Music has to touch the soul’
ZIYA US SALAM
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His compositions are timeless. And it is pure music that Khayyam looks for.
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I have always concentrated on the high standard of lyrics.
Photo: Vivek Bendre
A composer of gems: Khayyam.
The other day, a five-star hotel in New Delhi conducted a seekh kabab festival. The diners were to be regaled by an in-house ghazal singer. The first request was for ‘Kabhi kisi ko mukammal jahan nahin milta,’ a ghaza
l from ‘Ahista Ahista.’
Then the singer decided to present one from his own collection. It was Mukesh’s timeless gem ‘Kabhi kabhi mere dil mein khyal aata hai’ from ‘Kabhi Kabhie.’ Then his female counterpart joined with ‘In aankhon ki masti’ from ‘Umrao Jaan.’
The diners enjoyed the music as much as the food. It did not strike anybody that all the songs happened to be gems from the baton of Khayyam, as choosy a music composer as any: in a career spanning 55 years, he has done 55 films!
Very selective
“I have done only 55 films in my career though I could have done 250. Starting with ‘Sham-e-gham ki qasam’ in ‘Footpath,’ I have been very selective about the films I do. Though I have worked with Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi, Mukesh, Asha Bhonsle, and so on, I am really happy with my non-film work, especially with the more than 200 literary works including ghazals and bhajans,” says Khayyam, husband of well known singer Jagjit Kaur, whom he calls “my strength…”
“ I’m 81 but the fact that I still manage to compose for films, am still able to take a setback in my stride is because she is behind me,” he adds.
People remember many songs of Asha Bhonsle in ‘Umrao Jaan’ but my personal favourite is ‘Kahe ki bidai’ that Jagjit sang.”
Non-film ghazals
Incidentally, Khayyam has brought to music some of the best non-film ghazals of the likes of Kaifi Azmi, Ali Sardar Jafri and Sahir Ludhianvi.
Yet Khayyam is a deeply disturbed man these days, a man who is hurt to the core. Reason? Well known filmmaker Goutam Ghose signed Khayyam for the music score of his recently released film ‘Yatra’ but included his own compositions, dropping most of Khayyam’s work, the first time it has happened in the veteran’s career.
“From 1952 till today I have never shared my brand with anybody. I had only allowed him to record a song. I have the script [and] the accord with the producers with me. Goutam Ghose might have composed music in Bengali films but he is nobody in the Hindi film music world. I don’t count ‘Yatra’ among my credits. It is not a Khayyam movie.”
The film (starring the matchless Rekha, with choreography by Saswati Sen and including a Birju Maharaj composition) crashed at the box office. “The film was not properly marketed. People who heard my songs in the audio CD called me from across the world but nobody knew when the film was released. Ghose has hurt me yes, but he has actually hurt himself, the cause of his film because everybody involved with the project took a lot of interest,” says Khayyam.
Hurt he is, but Khayyam has not allowed himself to languish in sorrow or self-pity. Instead, he has decided to be a mahaguru, an ace judge on Zee TV’s ‘Sa Re Ga Ma’ talent hunt. “Here we listen to aaj ke waqt ke
gaane (today’s music and songs). It is good for youngsters. They are gaining exposure in 70 countries across the world. I have realised many of the youngsters need to work on their pronunciation. They need to have command over at least two la
nguages: Urdu and Hindi. Many of the candidates need to follow the correct letters.”
Is he happy with the new crop of singers and music directors?
Khayyam strikes the first diplomatic note of the conversation, preferring to talk in generalities. “Today, we have fast music. It is not a healthy thing. Music has to touch the heart, head and soul. Indian music is like an ocean. Ours is the land of devi-devtas. People pray to them through music. Our music has to be pure. I can see some good times coming. Sufiana kalam is coming back. And gradually we will go back to pure music.” What next, after ‘Yatra’ and the Zee TV talent show? “I don’t know. Throughout my career I have never gone and asked for work. Work has come to me. Before films such as ‘Shola aur Shabnam,’ ‘Phir Subah Hogi’ and ‘Footpath’ became mega hits, I used to compose under the pseudonym of Sharmaji. With hits everything changed.”
Will the experience of interacting with the new crop of singers help in assuaging his hurt feelings? Maybe, he will overcome ‘Yatra’ too. “I have always concentrated on the high standard of lyrics. I have myself learnt from Chishti Baba. I am open to films still but if I am not in a mood, I don’t do a film. I have to like the subject, the maker.”
With his muse, Kaur, singing ‘Tum apna ranjh-o-gham apni pareshani mujhe de do’ (a timeless hit from ‘Shagun’ where Kaur sang to Khayyam’s music), happy days may just be a new tune away for Khayyam, who served the army for three years before Independence.
After all, didn’t he once tell us, “Woh subah kabhi to aayegi.”
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