Bollywood Retrospect: 10 songs from the golden era of film music by composer Khayyam

The career of Mohammed Zahur Khayyam Hashmi is atypical for a Hindi film music director. He wasn’t quite as prolific as some of his peers but the spread of his career and the quality of his music won him acclaim and respect in the industry. Khayyam made his film debut in 1949 and his last film was in 2013— a career span of 65 years! Khayyam’s film career was not an even one. He was active from 1949 to 1966, and then took a break to focus on non-film ghazals for eight years. He returned to films in 1974 and scaled even greater heights than before, winning two Filmfare Awards and a National Film Award. He retired in 1990 and then returned in the 2000s to compose for two films. There was another aspect of Khayyam’s work that set him apart from other composers— his non-film ghazals. Throughout his career and especially during his sabbaticals from Bollywood, he recorded many ghazals which drew a niche but devoted set of fans.

Khayyam, who turns 89 on February 18, is among the last living composers of Hindi films’ golden era of music. Here is my pick of 10 film albums to celebrate the great composer.

Phir Subha Hogi (1958)

Khayyam started his career with the pseudonym Sharmaji in 1948. He was initially part of the Sharmaji–Varmaji duo before he went solo in 1949. He started using the name Khayyam with the film Footpath (1953). Success didn’t come easily to Khayyam. It took several years and failed films before Phir Subha Hogi came along. He needed Sahir Ludhianvi’s recommendation and had to pass Raj Kapoor’s test of tuning a tanpura to clinch the film. The film’s score, combining Khayyam’s musical artistry and Sahir’s smart, political poetry, is pure gold. The title song and the satirical ‘Cheen O Arab Hamara’ in particular are songs for the ages. My pick is the duet version of ‘Woh Subah Kabhi To Aayegi’ sung by Mukesh and Asha Bhosle. The song’s subtlety belies a powerful message of hope.

Shagoon (1964)

The superb score of Shagoon was proof that Sahir Ludhianvi brought out the best in Khayyam. Unfortunately, the film did not match up to its wonderful music and Shagoon remains a rather underrated album. The film had some fantastic tunes, including the charming Rafi-Suman Kalyanpur duet ‘Parbaton Ke Pedon Par’ set in Khayyam’s favourite, Raag Pahadi. But the song of the album for me is the piano song, ‘Tum Apna Ranjo Gham’, sung by Jagjeet Kaur, Khayyam’s wife, assistant and muse. The film led to a long courtship between the film’s stars, Waheeda Rehman and Kamal Jeet, and their eventual marriage in 1974.

Aakhri Khat (1966)

Aakhri Khat, Rajesh Khanna’s debut film, was Khayyam’s last Hindi film before his eight-year sabbatical from Bollywood. This time it was another accomplished poet bringing out his best— Kaifi Azmi. Since my favourite song from the film, Bhupinder’s jazzy solo ‘Rut Jawan Jawan’, has already appeared in an earlier post, my pick this time is Lata’s ‘Baharon Mera Jeevan Bhi Sanwaro’. Khayyam’s love for Raag Pahadi manifested itself yet again in this song, wonderfully rendered by Lata Mangeshkar.

Kabhie Kabhie (1976)

Khayyam returned to making music for films in 1974. After a few obscure films, he landed Yash Chopra’s Kabhi Kabhie. Yash Chopra chose him over Laxmikant-Pyarelal on Sahir Ludhianvi’s recommendation. When he finished recording songs for Kabhi Kabhie, Yash Chopra shared with him an insight that was evident even to Khayyam. He said that while Khayyam was widely respected in the industry and acknowledged as a great talent, he was considered “unlucky” and commercially unviable. He asked him to pray for film’s success and the devout Khayyam did exactly that. Khayyam’s prayers bore fruit and the film went on to break all box office records. Khayyam had his first jubilee almost three decades after his debut. He also picked up his first Filmfare Award for the film. My pick from the film is the title song ‘Kabhi Kabhi Mere Dil Mein’.

