Nasir Hussain And His Terrific Songs On His Death Anniversary

Oh Mere Sona Re Sona, Oh Haseena Zulfon Wali, Chunri Sambhaal Gori, Tum Bin Jaaon Kahan, Ni Sultana Re Pyar Ka Mausam Aaya, Piya Tu Abb Toh Aaja, Dilbar Dil Se Pyare, Chura Liye Hai Tumne, Kya Hua Tera Vada… The music of producer-director Nasir Hussain’s cinema as composed by Rahul Dev Burman is a testimony to the timeless tuning of the two.

The Nasir Hussain-Burman collaboration started with Teesri Manzil in 1966. Shankar-Jaikishan was to compose the music. Nasir Saab told Shammi, ‘Ek naya ladka hai. Burman Dada( S D Burman) ka beta. Zara sun toh lo(listen to his songs).’

Shammi reluctantly agreed. When he heard RD’s flavourful tunes Shammi fell for the hookline and ‘singer’.

Asha Parekh, who starred in Teesri Manzil recalled in a throwback interview the craze for the songs. “I think the songs played a big hand in the success of the films. It was a musical in the true sense. Pancham’s Oh Mere Son Re, Oh Haseena Zulfon Wali, and Aaja Aaja Main Hoon Pyar Tera introduced a new youthful sound to our cinema. After Teesri Manzil, Nasir Saab wouldn’t hear of any other music director. We worked together in Baharon Ke Sapne which had lovely songs like Aaja Piya The Pyar Doon, Kya Janoon Sajan, and the all-time hit Chunri Sambhal Gori, and Pyar Ka Mausam which too had beautiful songs by Pancham like Tum Bin Jaaon Kahan and Na Jao Mere Humdam. Not many know this but Pancham played a comic role in Pyar Ka Mausam. Then there was Caravan, an all-time musical blockbuster. Do you know Pancham (Rahul Dev Burman) also played a role in Pyar Ka Mausam? It was a comic scene with the composer and therefore doubly tough. Doing comic scenes has always been hard for me, much tougher than the rona-dhona scenes. It was a comic sequence featuring me, Rajendranath and Pancham-da. ”

While speaking in a past interview with Nasir Saab’s super-gifted filmmaker-son Mansoor Ali Khan on his father’s acumen for music , Mansoor said, “I must say that though I appreciated my father’s vision and learnt a lot from him, my vision of cinema was very different. Although if you see my first film Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (QSQT) and the second Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar there were elements of his influence in both. QSQT was his story and it had that classic boy-meets-girl theme that ran through all his films. I have inherited his sense of music. I am a bit of a formal musician: I understand musical notations, etc. My father was an instinctive musician. My father did advice me to work with Rahul Dev Burman. And I even met him. But I felt he was too senior for us to work together20as colleagues. I did have a music sitting with RD for my first film Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak. But it didn’t work out.