Punctuality was one thing that OP was very fussy about. He stormed off ameeting with Dev Anand after waiting for him for five minutes. "Needless to say, he never used my music in his films!"OP would laugh. But it was the same fussiness about time that made him stopworking with Mohammed Rafi because he was late for a recording for a song from Saawan KiGhata.. Rafi explained that he had got delayed in a Shankar-Jaikishanrecording. OP concluded, "I gather, you have time for Shankar-Jaikishan and not forOP Nayyar. Now onwards, OP Nayyar will not have time for Rafi", cancelled the recording in front of shell shocked musicians and told the accountant to charge the expenses for the cancelled session tohis account. OP would often recount the story about how after three years, Rafi came tohis house, " crying like a baby" but had the grace andlarge-heartedness to admit: "I also broke down. Both of us touched each other's feet. I said,'Rafi, by coming here today you proved that you are much greater than OP. You could overcome your ego. I couldnot!'"
There was hardly any big-wig who was not a victim of OP's blunt, no-nonsenseways. Raj Kapoor never worked with him after OP told him that his songs, if sungby Mukesh and not Rafi as wanted by him, would "sound shit." He wasinitially very close to Dilip Kumar who used to call him ‘Johnny'. Butthe ever-sensitive OP got upset at the screening of Naya Daur when Dilip needledhim who told him that the songs were very good but the background score was"pretty weak" At the celebration party later, Dilip asked him, "Johny, did you see how well I have danced on your songs?"Pat came the reply: "OP Nayyar's music makes even a third rate actor dance. It has such energy!"