A. Nayyar

Arthur Nayyar
Background information
Born	14 April 1955[1] Sahiwal District, Pakistan
Died	11 November 2016(2016-11-11) (aged 61) Lahore, Pakistan
Genres	playback singing, ghazal
Occupation(s)	Singer
Instruments	Vocalist
Years active	1974–2016

A. Nayyar (14 April 1955 – 11 November 2016) was a Pakistani playback singer. He started his career in 1974 with a duet song. Nayyar always claimed famous singer Ahmed Rushdi^[2] as an important contributor to his career as he learned screen playback from Rushdi.^[3] Nayyar and Akhlaq Ahmed remained dominant playback singers of the Pakistani film industry in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s.^[4]

Early life

Nayyar was born in Ransonabad, a small village in the Sahiwal District to a Christian family.^[5] His childhood spent in Arifwala and later shifted to Lahore. He completed his matriculation from St Francis School and later got admission to the then Forman Christian College. He graduated with a B.Ed degree from the Government Central Training College in 1975.

Career

Nayyar’s first appearance on TV was on the show Naye Fankar in 1974 after which he began his playback journey.^[5] His first film song Yunhin din cut jayen, yuhin shaam dhal jaye was a duet with Rubina Badar, composed by A. Hameed, had an instant hit from the Urdu feature film Bahisht (1974). Other songs added in his popularity were ‘Pyar to ik din hona tha’, a duet with Naheed Akhtar from the film Kharidar; ‘Sathi mujhay mil gaya’, a song from Jasoos; ‘Milay do sathi khili do kaliyan’ from Amber; and ‘Ik baat kahoon dildara’ from Khuda Aur Mohabbat.^[5]

Nayyar also ran a music academy in Lahore.^[6]

Nayyar won five Nigar Awards for playback singing.^[4] His first Nigar Award for best singer in director Hasan Askari’s film “Aag” in 1979, Nigar Award for best singer in director Sangeeta’s film “Jeenay naheen doon gee” in 1985, Nigar Award for best singer in director Pervez Malik’s film “Ghareboan ka badshah” in 1988 and Nigar Award for best singer in director Sangeeta’s film “Taqat ka tufaan” in 1989.^[7]

Death

Nayyar was a heart patient for the last few years. His 27 years old son's death was the main reason behind his deteriorating health. Moreover, he was in financial crisis as film industry had totally forgotten him. On the night of 11 November 2016 around 8:30pm, Nayyar died at his residence in Lahore of a cardiac arrest after a prolong illness.^[8]

See also

• List of Pakistani film singers
• List of Pakistani ghazal singers

References

External links

• A. Nayyar at the Internet Movie Database