links. Clicking on the link automatically plays the song on the YT.
Acknowledgements:
1. RSTV in its Guftgaoo series has excellent two-part interview of Khayyam by Irfan.
i. Part1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65lkNiIuTds
ii. Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8oxJf9m1UY
2. I have taken some details of Khayyam’s life from Pankaj Raag’s Dhunon Ki Yatra.
Disclaimer: The song links have been embedded from the YouTube only for the listening pleasure of the music lovers. This blog claims no copyright over these which vests with their original owners.
I am an illiterate in music. I have simply cited ragas from KL Pandeyji’s Encyclopedia. The four known experts here may like to discuss among themselves, and I and others can enjoy from the sidelines.
{ 54 comments… read them below or add one }
Amazing tribute to the great composer Khayyam, AK Ji.
Like Kishore I like Khayyam 1.0 more !!
Like Ravi , he had also placed lot of emphasis on bringing out the lyrical beauty more prominently and one can notice how very subtle the rhythm pattern used to be in his songs. Never over-powering the words.
At Khayyam 1.0. as discussed earlier one of the most visible and talked about song was Hai kali kali .. from Lala Rukh which had a story attached with it. Since Talat Mahmood was the hero of this movie the song sung by Rafi was saif to have been filmed on someone else.. so it goes. However, this was one of the very lively and popular compositions of Khayyam.
Thank you Soy, for bringing Khayyam into the focus here.
Once this has happened, I am sure well get several more articles that will explore different facets of Khayyam’s music.
I pay my tribute to Khayyam with his Bhupinder composition:
Aaj Bichhde Hain Kal Ka Daar Bhi Nahin — Thodi Si Bewafai 1980
https://youtu.be/d1zGy4jtD_s
Mr Sivanandam @1,
Thanks a lot for your appreciation. Khayyam made the most of the great lyrics of Kaifi Azmi, Sahir Ludhiyanavi, Majrooh Sultanpuri, and others, the theme of the movie, the vocal quality of the singers, embellished with his great tune and minimal orchestration to create magical songs. He maintained his quality well into the 70s and later. In the era of the Triumvirate, Khayyam maintained his niche. Since he had become synonymous with Raag Pahadi, I have selected songs that have this raag. I have taken help of KL Pandey’s ‘Hindi Cine Raag Encyclopaedia for identifying raags.
KB @2,
I have started from Footpath (1953), when Khayyam first gave music under his own name. Before than he used to give music under the name Sharmaji, or jointly with some others, including another pseudonym Vermaji. During the period of cover, he composed a great Rafi song, Akele mein wo ghabraate to honge in Biwi (1950).
Ashokji @3,
You are welcome. I have limited my choice to the songs based on his signature Raag Pahadi. That means there will be at least one more on his non-Pahadi songs.
AK ji,
Good that you wrote about Khayyam. He was one of the very few original composers in Hindi.
In one of his interviews, Khayyam described how he chose the name ” Khayyam” after being Sharmaji for some time. Here is the extract…..
” In 1953, Khayyam was to get Footpath as a composer. Khayyam describes his first meeting with the owner of Ranjit Studio, Sardar Chandulal Shah,in an interview, thus….
” When I got the film Footpath, everyone knew that I was Sharmaji. My meeting with Director Zia Sarhadi and Sardar Chandulal Shah, the Ranjit owner and a legend in his times, was arranged. Sarhadi had already heard my tunes and approved of them. It was only a formal meeting before work started. I entered the cabin and saw Chandulal Shah for the first time. Seth ji was sitting on a big chair. His white shirt, white coat and dark Black colour was showing him as a Photo negative. As soon as I entered, he asked me in a LOUD voice,” Naam Kya Hai ? “. I knew that he did not like my name Sharmaji. I also replied in a LOUDER voice ” Mohammed Zahoor Khayyam Hashmi “. He was not to be outdone. He almost shouted in LOUDER than me ” aaj se Khayyam Likho “.
The interview ended and I came out wiping my forehead ! ”( Thanks to “Rasrang” July 1969 issue)
-AD
Arunji,
Thanks a lot for your appreciation and the story of how he came to be credited by his real name. Khayyam sounds more sonorous.
Akji,
A wonderful tribute to a great melody maker, Khayyam on his third remembrance day.
