When Khayyam composed for 'Phir Subah Hogi' and a gem named Johnny Walker!

The composer Khayyam is one of the few musical legends alive from the golden period of the Hindi film song. Although Khayyam’s 'Sham-e- gham ki kasam’, which was sung by Talat Mehmood for Footpath (1953) gained immense popularity, it was only with Phir Subah Hogi, that Khayyam’s genius was recognised and appreciated.

Khayyam had already composed music for a few films before he was offered Phir Subah Hogi, which was directed by Ramesh Saigal. The story goes that one day while he was at the producer-filmmaker Shaheed Lateef’s house, working on the music of the film Lala Rukh (1958), Khayyam happened to meet the lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi. Khayyam took the opportunity to introduce himself to Sahir, who by this time was an accomplished songwriter in films.

Khayyam told Sahir that he had read the latter’s anthology of poetry, Talkhiyaan, and had composed songs for each of the poems. Sahir couldn’t believe it. To back up his claim, Khayyam offered to play one of Sahir’s poems that he had turned into a song. The poem was Fankaar and Sahir was very impressed when he heard Khayyam’s composition.

He told Khayyam, “It appears that the poem too has been written by you.” This is how the two met and developed a mutual admiration for a each other. Some time after this meeting, the director Ramesh Saigal offered Sahir the opportunity to write the lyrics for Phir Subah Hogi, which was based on Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment. Since Raj Kapoor was the hero of the film it was natural that Shankar-Jaikishen would give the music, but Sahir made a suggestion to Saigal. He told Saigal that while there was no doubt that Shankar-Jaikishen were excellent composers, he wanted someone who had read and understood Crime and Punishment. When Saigal asked Sahir who did he have in mind, Sahir replied “Khayyam”.

This is how Khayyam sa’ab got the opportunity to compose the music for Phir Subah Hogi, the film that catapulted him into fame. Every song in the film was a polished gem. Following Pyaasa’s extraordinary musical soundtrack, Sahir one again brought to the fore his socialistic credentials with songs like ‘Woh subah kabhi toh aayegi’, ‘Cheen-o- Arab humaara’ and ‘Aasmaan pe hai Khuda aur zameen pe hum’. Khayyam built on Phir Subah Hogi’s success and in later years, cemented his reputation by composing memorable music for films such as Shola Aur Shabnam (1961), Shagoon (1964), Kabhi Kabhie (1976), Noorie (1979), Umrao Jaan (1981) and Razia Sultan (1983).

Another interesting anecdote relates to the comedian Johnny Walker. Walker, who went by the name Badruddin Qazi before he entered films, came from a very humble background. Among the many jobs that he did to makes ends meet, Walker worked as a bus conductor too. Walker was well known for his acting skills among his friends and admirers, particularly when he impersonated a ‘sharaabi’ or a drunken man. When his friend the producer-director S.M. Sagar took him to meet Guru Dutt, Walker put on his drunken act when he was called inside to meet the filmmaker. In the recent episode of The Golden Years: 1950-1975, Javed Akhtar said that, “When Dutt met the drunk, he was agitated… He wanted Walker to be taken away.” It was only later that Dutt came to realise that Walker was just acting and not really a drunkard.

This is how Walker came to work in films. Besides acting in Guru Dutt’s films such as Baazi (1951), Aar Paar (1954), Mr. & Mrs. ’55 (1955), C.I.D. (1956), Pyaasa (1957), and Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959), Walker also put in noteworthy appearances in Naya Daur (1957), Madhumati (1958), Shikar (1968), Aadmi Aur Insaan (1969) and Anand (1970). He was also one of the few comic actors who often had a film song picturised on him such as ‘Jaaney kahaan mera jigar gaya ji’ (Mr. & Mrs. ’55), ‘Aye dil hai mushkil’ (C.I.D), ‘Sar jo tera chakraaye’ (Pyaasa) or ‘Main Bambai ka babu’ (Naya Daur).

In Madhumati, which was directed by Bimal Roy, Johnny Walker acted in the film alongside Dilip Kumar and Vyjayantimala. The film had the very popular song, ‘Jungle mein mor naacha kisi ne na dekha’, which was picturised on Walker when he is drunk. But for a man who was known for and gained quite a reputation for his drunken impersonations, Javed Akhtar revealed a fascinating truth about the comedian. “The interesting thing is that Johnny Walker never drank a sip of liquor in his entire life,” said Akhtar. “He was a teetotaller. He never went anywhere near liquor in his life.”
 

Watch the next episode of The Golden Years: 1950-1975, A Musical Journey with Javed Akhtar on Sunday at 8 p.m. on Zee Classic!