Known for the magic of his romantic poetry, renowned Poet-turned-Lyricist Hasrat Jaipur was hailed as the Prince of Romance in the world of Hindi Cinema. Coming in the hallowed tradition of Poets turning Lyricists in Hindi Cinema, Hasrat brought literary flavour and touch to his lyrics in Hindi film songs, just as Sahir Ludhianvi and Shakeel Badayuni did. Hasrat Birth Centenary falls on April 15, 2022.
Romantic by nature, Hasrat Jaipuri churned out evergreen songs. His songs continue to cast a magical spell on the listeners, even to this day. Hasrat Jaipuri soon attained an iconic status as a Romantic Poet-Lyricist of his times.
Deeply poetic like Sahir, romantic like Shakeel Badayuni and prolific lyricist like Majrooh Sultanpuri, Hasrat Jaipuri will always be remembered as among the greatest icons of the Golden Era of Hindi Cinema.
Introduced to the world of Hindi Cinema by its Greatest Showman, Raj Kapoor, as part of the New Team launched by his banner, R K Films, in 1949, he occupied the pride of place through the 1960s and 1970s. Hasrat was among the two lyricists, Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri, besides the music directors duo, Shankar-Jaikishen, who were introduced by Raj Kapoor. This is the team that transformed the landscape of the Hindi Cinema.
Trailblazing Team
To Shankar-Jaikishen goes the credit of revolutionizing music in the Hindi Cinema. Blazing a new trail from their very first film, Barsaat, in 1949, Shankar-Jaikishen took the Hindi Cinema by storm. By the 1960s, they heralded the Golden Era of Hindi Cinema. Hasrat Jaipuri played a pivotal role in ushering in and in giving a defining character to this Golden Era of Hindi Cinema.
Born Iqbal Hussain on April 15, 1922, in the Pink City of Jaipur in Rajasthan, he studied in English medium up to the level of middle school. Later, he acquired Taleem in Urdu and Persian, which stood him in good stead, during his career as a Poet-Lyricist.
Hasrat is his taqallus and he added Jaipuri to his pen-name, as was the trend in those days. Sample this. Sahir Ludhianvi, Naqsh Lyallpuri, Assad Bhopali, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Aziz Kashmiri, and Shakeel Badayuni.
Leaving his home in 1940, he moved to Mumbai, in his quest to be a poet. An Inveterate romantic, for Hasrat, his source of inspiration were the beautiful faces he came across or found in the commonplace. Ba-qaul Daagh: Ke sambhala hosh to marne lage haseenon par, Hume to maut hi aayee, shabaab ke badle.
Romantic Strain
Writing poetry from the age of 20, Hasrat took part in the Mushairas in Mumbai. His Adabi Kalaam is equally popular, like his film lyrics. In the Mushairas, he recited romantic poetry that attracted great deal of attention.
Jigar mein dard laya hun
Nazar mein pyaar laya hun
Mohobat ke haseen daaman ka
Main bhi ek saayaa hun
Na jaane kya kashish hai
Aap ki bandanawazi mein
Ke main deewana ho kar
Aap ki mehfil mein aayaa hun
Main shaayaar-e-quba hun
Dil-o-jaan ki tarha hun
Duniya mein mohobat bhare
Armaan ki tarha hun
Allah rakhe apni mohobat
Yun hi qaayam
Main kal to chala jaaunga
Mehmaan ki tarha hun
Bus Conductor
To make a living, Hasrat took up the job of Bus Conductor in Mumbai, on a monthly salary of Rs 11. But his heart was in poetry. So, he would write poetry and recite his poems in Mushairas.
It was during one of his poetry recitations in a Mushaira in Mumbai that Hasrat Jaipuri was noticed by Prithviraj Kapoor. Then, Prithviraj went on to recommend Hasrat Jaipuri to his son, Raj Kapoor, who was making Barsaat and was hunting for new talent.
Raj Kapoor asked Hasrat to recite his poems and he recited Yeh mera prem patra padh kar, Ke tum naraaz no hona, Ke tum meri zindgi ho, Ke tum meri bandgi ho. Raj Kapoor liked this song so much that he asked Hasrat to set it aside. Raj Kapoor used this song much later in Sangam.
Story goes that Hasrat was in love with a Hindu girl, Radha. It was for her that he penned a letter, setting out his love for her. Now, it is not known whether or not that letter reached her, but it went on to become a big hit in Raj Kapoor film, Sangam, in 1964.
