Chhote Nawab (1961)

This is R. D. Burman's first film as a music director in his own right, and the way he got it is the best story in it. Mehmood went to S. D. Burman for the score. S. D. said he was not available. While they talked, Mehmood noticed the son sitting in the room playing tabla, and signed him instead. Mehmood plays the Chhote Nawab of the title, a rich young man left to himself after his father dies and taken in by a family friend in Calcutta. He grows up, more or less; he romances Roshan; then a racehorse and a cabaret dancer get hold of him. Ameeta is Roshan, Johnny Walker is the Captain and Helen is Miss Sophie. S. A. Akbar directed. Shailendra wrote the words. Ghar Aaja Ghir Aaye Badra Sanwariya, which Lata Mangeshkar sings, is the one that lasted - a mujra, picturised on Bela Bose, by a twenty-two-year-old who had never scored a film.