The top Bollywood music director died following a heart attack in Thane on Sunday afternoon. He was 81 years old.
MUMBAI: Legendary music composer OP Nayyar, who orchestrated some of the most memorable Hindi film songs, died of cardiac arrest on Sunday.
The 81-year-old maestro had severed ties with his family several years ago. At the time of his death, Nayyar was living as a paying guest in Thane with Rani Nakhwa and her family.
Best remembered for the rhythmic clip-clop of horse hooves in films such as Naya Daur, Nayyar effortlessly blended Punjabi folk tunes with the sensibility of contemporary Hindi movie music.
Nayyar’s celebrated compositions include ‘Ailo main haari’ (Aar Paar), ‘Kahin pe nigahen’ (CID), and ‘Aaiye meherban’ (Howrah Bridge).
Born Omkar Prasad Nayyar on January 16, 1926, in Lahore, Nayyar began his career as an assistant at the All India Radio in Jalandhar. He later moved to Bombay and received his first break in the film Kaneez (1949). Filmmaker and actor Guru Dutt’s Aar Paar (1954) represented Nayyar’s first major success, which led to a productive partnership with Dutt in films such as Mr and Mrs 55 and CID.
Nayyar faded from the music scene in the 1970s but made a comeback two decades later with the Vinod Khanna-Salman Khan-Karisma Kapoor-starrer Nishchaiy. Jai Bhavani in 2000 was his last film.
“He had a distinctive style, which was completely different from the popular music at any given time,” Lata Mangeshkar said. She never worked with Nayyar, who preferred collaborating with Geeta Dutt and Asha Bhosle. But Mangeshkar said she had cordial relations with him. “I never got the opportunity to work with him, but contrary to what people believe, we had never been in a quarrel,” she said. “We had the utmost respect for each other.”
O P Nayyar cremated
The veteran music composer was cremated at the civic crematorium in neighbouring Thane.
No prominent personality was present when Nayyar was cremated when Nakhwa family -- with whom Nayyar lived for the last thirteen years -- performed the last rites at around 10:30p.m.
His relatives too were not present as Nayyar was estranged from his family.
NCP president Sharad Pawar had paid a visit to Nayyar's residence earlier in the day.
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