Biddu's productions forced Indian movie composers to up their game, bringing in more talent, quite a lot of which happens to be Pakistani. —Photo credit: The Post Script Team/Creative Commons

People always talk about unsung heroes, referring to some individuals who had a helping hand in something much larger. Rarely does it apply to someone who single-handedly revolutionised an industry.

Have you seen the movie Payback? One of its dialogues went something like this: “If you keep going high enough, it comes down to one guy”. Today, we will discuss that one “guy” who helped shape this region’s music and there is not nearly enough acknowledgement of his accomplishments, at least not in Pakistan.

Biddu, an Indian-born, England-based music producer had a career spanning five decades. His most recognisable production was Kung Fu Fighting (1974) and he enjoyed a career chock-full of hit upon hit in the ‘Disco’ era.

In the late 1970s, Disco was on the decline in the West on the rise in Asia, particularly in India. It was at this time that Indian filmmaker and actor Feroz Khan ran into Biddu in England in 1979. There, he asked Biddu to consider composing a track for his movie Qurbani. Although Biddu initially turned him down, he eventually accepted the offer.

Also read: Patari: This new Pakistani music site could be a game changer

Feroz Khan soon after ran into a 15-year old Nazia Hassan at a party in London, which brought Nazia Hassan and Biddu together (this part is important) and soon, Aap Jaisa Koi came into being. For the traditional music of Indian films of the time, the sounds in this track and the voice of Nazia Hassan were quite unique.

The song and everyone involved in its making became overnight sensations.

Being a smart businessman, Biddu signed Nazia Hassan and her brother Zohaib, to produce an Urdu album. By his own admission, he modeled them after the popular American brother-sister duo, 'The Carpenters'.

This collaboration brought us the album Disco Deewane (1981). The sales records for the album were phenomenal and 100,000 records were sold in a day. Not only was it a hit in Pakistan, it did well in India too, which was huge for a non-soundtrack album in the region. It even topped the charts as far and wide as Brazil.