You have pitched your tent right at the mountain top. Again you have resorted to innovation by selecting the songs in Raag Pahadi. A nice idea.
In a radio interview, Khayyam recollects his place of birth. The village Rahon was a beautiful amalgamation of plane and hills, and according to Khayyam the place consisted of picturesque hillocks, and the mohallas were spread over the undulating ranges and the each of the peaks had a temple/ mosque / darga. That may be the reason for Khayyam’s fascination for the hills and the Raag associated with it. Thus an apt choice for the post.
Asha Bhosle sings another good song in Pahadi composed by Khayyam
Barse Phuhar, Thodi Si Bewafai (1980), lyrics Gulzar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g__bGPvwYXo
I hope we can post any song composed by Khayyam.
Are you planning more posts on him.
With zero knowledge of ragas, I can add only one fact about Khayyam missing, AK ji.
For the 1947 ROMEO JULIET, he sang Faiz Ahmed Faiz ‘s
Dono jahan teri mohabbat mein..
with Zohrabai Ambalewali under Husnlal Bhagatram.
Interesting that his first film as an independent composer was also about a legendary lover pair.
Venkataramanji @9,
I had thought of another post on songs which don’t have Pahadi raag in them. This was because of his close identification with Pahadi, though I realise that 99% of the lovers of old film songs are unaware of the underlying raags. Therefore, it would be unfair restriction for the readers to post only songs of Raag Pahadi. You are free to post any song composed by Khayyam.
Barse phuhar is a very good song.
Dr Shetty @10,
You can post any song you like. Dono jahan teri mohabbat mein haar ke: This has been sung by a large number of singers. The one from Romeo Juliet is very nice.
AK ji
Khayyam enjoyed the longest innings as a composer with a career span of more than 50 years though he scored occasionally post 90.
All the songs included in your list are memorable but Baharo Mera Jeevan has a special place in my heart. My childhood memories are associated with few songs and baharo is one of them.
Once while returning from school exam, walking in searing heat of April the melody of baharo flowed out of a roadside hotel. It was coming from a radio and till today I remember the feeling of getting swept over by a cool breeze. Years later I came to know that the breeze was from Khayyam’s mountains.
Pradeep ji has posted a song sung by Khayyam. Here is a duet sung by Khayyam and Dilraj Kaur from Anjuman which came almost 40 years after Romeo Juliet. Incidentally Shabana Azmi rendered 3 dolo gazals aand a duet with Bhupinder sing under the baton of Khayyam in this film.
https://youtu.be/yHe3N4Inm0U- Anjuman- Faiz Ahmed Faiz
Mr Muli,
I have not found any music lover who does not respect Khayyam. What is special about him is his longevity as a composer. You have added a lovely ghazal. The YT link credits Jagjit Kaur as the female singer.
AK ji
Excuse me for the mistake. I don’t know how the name Dilraj came to my mind though I knew fro Myswar that she was Jagjeet.
A long awaited and well written tribute to the great MD who was associated with HFM for a very long time. A lot of this information I did not know.
Here is one more song from the movie Shagoon .
‘ Parbaton ke pedon…’ / 1964 / SHAGOON / Sahir Ludhyanvi / Khayyam / Rafi , Suman Kalyanpur
https://youtu.be/oj47vwoMJZQ
Mr Joseph,
Thanks a lot for your appreciation. Parbaton ke pedon par is a beautiful song.
#12….Since AK ji has allowed posting any song of Khayyam, I like these two songs as they are exceptional songs and sung by Lata so beautifully.
1 ) Dikhayee diye yun ke bekhud Kiya from Bazaar, Urdu poet Mir Taqi Mir’ s poem.
2) Ae Dil- e – Nadaan from Razia Sultan, written by Jan Nissar Akhtar. A slow song but the way Khayyam does those pauses in the interlude and one of the best use of Santoor makes it an eternal song. And at the age of 54 what a great rendition by Lata!!!
Mr Sivanandam,
Beautiful songs. Santoor interludes give it a haunting quality.
AK ji,
Here is one of my favourite songs by Talat and Khayyam. This was the song which helped both to gain fame and name in Hindi film industry and then there was no looking back.
