His tunes live on…

Manpriya Singh 

During times when each song has a shelf life of six months or worse, one wedding season, and every alternate Bollywood number is a remix, rehash or a cover, losing the legendary Khayyam is a setback in ways more than one. 

Mohammed Zahur Khayyam Hashmi , or just Khayyam, passed away at the age of 92, but not before leaving behind his memories, his music and an era when Bollywood was Indian film industry and music came riding on melody, not software. 

Countless compositions 

Indian music composer, Sufi singer, lyricist Madan Gopal Singh’s one of the regrets is that during his fellowship on Indian film music, he couldn’t have a session with Khayyam. Ae Dil-E-Nadaan from Razia Sultan is a rapturous song and also composed in the most interesting manner, applying the principle of syncopation — when you stop everything completely before resuming. Secondly, the instrument Santoor has never been used with the same kind of imagination, the way it’s been used in this song,” he says.

While it’s hard to select one favourite from among the countless compositions left behind by him, there’s another one, Who Subah Kabhi To Ayegi from the film Phir Subha Hogi that he finds appealing because, “it deals with inequality; it’s an anthem for people who are out to resist and protest.” 

Bestowed with Sangeet Natak Akademi, Filmfare Awards, National Award and a Padma Bhushan, Khayyam, despite being a Muslim, was married to Jagjit Kaur, also a singer at a time when even let alone India, even Bollywood wasn’t very open to inter-religious marriages. Adds Madan Gopal Singh, “His and Jagjit Kaur’s were one of the deeply loving and moving relationships. He decided to stay back even though his family moved during Partition. But what bothers him is the fact that the legend wasn’t as celebrated as he should have been when alive and especially when compared to the likes of SD Burman et al.

Indian Santoor maestro and music composer Abhay Rustum Sopori fondly recalls the little moments he spent with his, as he calls him, Uncle Khayyam, “Like an elderly loving person, he blessed me a lot. It’s a bit difficult to decide as to which could be a favourite amongst his scores of compositions, but still it’d be Sham-e-Gham Ki Kasam from the film Footpath.” 

End of an era

While the films Kabhie Kabhie, Umrao Jaan and Trishul find a more frequent mention among some of his best works, the fact is there are countless compositions standing testimony to his range as a music composer.  The very melodious Dikhayi Diye Yun from the film Bazaar would be renowned music composer Atul Sharma’s one pick from all of his compositions, if forced to choose one. “He made Asha Bhosle sing like she had never before and his music was never typecast, like most of his contemporaries. His compositions effortlessly evolved to withstand the test of time.” 

Deep down, like most of Khayyam’s ardent fans, there is a regret he harbours. “He was physically, mentally and emotionally most agile and despite that for the last 20 years he wasn’t offered work or at least not utilised to his potential. We often talk about bad music and the dead melody, but what do we do about it?” 

Songs to remember 

Bollywood playback singer Sukhwinder Singh feels Khayyam’s songs were deeply moving. “His songs have often left us teary eyed. One such song is Dikhai Diye Yun. It had such an emotional pact. Though we physically lost him, he will still be in my heart and his songs will always be remembered.” 

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Bollywood mourns

From those known to him to those who knew about him to even those who never met him, they all came together to pay respect during last rites and on social media. 

Lata Mangeshkar tweeted in Hindi: Legendary musician and a beautiful soul Khayyam Saab is no more. I can’t express in words how sad I am. An era of music ended with his demise. I pay my tribute to him. 

Amitabh Bachchan: A legend in music. A soft spoken amiable soul. One that contributed to several films and some of the more important ones of mine passes away. Khayyam sahib for all the memorable music he conducted and produced. Prayers condolences. 

A.R. Rahman: A True Patriot and a Master Songwriter...Mohammed Zahur Khayyam. 

Anil Kapoor: A humble man, great composer and a true artist. Khayyam Saab was, and will remain an inspiration. He will truly be missed.

Ayushmann Khurrana: RIP Khayyam saab. Hansal Mehta: An entire era was blessed with music from Madan Mohan, SD Burman, Naushad, Khayyam, RD Burman and Kalyanji Anandji aided by singers at their peak and some great poetry. What we have is mostly mediocrity and noise with only a few exceptions. Sound rules over melody and poetry.

Kailash Kher: Fondly known as Khayyam Saab composer of “Kabhi Kabhi Mere Dil Mein”, “In Ankho Ki Masti Ke”, “Dikhai Diye Yun” and many more epic songs. Thank you for leaving treasures of music behind. RIP.

Poonam Dhillon: Passing away of the legendary Khayyaam Saab who gave me the evergreen song “Noorie”, which is the name he always called me by till the end. Thank you Khayaam Saab for leaving the world a more melodious place.