Raj Kapoor was readily impressed by Hasrat. Reason. His own film, Barsaat, was steeped in romanxe and he was looking for someone to do justice to his theme. Hasrat seemed cut out for the job and Raj Kapoor engaged him on a monthly salary of Rs 300. He was introduced to Shankar-Jaikishen, with whom he was to work. He was told of the condition that lyrics had to be written to set tunes and plot of a given situation. Soon, Hasrat mastered the art.
Going Against the Trend
Even if it meant going against the trend and the flavour of his times, Hasrat stuck to his romantic poetry, That was the time when he faced stiff competition from the Taraqqui-Pasand Tehreek, or the Progressive Writers Movement, who popularized Revolutionary Poetry.
May be, thanks to the likes of Hasrat Jaipuri, even the Revolutionary Poets-Lyricists turned to romance, like Sahir Ludhianvi, Majrooh Sultanpuri and Kaifi Azmi.
Hasrat churned out great romantic poetry, as he went along his career.
Ek husn-e-bayaani hai tumhaari aankhen
Alfaaz-o-maayini hai tumhaari aankhen
Main shauq se dildar kaha karta hun
Aayaat-e-Quraani hain tumhaari aankhen
Aankhen hain ke maikhaane ke
Darwaaze khule hain
Yeh hont gulaabi hain
Ke rangon se dhule hain
Har saans mein aati hai
Mehakti huvi khushboo
Sarkaar mere, kaun se
Phoolon mein tule hain.
Poetic Crescendo
This romantic streak attained perfection in his Hindi film songs. Hasrat delivered a string of golden hits of the Hindi Cinema. Starting from Barsaat in 1949, he came up with consistent hits in films like Aah, Aawara, Chori-Chori and Shree 420, besides Anaarkali, Naya Daur and Satta-Baazaar.
When fellow lyricist Shailendra made Phanishwarnath novel, Maare Gaye Ghulfaam, into a Hindi film, Teesri Khasam, in 1966, starring Raj Kapoor and Waheeda Rehman, Hasrat wrote the song, Duniya bananewale, kya tere man mein samaai, kahe ko duniya banaai, which is the centrepiece of the film.
Hasrat Jaipuri brought the rich flavour and fragrance of Urdu poetry into his film lyrics. His most memorable songs are in Ramanand Sagar’s Aarzoo. Those were the more respectable times when Urdu was the medium of the Composite Indian Culture. Hasrat was at his creative best. Aie phoolon ki raani, bahaaron ki mallika, tera muskurana ghazab ho gaya; Aie nargis-e-mastana, bas itni shikaayat, samjha hume begana, bas itni shikaayat hai; and Chhalken teri ankhon se sharaab aur ziyada, Khilte rahe hoton ke ghulaab aur ziyada.
Yet another song of his, steeped in romance, is: Ajee rooth kar ab kahaan jaaiye ga, jahaan jaaiye ga, Hume paaiye ga.
Hasrat’s greatest contribution is presenting a Qawwali, which set to Western music, in Aarzoo. It brought out the intrinsic value of Qawwali, besides making it attractive and introducing it to the new generation and the New Age. Jab ishq kaheen ho jata hai, aisi haalat hoti hai, mehfil mein jee ghabraataa hai, tanhai ki aadat hoti hai… Yeh ishq chhupaye chhup na saka, yeh ishq woh chalta jadu hai, Kuch hosh nahi rahte qaayam, Is ishq pe kis ka qaabu hai, Hai ishq mein pech-o-kham itne, Goya mahboob ka gesu hai, Har jaanib phailti jati hai, is ishq ki aisi khusboo hai, Chehre se ayaan ho jati hai, Kya chiz mohabbat hoti hai.
Geet Gaya Pattharon Ne
Hasrat reached poetic crescendo in Geet Gaya Pattharon Ne of V Shantaram. Credit goes to Hasrat for his highly poetic definition of sculpture as poetry in stone.
An apogee of his romantic poetry, reflecting the Composite Indian Culture, is the song in Geet Gaya Pattharon Ne, picturized on the redoubtable Rajshree: Tere khayalon mein hum, tere hi baahon mein hum, apne hain dono jahaan, ho jaayen bekhud yahaan. Yeh roshanee bhor kee, Palko mein tere hai chhupee, Jab aankh kholega tu, Usi mein honge hum hee, Hum hain kala ki zabaan, Aankhon mein tere rawaan. Mad-bharee chanchal yeh shaam, Deti hai tujh ko payaam, Patthar pe kar shayaree, Tuj ko humara salaam, Tu hai jahaan hum wahaan, Jhume zameen-aasman.