Shyam e gham ki qasam
Film- Footpath-1953
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zgla37GgYWM
AKji,
Only two songs based on Raag Pahadi have been posted in the comment section.
Thanks to Josephji for posting the beautiful song, Parbaton ke pedon par, based on Raag Pahadi.
From the 1980 film Thodi Si Bewafai two songs based on Raag Pahadi has been posted, one by you (#10) and the by me, the song by Asha Bhosle (@9).
There is one more song on this Raag from the same film,
Mausam Mausam Lovely Mausam, Anwar & Sulakshna Pandit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vT0w6u6K5K0
Ashok Vaishnav has posted a nice song sung by Bhupinder from the 1980 film Thodi si Bewafai , lyrics Gulzar, which was (as per K L Pandey) based on Jhinjhoti.
Arunji @20,
Sham-e-gham ki qasam is a landmark song. Khayyam’s recognition as a master composer started with this film.
Venkataramanji @21,
I have explained the reason why I chose to divide Khayyam on the basis of Pahadi and non-Pahadi. But an average fan of old film music does not think in terms of the presence or absence of a particular raag. The normal divisions are based on chronology or singers. Therefore, it would have been unfair to insist that the readers post songs only on Pahadi.
In song #4 I have made a mention of Parbaton ke pedo par. Beautiful song. I have mentioned that we don’t have to wait long for omission of this song. Because next year we had a gorgeous song Thahariye hosh mein aa lun to chale jaiyega (song #5).
AK,
Any music lover of old songs has lot of respect for Khayyam. It was just a matter of time before he appeared in a special article on him. You have a couple of times mentioned Pahadi as a favourite Raag, so it is hardly surprising that you have associated his name first to the Raag which provided a rebirth to him in hfm. In fact it is a master-stroke, a term very prevalent in political circles these days.
Khayyam to me, is one of the three composers – Roshan and Jaidev being the other two – who rarely tasted success or even a settled career. Roshan had able friends, so he had some regularity. The other two excelled more in the era when the old timer stalwarts had either retired or passed away.
You have given many details about Khayyam, but his breaks of inaction – most probably due to no word – have not been explained chronologically. His first film Heer Ranjha shows him composing 5 songs, all jointly with some Vermaji. Since this Vermaji never appeared in any other film, I presume he was some influential person who got him work under that condition and it was the reason Khayyam went himself also under the pseudonym of Sharmaji. He also did Beewee with Azeez Hindi, the person who was with him in Heer Ranjha. In Parda he was independent composer, but one song was done by Anwar Hussain and Nandram jointly. In 1951, he did Pyar Ki Baten with Bulo C Rani, with whom he also did Gul Sanobar, censored a few days later than Footpath. These films he did as Khayyam. I dont know upto which extent the story of him getting the name through owner of Ranjit Studios is correct. May be Footpath started earlier and released later than Pyar Ki Baten. After three films in 1954 and 55 he had a two year break before he got Laalarukh and Phir Subah hogi. Then again after Shola Aur Shabnam, he had a two year break. Then after 4 films in 4 yeas from 1964 to 67, he this time had a break of 6 years and got insignificant films in 1974 and 75, before stumbling upon Kabhi Kabhi. This break happened despite his great music in Shagoon, Mohabbat Isko Kehte Hain and Aakhri Khat. After Kabhi Kabhi he had quite regular flow of films.
Here are some of his stats. In the 40s from 48-50, 21 songs from 3 films. In 50s from 1951 to 60 – 10 films 58 songs, 1961 to 70, 5 films and 36 songs. He got 12 films in 1971-80 and gave 63 songs. 1981-85 was his most successful period in terms of numbers, he had 13 films for 83 songs. In the 4 years from 1979 to 1982 he gave 91 songs for 15 films.
Subodh’s famous quote about Pahadi is quite justified, because in his 2.0 successful avatar he used this Raag the most. I had purchased KL Pandey’s book after your review, but I made use of it just now. Initially Khayyam had a liking for Pahadi and Khamaj in equal terms – even slightly in favour of Khamaj. As per this book upto he gave 13 songs in Raag Pahadi and 16 in Raag Khamaj, with 5 of these songs having both the Raags in them. The songs which solely had Pahadi and Khamaj were three each. Even your song selection confirms this. Four of the songs no. 2,3,6 and 7 has both the Raags. Only song nos, 8-10 have sole Raag Pahadi. All others have some other Raag too. I do not know anything about Raags so I dont know what is the significance of two or more Raags and which one is more prominent. I have counted 29 songs where Pahadi is used 1976 onwards and 14 out of this were solely based on Pahadi.
