Mumbai: Legendary music composer Khayyam has expressed anguish on the trend of remixes in present day films and television.

"Where have all the morals gone," he asked during a press conference yesterday to launch a new serial 'Bikhri Aas Nikhri Preet' in which he has composed the music. The teleserial to be aired on Doordarshan's national network is directed by Lekh Tandon. "An excuse is given that an old classic song or movie is brought to life by remixing it. But I want to ask when had it died. It is being copied or remixed, only because it is alive and liked by people," he said.

Khayyam appealed to the young generation to show originality. "If you come out with good, original ideas, the oldies like us will have no hesitation in saluting you," he said.

The music composer said after hearing or watching the remixes, the original sounds and looks so good, he added.

Getting nostalgic, Khayyam said these days crores of rupees are spent on promoting music and still after sometime, the music is forgotten. "In my career of 60 years, I have composed music for only 55 movies. I have worked with all top filmmakers of my time and the music I scored for their films worked on its own strength and is remembered even today," he said.

In a lighter vein, Khayaam said: "Mein Bahut Mehengi cheez hoon (I charge a high price). After I got success, I realised my worth and even producers gave me my due."

He admitted that he was known as "choosy" and "moody" in his working days. "Due to this, I faced a lot of financial hardships," he recalled.

The music composer said he looked for good subjects, be it in films or television. "I have also composed music for the story. However, these days there is no story in films or television," he said.

When asked whether he preferred television or films, Khayyam, who has composed the music for serials like Neena Gupta's 'Dard' and Sanjay Khan's 'The Great Maratha' said, "The bigger screen is only in theatres while the small screen is in every household. Hence, television is bigger."

Noted filmmaker Lekh Tandon, who is donning the director's hat after a long time, expressed confidence that his new project would be liked by the audience. "A good story always sells," he felt.

He said the television series is based on the celebrated Hindi novel 'Vyavdhaan' penned by late Shantikumari Bajpai. The novel published in 1963 was a literary classic.