Trishul (1978)

When Yash Chopra made a film after Kabhi Kabhie it was no surprise that he picked Khayyam and Sahir Ludhianvi again. Trishul was an action-drama, with Amitabh Bachchan back in his “angry young man” mode, and did not afford the duo the kind of scope that a romantic musical like Kabhi Kabhie did. Despite the limitations of such a film, Khayyam produced a perfectly adequate score. My pick from the film is the delightful exchange between two hopeless romantics and a die-hard cynic ‘Mohabbat Bade Kaam Ki Cheez Hai’.

Thodisi Bewafaii (1980)

Thodisi Bewafai was one of the earliest Indian films to deal with the topic of marital conflict leading to separation. The rather “filmi” and convenient climax aside, the film handled the subject quite sensitively. Once again Khayyam was paired with a poet par excellence— Gulzar. Unfortunately, this was the only film in which they worked together. The film had a couple of light romantics song, but where Khayyam and Gulzar really outdid themselves was in the hauntingly sad songs of separation— the Kishore-Lata duet ‘Hazar Raahen Mud Ke Dekhin’ and the Bhupinder solo ‘Aaj Bichhde Hain’. My pick ‘Hazar Raahen…’ is particularly poignant because it narrates the point of view of both partners in the relationship. The song won Gulzar the Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist and Kishore Kumar the Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer.

Umrao Jaan (1981)

If Kabhi Kabhie transformed Khayyam from being a respected composer to a successful one, Umrao Jaan sealed his place in the annals of Hindi films as an all-time great. It’s hard to associate any composer other than Khayyam with Umrao Jaan but he wasn’t director Muzaffar Ali’s first choice. Khayyam was picked only when the director couldn’t reconcile his differences with the original music director Jaidev. Other than advancing his own career, Khayyam also played a crucial role in rejuvenating Asha Bhosle’s stagnating career. By asking her to sing at a scale lower than her norm, he brought a level of gravitas to her voice that unshackled her from past stereotypes and won her widespread recognition as a singer of substance. Khayyam won both the Filmfare Award and the National Film Award for Best Music Director for his superbly concocted ghazals and Asha Bhosle won her first National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for her heavenly rendition. My pick from the film is Asha’s award-winning ‘Dil Cheez Kya Hai’.

Dard (1981)

Dard was one of Khayyam’s lightweight scores but is nevertheless worthy of a listen. I chose this album over another lovely score Shankar Hussain (1977) because it’s so easy on the ears. My pick from the film is the Lata solo “Na Jane Kya Hua”, a simple, hummable melody with a pleasant arrangement and some lovely lyrics by Naqsh Lyallpuri.

Ahista Ahista (1981)

1981 turned out to be the best year in Khayyam’s career. Three of the four albums he released that year are part of this list. After the success of Thodisi Bewafaii, director Esmayeel Shroff brought Khayyam on board again for Ahista Ahista. A key contribution to Khayyam’s success was the quality of lyricists he so often worked with. In Ahista Ahista, the song that had music lovers raving was ‘Kabhi Kisi Ko Muqammal Jahan Nahin Milta’, which had some fantastic lyrics by Nida Fazli, who passed away just a few days ago on February 8.

Bazaar (1982)

Bazaar was another film in which Khayyam’s ability to weave soulful melodies around serious, heavy-hitting poetry came to the fore. Serious poet-lyricists and filmmakers chose to work with Khayyam because of his knowledge of Urdu and because his music stayed true to the poetry. Probably the best example of this in Bazaar was Lata Mangeshkar’s lovely solo ‘Dikhati Diye Yun Ki Bekhud Kiya’ written by the legendary 18th-century poet Mir Taqi Mir. Khayyam took Mir’s two-century-old poem and gave it a contemporary sound without sacrificing its essence. In a decade when her vocal prowess was on the wane, Khayyam managed to get the best out of Lata Mangeshkar.

Bonus: Khayyam was always effusive with his praise for his wife Jagjeet Kaur. She may have been behind the scenes but was a key element in Khayyam’s success. It seems appropriate to recognize their partnership with the only film song they sang together ‘Kab Yaad Mein Tera Saath Nahin’ (Anjuman, 1986).

A bigger list of Khayyam’s most popular songs can be found here.