Your song selection is masterly, but according to my newly acquired knowledge, ‘kabhi kisi ko mukammal jahan nahin milta’ from Aahista Aahista (1981) is a Pahadi song and could have been included in place of song 11 (if the number was to be kept at 13) and provided more variety. This is a truly great song. So I am giving it here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHPuZhMIb8A
Parda was the first film for which Khayyam was entrusted with scoring music for the whole film. This was an opportunity to showcase his talent according to the story and situations of the film. This was a muslim social with a complicated story-line and he lived up to the expectations with a variety of very good songs.
Though AK has allowed any songs for posting, my guess is he would like to use prominent songs of other Raags to show Khayyam’s variety. So I would try to post either less prominent songs or those for which KL Pandey’s book does not give the Raags. For this film he has given Raags only for 3 songs. So the others are open to me.
He used singers like Rafi, Zohrabai, Raj Kumari, Asha Bhosle, Kalyani and Naseem Akhtar. This film had 13 songs as per HFGK and Khayyam composed 12. One song by Naseem Akhtar is not available.
First song is ‘mere pyare sanam ki hai pyari gali’, a beautiful song in Raag Khamaj sung by Asha Bhosle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHqtqOAwAsQ
Next one is ‘hum aapko hi chahen, gairon ko aap chaho’ by Zohrabai. Both these songs were written by Ramanand.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCnA-XOaawY
Next one is ‘ae dil tere gamon ka main kahun kis se fasana’ by Raj Kumari, written by Tanveer Naqvi.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sesx5jnXayU
Next song is ‘sitamgar se tu leta hai inteqam’ by Rafi. This is a Heer written again by Naqvi. There is another small snippet of another Heer ‘ tu dil ka khuda’. I am posting both of them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOfJxwjp4lc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qC1wcIm0Bw8
Hans,
Thanks a lot for your detailed notes mentioning the career details and gaps in Khayyam’s career. In my mind I always rated Roshan among the topmost composers regardless of his commercial status. Khayyam and Jaidev I rated as niche composers.
In case of more than one raag in a song, KL Pandey’s scheme is the order in which these raags occur in a song. Therefore, in case of a song having Pahadi and some other raag(s) it is not possible to say that Pahadi was the prominent raag or not, unless the listener himself is knowledgeable about classical music.
Kabhi kisi ko muqammal jahan nahin milta is indeed a very nice song and worthy of inclusion.
In my above comment 24, in the second last para, 4th line, I missed adding 1967 after the words ‘as per this book upto’ which is a material fact as his 1.0 can be taken as 1967 after which he had a 6 year break. One more thing out of the 115 songs he composed in this 1.0 for 18 films I could find details of Raags for only 55 songs in KL Pandey’s book. Either the other songs were not thought important or I have missed some of them as the scheme of alphabetical listing is quite difficult to handle.
AK, @ 26
I had compared Roshan with them in the matter of the career, otherwise he is much above them. He was the creator of sublime melodies in wholesale. I dont understand in what sense you call them niche composers. Composers are supposed to give music to all kinds of songs as per situations plus the background music too. Both of them have been able to produce songs in a variety of genres.
I posted a few songs from Parda, which had variety. There were also other songs like ‘miyanji chori chori mulaqat na karo’ and ‘sarkar e madina’, in that film. Now I post a few songs from his earlier films from different genres.
Geeta Dutt produced immortal bhakti songs in Jogan and we can call her to be in dharmik mode in that year. In that year Khayyam composed a dharmik song for her in Beewee.
Bhagwan meri taqdeer ke likhe ko mita de
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DRzXSuoIyw
The following song is a comic song sung by Durrani and Asha in which both sides are talking in mathematical terms about their love and trashing the other’s love.
Unko rupaye men sola aane….wo humse mohabbat karte hain kabhi ek aana kabhi do aane – Pyar Ki Baten – Durrani/Asha –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-KDPh7P5nY
This is virah song in the form of a ghazal, in which genre he showed early promise.
