Bollywood Movies Lyricist Hasrat Jaipuri

Hasrat Jaipuri's real name was Iqbal Husain. Till 1939, he lived in hometown Jaipur where he studied English till 'secondary level' and then acquired his Urdu and Persian ‘taalim’ from his learned grandfather, Fida Husain. He began writing verse as late as the age of 20, and around that time, he fell in love with a neighborhood girl called Radha. He used to write poems for her but was not able to gather enough courage to express his love. But in his later life he didnt regret about those letters and poems being delivered. Raj Kapoor delivered it to the entire world as the perennial mantra for lovers of all generations through 'Yeh mera prem patra padhkar' in his film, 'Sangam' (1964).

Hasrat Jaipuri's First-Break

In Mumbai, Hasrat Jaipuri took the secure job of a bus conductor at a monthly salary of Rs. 11. But he never failed to satiated his creative urges by participating in mushairas. The late Prithviraj Kapoor heard his verse and recommended him to his son Raj Kapoor. During those says Raj Kapoor was looking for a lyricist and he happened to read some verses of Hasrat in a newspaper. Impressed with his penchant for romance, Raj who worked with Prithvi theatre then called him. But for several days, Hasrat couldn’t meet him and Kapoor would keep calling him. But when they finally met at the canteen of the Royal Opera House where Prithviraj Kapoor used to stage his plays, Raj Kapoor straightaway hired him for his first film Barsaat. Hasrat’s first song ‘Jiya bekaraar hai’ turned out to be a big hit. His second song, ‘Zindagi mein hardam rota hi raha’ rendered by Mohammed Rafi also was a hit and that made him a name to reckon with in film circles.

Association with Raj Kapoor

His association with Raj Kapoor and RK Studios continued till 1971. After Jaikishan's death and the failures of Mera Naam Joker and Kal Aaj Aur Kal, Raj Kapoor decided to change his music team. He made a team with Laxmikant Pyarelal and Hasrat Jaipuri. But somehow he called back Hasrat Jaipuri for Prem Rog. That did not work out because someone recommended Amir Qazalbash to Raj Kapoor. Later he did 'Sun sahiba sun' for the movie 'Ram teri Ganga Maili', and three songs for 'Heena'.

Title Song Writer

Every lyricist of that genre, be it Hasrat, Shakeel, Shailendra or Raja Mehdi Ali Khan had their distinct styles. No one could overshadow anybody or write inferior stuff. Like for instance, Hasrat loved writing title songs, i.e. songs based on film titles. Writing a title song in those days was a difficult task, one had to keep the entire theme of the film in mind. And it’s a record of sorts for Hasrat to have penned nine title songs in a row. Some of them like ‘Deewana mujko log kahen’ (Deewana (old)), ‘Dil Ek Mandir’ (Dil Ek Mandir), ‘Raat aur din diya jale’ (Raat Aur Din), ‘Tere ghar ke saamne’ (Tere Ghar Ke Saamne) and ‘An evening in Paris’ (An Evening in Paris).

Hasrat Jaipuri was really lucky to have married a woman who advised him to invest his earnings in property. He owned a property near JVPD Scheme and earned enough to lead a comfortable life when there is no work. He never went behind the mujic directors, producers for work. Hasrat Jaipuri is very proud of his children - two sons and a daughter - but the art of poetry is God-gifted and cannot be learnt, and they dont seem to have been gifted with it.

One cannot but accept that the maestro was right. As he wrote once,

"Tum mujhe yuh bhula na paoge
haan tum mujhe yuh bhula na paoge
Jab kabhi bhi sunoge geet mere
Sanng sanng tum bhi gungunaoge"