Music directors of bygone era feel suffocated today: Khayyam

Khayyam, known for his sweet compositions, asks whether there can be any comparison to the music of films like Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje, Phir Subah Hogi, Pakeeza, Umrao Jaan and Razia Sultan.

People may seem to have been influenced with the crass music of today, he says, but there is no doubt that this phase will be over once good sense prevails.

Describing present music as`evil’, the ace music director said that he has decided not to be part of this `evil music empire’. Sadly, the lyricists have also compromised with the senseless vulgar demands of film makers or private album manufacturers and have stopped writing good, clean and meaningful songs. “My heart bleeds to see scantily clad youngsters gyrating madly to the beats of cacophonous music. No wonder music directors of the bygone era like Naushad and I feel suffocated,” he said.

Music of the bygone era was composed with love and devotion. They had melody, good poetic expressions and the singers were some of the greatest names in the Indian film world like Mohammad Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Mukesh, Lata Mangeshkar, Noorjahan, Asha Bhonsle and others. Referring to music being lifted, Khayyam said, “What can be more pathetic than the fact that Indian music directors have to steal tunes from the West, when Indian classical music has the depth of an ocean and the vastness of the sky.”

Blasting the trend of remixing which isnow in vogue, Khayyam said that some people are hell-bent on destroying even the beauty of old melodious songs. Khayyam, who wanted to be an actor, learnt classical music because everyone seemed to possess a good knowledge of music in those days. But he never made it as an actor. Yet today, he is one of the best music directors Bollywood has ever known. He has slowed down because he feels, “I have never made any compromises in my musical career. In the last 50 years as a music director, I have composed songs for just 52 songs after careful selection.”