When Aditya Chopra debuted with Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, he said that the film was inspired by three filmmakers – Manoj Kumar’s depiction of patriotism, Raj Kapoor’s passion and Nasir Hussain’s depiction of the protagonist who always goes on a journey.

Interesting anecdotes like this marked the Teesri Manzil panel which celebrated the classic produced by Nasir Hussain.

Present for the session was the film’s leading lady Asha Parekh. The audience were then joined by Nasir Hussain’s family – son Mansoor Khan, daughter Nuzhat Khan and nephew Aamir Khan to launch Akshay Manwani’s book Music, Masti, Modernity – The Cinema of Nasir Hussain. Here are excerpts from the enriching evening.

Akshay Manwani

I have watched Nasir sahab’s films on loop. He was the man who gave us spectacular hits for two decades. His is a legacy that should definitely be celebrated.

Aamir Khan

I used to assist Nasir sahab but never told him or my family that I wanted to be an actor. One day, we met a man and Nasir sahab introduced me to him as, “Meet him, he is Aamir Khan. The star of my next film.” It’s then that I got to know that he planned to launch me with Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak.

His films were like a picnic – modern, breezy with a lot of music, dance and good looking people. Also they had very western sensibilities as they depicted female protagonists drinking, going to clubs etc., which was not a norm during that time.

Mansoor Khan

I remember Pancham uncle sweating when he came to ‘sell his music’ to the client Nasir Hussain. He had an intuition about good tunes. I was personally very interested in the music and reading sessions that he had at home. I was the bad AD while Aamir was a good AD, like the good son in Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander