Mohammed Zahur Khayyam
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Mohammed Zahur Khayyam (better known as Khayyam) is an Indian music composer whose career spanned four decades (1953–1990).
[edit] Overview
Khayyam was born in undivided Punjab in Rahon, a village near Jalandhar. As a boy Khayyam ran away to Delhi to learn music but a was forced to return to complete his education. Khayyam then went to Lahore to learn music from the famous Chisti Baba.
After a stint in the Army in the Second World War, Khayyam went to Bombay to fulfil his dream. One of his earliest breaks was in the film Biwi in which the song “Akele mein wo ghabrate to Honge” sung by Mohammed Rafi was a huge hit. But he gained greater recognition from the film Phir Subha Hogi starring Raj Kapoor and Mala Sinha, in which songs written by Sahir Ludhyanvi and sung by Mukesh and Asha Bhonsle were set to tune by Khayyam, notable amongst them “Wo Subha Kabhi to Aayegi”, “Aasman Pe hai Khauda aur Zameen pe Hum” and “Chin-o-Arab Humara”.
The film Shola aur Sahabnam established Khayyam’s reputation as a great composer. The songs written by Kaifi Azmi are some of the greats of the Hindi Film Industry. From Shola aur Shabnam “Jeet Hi lenge Baazi Hum tum” sung by Lata and Rafi and “Jaane kya dhhonti rehti hein ye aanken mujhmen” sung by Rafi, from the Chetan Anand directed Aakhri Khat “Baharon mera jeevan bhi Sawaron” by Lata and “Aur kuch der theher,a ur kuch der na ja” by Rafi. Also, noticeable are songs from the film Shagun which had Khayyam’s wife Jagjit Kaur sing “Tum apna ranj-o-gham” and “Tum chali Jaogi”. From the film Lalarokh “Hai Kali Kali ke lab par” sung by Rafi and from Footpath “Shyam-e-Gham ki Kasam” sung by Talat Mehmood. From Mohhabat Isko Kehte hein "Theheriye hosh mein aa lun to chaley jaiyega" by Rafi and Suman Kalyanpur.
The 70’s saw Khayyam team up with Sahir Ludhyanvi once again to work in the Yash Chopra-directed “Kabhi Kabhi”. The songs were super hits and showed Khayyam’s versatility with huge hits like “Kabhi Kabhi mere dil mein Khayal ata hai”, “Tere chehre se nazar Nahin hatti” and “Mein Pal do pal ka Sahayar Hun”. The film Shankar Hussain had Rafi sing "Kahin ek Masum Nazuk si Lardki" and Lata render "Aaap yun Faaslon Se", both classic Khayyam songs.
Khayyam’s gave memorable music to the late 70’s and early 80’s was from Trishul, Thodi Si Bewafaai, Bazaar and Noorie. Again pairing with Sahir in Trishul he produced great songs like “Mohabbat bare kaam ki cheez hai” and “Janeman tum kamal karti ho” and the light “Gapuchi Gapuchi gam gam”. “Hazar rahen” from Thordi si Bewafai and “Aaja re o mere dilbar Aaja” from Noorie and “Dikahyi Diye” from Bazaar are some noticeable songs. Khayyam also created music for the Kamal Amrohi directed “Razia Sultan” and his “Aye dil-e-nadan” sung by Lata capturing the mood beautifully.
Khayyam was still to deliver his best and the opportunity came in Muzaffar Ali’s Umrao Jaan in 1981. He made Asha Bhonsle sing songs which are indisputably her best. “In Aankhon ki masti ke”, “Ye Kya Jagah hai doston” and “Dil Cheez kya hai” are evergreen.
Khayyam also composed non film songs noticeably "Paaon padun tore Shyam, Brij mein laut chalo" and "Ghazab kiya tere Vaade pe Aitbaar kiya".
Khayyam has always preferred to work with the poets having strong background of poetry side lining the regular film lyricists. That is the reason one finds poetry playing an equal role in Khayyam's compositions as the music or the singer. Khayyam prefers to give full freedom to the poets to express their views thereby making the expression of the songs more poetic and more meaningful.
He has worked with both the contemporary and the legends in the field of poetry. Thats the reason one finds in his account the work profiled by Mirza ghallib , Daagh,Wali saheb, Ali Sardar Jafri, Majrooh sultanpuri, sahir, and among the new ones Naqsh lyalpuri, nida Fazli & Ahmed Wasi to name a few.