Kabhi tum khwab men chupke se – Gul Sanobar – Meena Kapoor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrBtwi3JV1M
This is a children song given to Premlata, Ashima Banerjee and Chandbala by Khayyam. Majrooh and Sardar Jaafri wrote it jointly.
Aa utar hamare dware chanda – Dhobi Doctor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0KWAmFErp0
Next one is written by Shevan Rizvi and composed by Khayyam in Sajjad Hussain style.
Gar teri nawazish ho jaye – Gul Bahaar – Talat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZNBeKUUWH0
Some songs pull at the heart strings:
Chahoonga main tujhe, Mere toh jo bhi kadam hain, Na jao sainyan chuda ke.., Lag ja gale, Aap kyon roye, Aap ke pehloo mein aakar, Har ghadi dal rahi shyam hai zindagi, Andhiyara ghir aaya Soonapan phir chaya, Main tumhe batalata nahin, Sandese aate hain etc
Dekh lo aaj humko jee bhar ke is one such. BAZAAR was a musical feast.
Opposite, but sweetly romantic is
Aap yoon fasle se..
SHANKAR HUSSAIN.
Dr Shetty
Very well said. ‘Bazaar’ was a landmark score by Khayyam
AKji @ 23,
Yes, I agree with your explanation.
Thank you for the response.
You mentioned Rafi’s two patriotic songs. Few words about the two songs.
During the 1962 Indo-China war, the” National Defense Committee” formed by the Indian film Industry decided to film the two songs. Mehboob Khan, who was entrusted with the direction, filmed the song ‘Awaaz do hum ek hai’ on the three heroes of ‘Mother India’, Raj Kumar, Rajendra Kumar Sunil Dutt and the hero of the film ‘Son of India’, Kamaljeet Singh. In the song ‘Watan ki aabroo khatre mein hai taiyar ho jaao’, Sunil Dutt was replaced by Dilip Kumar. Both songs were composed by Khayyam and sung by MD.Rafi. Posting both the songs.
Awaaz do hum ek hai, lyrics Jaan Nissar Akhtar
This based on Billawal & Pahadi as per K L Pandey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9PQB7XG3gA
Watan ki aabroo khatre mein hai, lyrics Sahir Ludhyanvi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IRGpb6czf8
Later, in the year 1966, HMV brought out a record (QC 10001) with the above mentioned songs on its two sides.
Hansji @ 24,
Thank you for detailing Khayyams career. Your statistics were as usual masterly.
Enjoyed listening to the bouquet of songs posted by you, specially the two Heer numbers from Parda, also the songs Kabhi Kisiko Muqammal Jahan Nahi Milta by Bhupinder and Gar teri nawazish ho jaye by Talat Mahmood.
Thank you Hansji
Posting a song sung by Khayyam from the film Parda. It seems, Rafi’s voice is also there.
Ye Karwane Zindagi Na Ae Khuda Ruke Kabhi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAY7iCUDMdw&list=TLGGAINNPRE2J18yNjA4MjAyMg
Pradeepji @ 30,
Loved to both the songs mentioned by you.
Aap yoon fasle se
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzI4icCY50o
Dekh lo aaj humko jee bhar ke
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWOlf_4B3J4
And a special thank for the song Kab Yaad Me Tera Sath Nahi (@10) by Khayyam and Jagjit Kaur
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEyCTQhvbCY
Venkataramanji @32,
Aawaz do hum ek hain was my very special favourite. But I didn’t it had such an important pedigree. Thanks a lot for giving us this background of the two songs.
AKji
This is peach of a post on this nonagenarian music director who retained his mastery in song composition in a long career, details of which has been provided by Hans in his inimitable style. You seem to have a Midas touch at whatever you present in the blog.
Youtube link for song No. 11
https://youtu.be/oILw5X-VoWI
Am posting another song from Footpath sung by Talat Mahmood, Premlatha and Ashima Banerjee, lyrics Majrooh Sultanpuri
Tandi pawan chale
https://youtu.be/ru3SCySim80
I have seen this movie and this song seems to have been omitted. In pre internet days, I hunted for this song far and wide and managed to acquire it from a footpath seller outside Victoria Terminus, Bombay.
