Nasir Husain created stars for more than 25 years

Arthur J Pais pays tribute to Nasir Husain, who died in Mumbai on Wednesday.

If you ask me what I ate at Lakruwana restaurant in New York last Friday, I wouldn't be able to recollect exactly. After all, my family and I had ordered four or five dishes.

But if you ask me what I heard at that Sri Lankan restaurant, I will gladly tell you. It took me about 10 minutes to place the songs, though. They were sung in Sinhala, but they were mostly from the films made in the 1960s --- by one filmmaker.

Five days later, I walk into the office in New York to hear that filmmaker is dead.

Assessing Nasir Husain's contribution to Indian films depends on what you make of Bollywood. If you hate the musical melodramas, you may damn Husain as the one of the most successful producers and directors of this genre

If you like them, you will agree that he made some of the better Bollywood films. His hits include Tumsa Nahin Dekha, Teesri Manzil, Caravan and Yaadon Ki Baaraat.

He also tried at his hand at a serious subject with mixed results. Baharon Ke Sapne, starring Rajesh Khanna and Asha Parkeh, was about unemployment and concomitant frustration. It was a midrange success in big cities.

Some of India's best-known names in the entertainment industry made their reputation in Husain's films: Shammi Kapoor, Vijay Anand, Rahul Dev Burman, Asha Parekh and nephew Aamir Khan owe a lot to this man known for his genial temperament.

It was no big surprise that Burman, who had composed music for smaller films like Chote Nawab and Bhoot Bangla, shot to the limelight in Husain's big-budget megahit, Teesri Manzil.

Husain, who had worked with composers O P Nayyar (Tumsa Nahin Dekha) and Shanker-Jaikishan (Jab Pyar Kisise Hota Hai), hadn't thought of Burman for the movie. After all Shanker-Jaikishan had composed several beautiful numbers

Shammi Kapoor, the leading man of Teesri Manzil (as well as Vijay Anand who directed the film), suggested to Husain that a younger composer like Burman could come up with a more refreshing score than an established one. Burman proved Kapoor right with half a dozen lively tunes. Burman and Husain worked together on such hits as Yaadon Ki Baaraat (in which Husain's seven-year-old nephew Aamir Khan made a fleeting appearance), and Hum Kisise Kum Nahin.

But in the 1980s as Husain's popularity began to wane, so did Burman's. Their creative juices ran out in such disasters as Manzil, Manzil.

When Husain got son Mansoor Khan to succeed him, he chose Anand Milind to compose the music for the breezy entertainer, Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak,, a film that launched Aamir Khan's career and gave Juhi Chawla, a new lease of life.

If you listen carefully to the music of QSQT, you cannot ignore the fact that it sounds very much like some of the tunes Burman composed for Husain.

Anand Milind became musical stars overnight following the wide success of QSQT. Once again, the Nasir Husain banner had created stars. Just the way it did for over 25 years.

Shammi Kapoor, for instance, was dying for a hit till Husain directed him in Tumsa Nahin Dekha. The 1950s also saw Asha Parekh starting her career in Dil Deke Dekho. The professional relationship between Asha Parekh and Nasir Husain evolved over a dozen films, most of them hits, including Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon.

Dil Deke Dekho also introduced Usha Khanna, one of the few women composers in India. Though her songs (many of them copies of English songs) in the film were huge hits and she went on to compose songs for over 100 films, she did not work with Husain again.

But like many others who worked with Husain in just one or two films, she praised him for giving her the best encouragement.

Nasir Husain was not in the habit of boasting about giving breaks to people. He once said while he loved to work with people he admires most (lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri, for one), he enjoyed seeing new talent blossom. Every time people saw a newer star or a newcomer in his film, he said many years ago, he expected people to react using the title of his early hit, Tumsa Nahin Dekha.

EARLIER REPORT:

Nasir Husain dead