Khayyam with his wife, Jagjit Kaur on the occasion of his 90th birthday. The legend, who has no heir, announced the formation of a charity trust called Khayyam Jagjit Kaur KPG Charitable Trust and donated his wealth pegged at R10 crore to his trust to help needy artistes and film technicians. Pic/Nimesh Dave
MID-DAY (February 19, 2016)

Khayyam turned 90 yesterday and to mark this milestone birthday, advocate Shabina Shaikh, who heads Falisha Entertainment, has planned a grand celebration next week to salute the genius. The musical evening is scheduled to be held on February 26 at the Shanmukhananda Hall where Bhupinder, Talat Aziz, Shailaja and Bela Sulakhe will render Khayyam saab’s compositions in his presence, which promise to hold the audience in a thrall.

The programme, which will be directed by Sanjayji, will have veteran choreographer Saroj Khan as the guest of honour while singer-turned-politician (Minister of State for Urban Development, and for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation) will make a special appearance.

Khayyam saab, born as Mohd Zahur Khayyam Hashmi, started out as a music director with Biwi (1948). The magic of his music was felt over the years with actresses being identified as their character names - Poonam Dhillon as Noori, Hema Malini as Razia Sultan and Rekha as Umrao Jaan. Among some of his memorable work is Nanhe Munne Bachche Teri Mutthi Mein Kya Hai from Footpath (1957).