As usual this song was plagiarised in one Tamil film Illara Jhoti starring Padmini which began as – Kalangamilla khadalile
https://youtu.be/88S62O71Sx4?t=32
Khayyam 1.0. was definitely more melodious and also in quality like movies like Mohabbat Isko kehete hain (1965) and you were right in selecting the song Theheriye hosh mein song. Even the songs which were westenised as in Aakhri Khat had that. Incidentally he also had to compete with several stalwarts in this phase and this could have brought the best out in him !
Mr DP Rangan,
Thanks a lot for your appreciation. The Tamil version has a faster tempo.
AK ji
Mr KB referred to Khayyam 1.O being more melodious. I think this applies to the entire HFM 1.O if we treat golden era as 1.O.
However there is another intersting aspect of Khayyam 2.0
If we consider the decade 71-80 there are only 3 songs rendered by Rafi for Khayyam, one solo and a duet from Chambal ki Kasam and the following delicacy from Shankar Hussain
Kahi ek masoom –
https://youtu.be/oyr9QZSxREA
Mr Muli, KB,
If we take 1969 as the dividing line between 1.0 and 2.0, while many stalwarts fell by the wayside, Khayyam retained his melody and class well into 2.0. Noorie, Kabhi Kabhi, Razia Sultan, Trishul were usual commercial films with a number of melodious songs. Umrao Jan and Baazar were high class scores which also propelled the films to commercial success. Thodi Si Bewafai, Chambal Ki Kasam, Shankar Hussain (Aap yun faslon se guzarte rahe) had some absolutely superb songs which are going to be long-lasting.
His composition of Meena Kumari’s Chaand tanha hai aasman tanha, Rafi’s Tum aao runjhun karti and Begum Akhtar’s Mere
humsafarhumnafas mere humnawan mujhe dost ban ke daga na de are timesless compositions.Therefore, I do not compare between Khayyam 1.0 and Khayyam 2.0. The relevant comparison would be with his peers: SJ who debuted a year later and OP Nayyar who debuted four years after Khayyam. What did they give in their 2.0. I don’t include the big three in 2.0 Kalyanji-Anandji, Laxmikant-Pyarelal and RD Burman in this as they debuted many years after Khayyam. They defined the market, Khayyam carried on in his niche.
AK ji
Yes Khayyam’s composition retained the Midas and melodious touch right till the end. Even in an out and out action film Trishul Khayyam’s stamp was apparent. In fact Umrao and Bazar were among the very few memorable albums when there was cacophony all around.
BTW a small correction
It is mere hamnafas and not Humsafar though both the terms may be taken to have similar meaning.
And I should also correct Rafi’s score for Khayyam to 4 as I did not take into account tum aao rumjhum karati.
Mr Muli.
Thanks a lot for the correction.
Finally managed to catch up with his wonderful post.
An excellent and long-awaited tribute to this brilliant composer who remained relevant till the end, complemented by valuable inputs by the experts.
Despite fewer offers and limited number of films for which he scored music, Khayyam managed retain his melody way beyond the golden era, providing us both ever-lasting as well as popular songs.
Though I have many favourites from his earlier films (especially Shola aur Shabnam, Shagoon, Aakhri Khat), I relate more to his songs beyond 1975, my growing up years.
I believe, this one hasn’t been posted yet – The song that flagged off his successful second innings, winning Filmfare awards for Khayyam, Sahir & Mukesh. It also topped the Binaca Geetmala of the year.
Kabhi Kabhie 1976
Sahir – Mukesh, Lata
Kabhi kabhi mere dil mein khayal aata hai
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVnz6oSupUM
Having no knowledge of the ragas, I am assuming it is Raag Pahadi. Pl confirm.
Dr Deshpande,
Thanks a lot for your appreciation. Your preference for post-1975 songs makes this blog more diverse. Khayyam is one of the few among old stalwarts who retained their melody in the later period too. Forget about the raags. You belong to 99% of the lovers of old film music. As for Kabhi kabhi mere dil mein khayal aata hai, the Book says it has Yaman+Shuddh Kalyan+Maru Bihag.
AKji, each of these songs is a gem. A little research suggests that Ravi was perhaps the other music director who used Rag Pahadi prolifically.
