Hasrat Jaipuri was born as Iqbal Husain in a Muslim family of Rajasthan on April 15, 1922. Iqbal spent his entire childhood in the city of his birth, Jaipur, before shifting to Bombay where he received the best rewards for his talent of poem and song writing. Iqbal Husain was educated in only English language during the initial years of his schooling. It was later that Iqbal Husain received the title of Hasrat Jaipuri and also started his education in Urdu and Persian languages. Hasrat Jaipuri's grandfather Fida Husain was his chief tutor for both the languages. By this time, Hasrat Jaipuri was already a young man of 20. He not only learnt the two languages of Urdu and Persian, he also composed several verses in both languages. Many of his verses were composed for the love of his life Radha, a Hindu girl residing in Jaipur. The two fell in love when Hasrat Jaipuri had started writing his own poems in Urdu, Persian and also Hindi. "Yeh Mera Prem Patra Padh Kar, Ke Tum Naaraaz Na Hona" was one of the most famous lines found in his love letter to Radha. The line was immortalized almost twenty years later in a Hindi song filmed on the Bollywood heartthrob, Raj Kapoor in his film 'Sangam'. Hasrat Jaipuri was a die hard romantic who was of the opinion that love should not be categorized by religion and castes. Hasrat Jaipuri had famously said in an interview that he never expected his love to be reciprocated by Radha, and yet he loved her dearly.
Hasrat Jaipuri began his career by selling tickets in local buses of Bombay. After traveling from Jaipur and settling in Bombay in the year 1940 with his wife Radha, Hasrat Jaipuri took up occupation as a bus conductor, earning a paltry sum of Rs. 11 at the end of each month. However, he also made sure that enough time was given towards the practice of poetry. Hasrat Jaipuri was a regular face in some of the most famous mushairas (a place where Urdu poets used to gather to share with each other their individual compositions) of Bombay during the 1940s. Therefore, Hasrat Jaipuri was in regular touch with the first love of his life, poetry.
Word has it that it was in a mushaira that legendary Bollywood actor Prithviraj Kapoor took note of the poetry composed by Hasrat Jaipuri and took the first step towards introducing him to the world of Hindi films. When his son Raj Kapoor heard about Hasrat Jaipuri, he decided to give the poet a break in his forthcoming Bollywood production 'Barsaat'. The 1949 film had music by Shankar - Jaikishan and lyrics by Hasrat Jaipuri. He debuted by penning the lyrics of the song 'Jiya Beqaraar Hai' for 'Barsaat'. This was followed by the equally popular composition 'Chhod Gaye Baalam'. 'Barsaat' was only the beginning of the success story of Hasrat Jaipuri in Bollywood and the start of his blossoming association with actor Raj Kapoor.
From 1949 through 1971, almost every single Bollywood film starring Raj Kapoor in the lead credited either had Hasrat Jaipuri or Shailendra as the lyricist. The music in these films was also composed by Shankar - Jaikishen only. With the death of Jaikishen in 1971 also ended a glorious era of Bollywood songs. Hasrat Jaipuri did not find favor from Raj Kapoor anymore largely because of the fact that songs from films 'Mera Naam Joker' and 'Kal Aaj Aur Kal' failed to draw the attention of the audience. As a result of this, Raj Kapoor was inspired to sign new lyricists and music composers for his upcoming movies.
Bollywood lyrics and poems were not the only fields in which Hasrat Jaipuri flourished. The first part of his career with Bollywood saw the maestro in the role of screenplay writer for the movie 'Hulchul' in 1951.
In spite of his phenomenal rise in Bollywood, Hasrat Jaipuri never forgot his roots and remained the simple man that he was from the very first day in Bombay. Several credit his lifestyle to his very supportive wife Radha, who helped him to remain grounded in spite of fame and money coming his way. Even during times when Hasrat Jaipuri did not have work in his hands and therefore no money on him, he had enough savings in property, thanks to his wife, which could help him survive lavishly. According to reports, Hasrat Jaipuri considered himself a very ordinary man and therefore always traveled by train even if he could afford the airfare. Hasrat Jaipuri died on September 17, 1999.
