Hasrat Jaipuri who passed away 17 September 1999, was one of the most underrated poet-lyricists of Hindi cinema. Many of the most iconic films songs that were penned by him are not known to the public as his handiwork. For this, Hasrat Jaipuri (named after the city of his origin) is partially to blame.
“He didn’t know how to market his great talent. Not too many people know that Hasrat Saab was a great favourite of Raj Kapoor Saab. He wrote some of the biggest hits of R K Films which I was lucky enough to sing,” Lataji said to me once.
The Nightingale’s imperishable collaboration with Hasrat Jaipuri includes the iconic ‘Yeh mera prem patra padh kar’. So okay. We all know that the great Mohd Rafi sang this eternal love song filmed in Raj Kapoor’s Sangam on Rajendra Kumar. But what most music lovers don’t know is that Lataji also sang ‘Yeh mera prem patra’. Her portion comes at the end of the song. It is in the film, but not in the audio recordings.
Apparently Hasrat Jaipuri (HJ) insisted on Lataji accompanying Rafi for his single-most popular lyric . This prem patra was written by HJ for a girl named Radha that the poet fell in love with in his hometown when he was young. He never sent the letter to her. But it surfaced in Sangam. It was no coincidence that Vyjanthimala’s name was Radha in Sangam. HJ started his career as a lyricist in Raj Kapoor’s Barsaat in 1949 where Lataji sang HJ’s ‘Jiya beaqraar hai chhayee bahaar hai’. It was a turning point in Lataji’s initial career.
“Yeh gaana itni chali ki log pagal ho gaye (this song was a craze). Meri kamyaabi mein iss gaane aur Hasrat Saab ka bahot sahyog raha hai(this song and Hasrat Jaipuri have been a big help in my career),” said Lataji.
Hasrat’s hallmark was simplicity of expression. Although an Urdu poet, he didn’t use ornate Urdu words in his lyrics. His words were direct lucid and accessible: Sun sahiba pyar ki dhun/Maine tujhe chun liye tu bhi mujhe chun….
This blockbuster song from Raj Kapoor’s Ram Teri Ganga Maili has a history. Its composition is credited in the film to Ravindra Jain but was apparently composed by Hasrat Jaipuri, who also wrote the charming words. According to an eminent musicologist, Hasrat Jaipuri had given the tune to his long-term collabarotor Raj Kapoor years before for another film. RK passed it on to Ravindra Jain for Ram Teri Ganga Maili.
Lataji remembered her collaboration with HJ with much fondness. “Some of my most favourite songs were penned by Hasrat Saab. ‘Ehsaan tera hoga mujhpar’ in Junglee is very close to my heart. ‘Aji rooth kar abb kahan jaiyega’ in Arzoo is among my most popular numbers. ‘Tum mujhe yun bhula na paoge’ from Pagla Kahin Ka is another favourite. All these three immortal songs were sung by both Rafi Saab and I in separate versions. It is to Hasrat Saab’s credit that he could write about love from both the male and female point of view with equal grace and eloquence.”
In 1971 Hasrat Jaipuri wrote what came to be the signature tune of his life and career. The film was Ramesh Sippy’s Andaz. The director needed a song about the ephemerality of life and the certainty of death to be sung by the reigning superstar of that era Rajesh Khanna. The song that Hasrat Jaipuri came up with was ‘Zindagi ek safar hai suhana yahan kal kya ho kisne jana’.
It is the defining song of Rajesh Khanna’s career. The song won Hasrat Jaipuri the Filmfare award for best lyricist. A rare instance of a popular award given to a lyricist who wrote some of the most popular songs of Hindi cinema.
