I notice an uncanny resemblance in the manner in which composers O.P Nayyar and Nadeem-Shravan fared in bollywood. Both were remarkably successful and both had a typically unique style evident from the opening bars of their songs. While you may struggle in telling a composition of Shankar-Jaikishan from that of Laxmi-Pyare, it would never be difficult to recognize the rhythemic touch of Nayyar or the vervy touch of Nadeem-Shravan from the very first sound.

Another similarity, albeit an undesirable one, was their notoriety for temperamental streaks-while the former banned Mohd Rafi for full 3 years for turning up late for his recording, the latter thoroughly harrassed their producers in their bid to ensure that their photographs would figured on the cover jackets of the audio as well as on the hoardings of the film.

Yet another similarity for their success in an alternate profession. While Nadeem clicked as a fashion designer, OP Nayyar had a decent client base while practicing homeopathy.

But then, there was a major, major factor common to Nayyar and NS: neitherused Lata Mangeshkar’s voice to carve a niche for themselves. While Nayyar absolutely never worked with Lataji, NS used her at the fag end of their careers for Akshay-Kareena starrer Bewafaa!