In the same film, Hasrat’s lyrics and Kishori Amonkar’s voice created the magic its title-song, Saanson ki taar par, dhadhkan ki taan par, dil ke pukaar ka Rang bhare pyaar ka, which was also picturized on Rajshree. Insaan ki chaahat bhari kalpana ne, Dil bhi hai, bhar di hai patthar mein woh naujawani, Ek, ek surat hai shakl-e-mohabbat, Aankhon ne di zindgani… Har ek patthar se barsegi ulfat, Saalon hi, sadiyon hi, Har dam rahenge yeh mil ke; In mein nahi hai insaan ka bhed-bhaav, Tukade hain yeh ek dil ke, Shanti ke raag par, Ekta ki taan par, Dil ke pukar ka, Rang bhare pyar ka, Geet Gaya Pattharon Ne.
Heralding Golden Era
Hasrat gave such soul-stirring songs in Junglee like Ehsaan tera hoga mujh par, dil chaahta hai woh kahne do, mujhe tumse mohobat ho gayi hai, ab palkon ki chhaon mein rehne do and Din sara ghusara tore angna, ab to jaane de more sajna, mere yaar shabba-qair.
Equally magical were his other songs like, Teri zulfon se judai to nahi maangi thi, qaid maangi thi, rihaai to nahi maangi thi in Jab Pyaar Kisi Se Hota Hai; Meri mohobat paak mohobat, aur jahaan ki khaakh mohobat in April Fool; Hum ne dekha hai tumhe, aisa ghumaan hota hai, aankh milti hai, to kyon dard jawaan hota hai in Jee Chaahta Hai; Tu kahan yeh bataa, is nashili raat mein in Tere Ghar Ke Saamne; Tu mere saamne hai, teri zulfein hain khuli in Suhagan; Bahaaron phool barsaao, mera mehboob aayaa hai in Suraj; Oh meri shaah-e-quba, oh meri jaan-e-janaana, tum mere paas hote, to koyee doosra nahi hota in Love In Tokyo; Aawaaz deke hume tum bulaao, mohobat mein itna na hum ko sataao in Professor; Tumhe aur kya dun main dil ke Siva, tumko humaari Umar lag jaai in Aayee Milan Ki Bela; and Pankh hote to ud aati re, rasiya-o-zaalima, tujhe dil ka daagh dikh laati re, in Sehra.
Among his evergreen songs are: Tera, mera pyaar Amar, phir kyon mujh ko lagta hai dar in Asli-Naqli; Yeh meri zindgi, ek paagal hawa, aaj idhar, kal udhar main kisi ki nahi and Raat ka sama, jhoome chandrama, in Ziddi; Neel Gagan ki chaaon mein, din-rain badalte rahte hain, in Aamrapali; and Rukh ja raat tehar ja re Chanda, beete na Milan ki Bela in Dil Ek Mandir. He wrote songs like Ajhun aaye, balma, saawan beeta jai in Saanjh Aur Savera and Jhanak-jhanak tore baaje paayaliya in Mere Huzoor.
In Aashiq, in 1962, Hasrat penned the greatest romantic song: Nashili raat hai, saare chiraag gul kar do, Khushi ki raat mein kya kaam hai jal ne vaalon ka, Lo aayi milan ki raat, suhaani raat, Naino se kisi ke nain mile, haathon mein kisi ka haath.
In Rishte-Naate in 1965, Hasrat Jaipuri penned a memorable song, Mujhe yaad karne waale, tere saath-saath hun main, jo kabhi na khatma hogi, wohi dil ki baat hun main.
Hasrat’s sister married Sardar Malik and their son, Anu Malik, is his nephew.
Ram Teri Ganga Maili
After the poor show at the box-office of Mera Naam Joker and Kal, Aaj Aur Kal, and the death of Jaikishen, Raj Kapoor finally looked out for new team. Lakshmikant-Pyarelal took over music direction in Bobby, and later, for his another block-buster, Ram Teri Ganga Maili, Raj Kapoor opted for Ravindra Jain. At that time, Hasrat approached Raj Kapoor to give him a chance to prove that he is still young at heart.
Raj Kapoor obliged. Raj Kapoor gave the tune and the opening line to Hasrat, Sun sahiba sun, pyaar ki dhun. Hasrat wrote the next line, Oh, maine tujhe chun liye, tu bhi mujhe chun. And he completed the song, which went on to become a runaway hit. This song was equally popular, at par with Ravindra Jain’s song, Ek Radha, ek Meera, dono ne Shyam ko chaha, Antar kya dono ki chaah mein bolo, ek prem diwani, ek daras diwani.
Hasrat worked for a long time, for well over five decades, when his end came on September 17, 1999.
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