When 'Mughal-e-Azam' was denied to this musician

He was an accomplished mandolinist, whose 15- minute composition was used in Bapu's ' Muthyala Muggu', a successful film which also won two National Awards. Yet, not many knew Sajjad Hussain (1917-1995), whose 103rd birth anniversary it is today.

In his long career, he received opportunities only to score music for 17 films as he was considered an abrasive, quarrelsome man who had a very defined method of music composition as a perfectionist.

His contemporaries like Anil Biswas and playback singers like Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammad Rafi and Manna Dey were absolutely respectful of his abilities but were uncomfortable with his attitude.

However, his comments on the stars and singers of that era and nicknaming them did not go down well with them. It is said because of his behaviour, stars like Dilip Kumar and legendary directors like K Asif refused to consider him. In fact, he was being considered to be the music director for ' Mughal-e-Azam' which ultimately went to Naushad.