For me the pick is Baharon Mera Jeevan Bhi Sawaron. The long prelude using Santoor which goes on for almost 1 minute and 12 seconds of the total duration of the song which is about 4 minutes and 46 seconds is ethereal. I remember using this prelude as the background music and filler music of live shows I did on radio. It completely set the tone for an early morning show.
Anita,
Khayyam created some very special songs. Thus we find most of his songs had a unique charm.
About preponderance of Raag Pahadi in Ravi, I think the best test would be take the top 20 music directors who composed most songs. Find out in how many songs the MD has used Pahadi. The ratio of Pahadi songs to the total number of songs would be a very good indicator of preference for a particular raag.
Baharo mera jeevan bhi sanwaro has a haunting quality. Santoor is very good at creating an eerie effect. I am happy that you used this music in your radio shows.
Here are some nice duets composed by Khayyam in the 80s
Will be informative to know which of these are based on Raag Pahadi:
Chambal Ki Kasam 1980
Sahir – Lata, Rafi
Simti huyi yeh ghadiyan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNwck9xHyys
Dil-e-Nadaan 1981
Naqsh – Lata, KK
Chandni raat mein ek baar tujhe dekha hai
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=decq5HzqpLg
Baawri 1982
Maya Govind – Lata, Yesudas
Ab charaghon ka koi kaam nahin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hePL2N0lfNg
Bazaar 1982
Makhdoom Mohiuddin – Lata, Talat Aziz
Phir chhidi raat baat phoolon ki
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meif1oIfJ5o
Lorie 1984
Bashar Nawaz – Asha, Talat Aziz
Tumhi se roshan hai raat meri
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8EhvBmxcHQ
Dr Deshpande,
Chambal Ki Kasam was censored in December 1979 and may be released in 1980. The song ‘simti hui ye ghadiyan’ is in Yaman + Yaman Kalyan. The Raags for the next songs are:
Bhoopali + Shudh Kalyan + Pahadi
Shudh Kalyan + Pahadi
Gaawati + Khamaj
Gaawati + Jansammohini
Venkataramanji, @ 32, 33
Thanks for the appreciation. Your liking the songs means we have many common likes. Yes ‘ye kaarwane zindagi’ has Rafi’s voice for a few words. In fact this song was composed as a chorus and very few words are sung independently by the singers. The thick voice leading the chorus appears to be Khan Mastana. Khayyam’s voice was not thick in the songs I have listened.
The patriotic songs you posted brought nostalgic memories. Aawaz do hum ek hain is just out of this world. Jan Nisar Akhtar has excelled himself. At the time of China war I was just about 9 years old and we did not have radio then and we were not allowed to loiter around too far from house, so my experience of this song was limited to this being sung in Saturday school assemblies. But in the 1965 war it was the prime patriotic song alongwith songs like, ‘ab tumhare hawale’ ‘watan pe jo fida hoga’ ‘aye mere watan ke logo’ and the Shaheed film songs.
Venkataramanji,
There is a query. Since you can identify Raags, you may have tested some of the songs listed in KL Pandey’s book for the accuracy of the Raags identified there. If yes, how authentic is the info about Raags given in the book?
I have been analysing the data in that book in the past week and I have found that they have included a lot of songs from post 2000 period. I think they have gone too technical on the identification process and not given due weight to the quality of the songs, the tunes or the accompanying music. I have till now analysed more than 5500 songs and the strike rate for 2001-20(till January as they say) seems to be around 17 per cent. The songs of these 19 years exceed the songs of the twenty year period of 1981 to 2000, which were much better in terms of quality than those in the post 2000 period.
I hope even if you have not tested the songs yet, you would keep this in mind.
Hansji @48
Thanks a lot for providing the information about the Raags for the songs mentioned by me@47.
Chambal Ki Kasam was censored on 29-12-1979 and released in August 1980. For me, it is a 1980s film.
I remember I was in 9th std that time. We had a relatives get-together and were planning to go for a movie. While deciding which movie to watch, Chambal Ki Kasam was not preferred being a daku-film and we ended up seeing Agreement starring Rekha.
@24,
Great statistics collected with good efforts has added to the discussion. Statistics also helps appreciate the subject in a better way . At SOY discussions , everyone looks for statistics .
