#GoldenFrames: Mohammed Zahur Khayyam, a music composer who kept his tunes simple and instruments minimal

Music director Mohammed Zahur Khayyam was one of the last of the composers from the Golden Age of Hindi cinema. He continued giving music till 2016. Khayyam composed songs for over 50 movies. His music was light on the orchestration and imbued with romance and emotion. He had the special skill of tuning poetry into movie songs without losing the essence of the line. Always seen as the choice of refined producers, he composed many memorable songs that pleased listeners and critics alike.

In This Pic : Mohammed Zahur Khayyam

Khayyam was born on February 18, 1927, in Rahon, Punjab, to a Punjabi Muslim family. As a boy, Khayyam ran away to his uncle's house in New Delhi. There he was trained under classical vocalist and composer Pandit Amarnath.

In This Pic : Mohammed Zahur Khayyam

Khayyam went to Lahore to work in movies. He met Baba Chishti, a famous Punjabi music director. After listening to a composition by Chishti, Khayyam sang him the first part. Impressed, Chishti gave him the offer to join him as an assistant. He assisted Chishti for six months and came to Ludhiana in 1943. He was only seventeen then.

After a stint in the Army during the Second World War, Khayyam went to Mumbai to fulfil his dream and made his debut as Sharmaji of the Sharmaji-Varmaji composer duo with the movie 'Heer Ranjha' (1948).

Khayyam went solo after his co-composer Rehman Verma went to the newly created Pakistan post-partition.

In This Pic : Mohammed Zahur Khayyam