Among other facts here , I also learn that Sh Khayyam has in all composed 261 Hindi film songs . Was expecting to get the number of songs composed in raag PAHADI in this .
For long Sh Khayyam has been singled out for his unusual bias for composing film songs in raag PAHADI . But after listening to the findings of renowned musicologist Dr KL Pandey over Doordarshan (link below) , people should rather be surprised if any HFM MD is not composing songs predominantly in raag PAHADI . The finding is that PAHADI is the most composed raag of HFM MDs with 4,300 songs out of the 16,795 (over 25%) studied till then.
Link below..listen from 9′ 20″
https://youtu.be/eayXZ6kx0nI
So statistical findings show that not only Sh Khayyam but most HFM MDs should be having a bias for raag PAHADI and that this could be the norm .
@ 52
Thanks for appreciating the stats. In fact I had given the stats of raag Pahadi used by Khayyam in that comment, as counted by me till then. I had also commented that in the first phase he had more liking for Khamaj than Pahadi. I have found 4 more songs by him after that count. Now it is 13 out of 115 in the first phase upto 1970, i.e. 11.3 per cent. Post 70 number is 33 out of 146 which is 22.6 per cent. Overall percentage of Pahadi songs for Khayyam is 17.6 per cent, which is well below the average of more than 27 per cent as per KL Pandey’s book.
So your observation is on the dot and is a great find without the book, just on the basis of the interview. Such keen observers make SOY so great. But, I think nobody is to blame for thinking that Khayyam made more Pahadi songs, because no stats were available till this book came out.
Actually, after posting my above comment 24, I had made observations on the basis of stats given in vol. 2 of the book. Of all the raags 11 raags have more than 500 songs and Pahadi tops them all with 5569 songs out of a total of 20256. When I totalled the songs of these 11 raags it came to 22869, which is understandable because there are a number of songs where two or more raags have been used. After this I made a sample study of about 1000 songs, looking for songs which did not use any of these raags. There is a surprise in store there, because there are just about 10 per cent songs in which none of these eleven raags is used. In other words, in about 90 per cent of the film songs covered by Pandeyji’s book, one or the other of these 11 raags has been used. This is a huge bias towards these raags. I am giving here the numbers of these raags in the decending order of the numbers.
Pahadi – 5569
Khamaj – 3584
Nat Bhairavi – 3511
Kaafi – 2819
Bhairavi – 2242
These 5 raags account for 17725 songs. The next 6 in order are:
Kirwani – 1096
Peeloo – 980
Bilawal – 877
Manjh Khamaj – 859
Jhinjhoti – 807
Chaarukeshi – 525
Hans @53,
I am also an admirer from sidelines of your interest in Data Analysis. From commonsense I would have thought that a very popular Raag Yaman should figure in top five. Even if we include its close cousin Yaman Kalyan, it would still be far outside the top five Raags.
On the interesting statement about Khayyam and Pahad(i) this may be more a perception and not backed by data. Music is a matter of sentiment and one does not always look at data to validate a statement. There is one about Yaman too: When you think of Yaman, you think of Roshan. This reminds me that some decades ago there was a famous paint company, Jenson & Nicholson. You could not miss its tagline: Whenever you think of colour, you think of Jenson & Nicolson.
On J&N I cannot help sharing a trivia. Arun Nehru, the famous chum of Rajiv Gandhi was the President of J&N India before his foray into politics, and he was credited with this slogan of the paint company. Rajiv had another Arun (Singh) as his close friend from corporate sector – both Aruns from Calcutta. While one Arun was selling paint, the other Arun was selling Cherry Blossom shoe polish, Dettol etc. It was also said about them – Whenever you see Rajiv, you think of us.
Such aphorisms and pithy statements become very popular. You would remember:
सूर सूर तुलसी ससी उडुगन केसवदास
अब के कवि खद्योत सम जंह तंह करत प्रकाश
Sanskrit literature and grammar abounds in such aphorisms. One I remember about Kalidas, Bhaaravi, Dandin and Maagh.
उपमा कालिदासस्य भारवेरर्थगौरवम्
दण्डिनः पदलालित्यम् माघे सन्ति त्रयो गुणाः
Now the irony is obvious. Everyone has heard of Kalidas. But few would have heard of Maagh and his Shishupaalvadh.