{"id":7042,"date":"2023-04-15T08:29:45","date_gmt":"2023-04-15T02:59:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/?p=7042"},"modified":"2023-04-27T22:01:26","modified_gmt":"2023-04-27T16:31:26","slug":"hasrat-jaipuri-the-eternal-romantic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/hasrat-jaipuri-the-eternal-romantic\/","title":{"rendered":"Hasrat Jaipuri \u2013 The Eternal Romantic"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Hasrat

Hasrat Jaipuri (Pic courtesy: Facebook)<\/p><\/div>\n

A \u2018song\u2019, by its very nature, comprises music, melody and words. It is meant to be sung. It is when these four components meld into a harmonious whole that we get a classic. Yet, lyricists typically receive the short end of the stick when credit is apportioned. Much like an actor becomes the \u2018face of the film\u2019, a song is typically remembered due to its singer; if you are a musician yourself, or interested in music, by the composer who composed the melody. Real music aficionados might go a step further and pay attention to the arrangers who flesh out a tune. Left out in this game of musical chairs, is the lyricist, whose words are responsible for the song’s resonance in our minds and hearts.<\/p>\n

Being a lyricist is different from being a poet. All lyricists are poets; all poets cannot be lyricists. To write to a given metre is not an easy task. To express an emotion specific to a given context is even more difficult. Kaifi Azmi once described writing songs for films as \u201cdigging a grave and finding a corpse to fit in it\u201d1<\/sup>.\u00a0Our great lyricists were past masters at the task; among them was a man whose romantic nature inspired him to distil the essence of love into vivid word pictures.<\/p>\n

Born Iqbal Hussain in 1922 in Jaipur, Rajasthan, \u2018Hasrat Jaipuri\u2019 was his \u2018takhallus<\/em>\u2019 or nom-de-plume as a poet. Young Iqbal got his grounding in Urdu and Persian from his paternal grandfather, Fida Hussain. When he first came to Bombay, he worked as a bus conductor. Poetry may feed his soul, but one had to live.<\/p>\n

Eight long years went by, traversing myriad bus routes in the city of dreams. To slake his creativity, he began to attend local mushairas.<\/em> At one such mushaira,<\/em> his poem titled Mazdoor ki laash<\/em> impressed a member of the audience \u2014 theatre and film doyen Prithviraj Kapoor. So much so, Papaji (as he was universally known) introduced the young poet to his eldest son, who promptly signed him as the lyricist for Barsaat<\/em>. Hasrat\u2019s introduction to Raj Kapoor was the beginning of a beautiful friendship and a long-lasting professional relationship.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, another young poet had also made his way to the fledgling RK banner: Shailendra, whom Raj Kapoor had earlier met at another mushaira<\/em>. At the time, Kapoor, who was directing his debut film Aag,<\/em> had been so impressed with Shailendra\u2019s poem, Jalta hai Punjab <\/em>that he had offered to buy it to use in his film. Shailendra had refused then, saying his poetry was not for sale. But two years later, circumstances forced Shailendra to do just that. Kapoor, who was then filming Barsaat, <\/em>had already hired two new music directors \u2013 Shankar and Jaikishan. Now he had two debutant lyricists on board as well.<\/p>\n

Together, the foursome formed Raj Kapoor\u2019 \u2018Dream Team\u2019.<\/p>\n

\"SJ,

Hasrat Jaipuri, Jaikishan, Raj Kapoor, Shankar and Shailendra<\/p><\/div>\n

Hasrat Jaipuri\u2019s very first lyrics for films were for\u00a0Jiya beqarar hai<\/em><\/a> (Barsaat<\/em>), scored by Shankar. [This, incidentally, was the melody that caused the falling out between Kapoor and Ram Ganguly, his music director for Aag<\/em>.] Then, he wrote Chhod gaye baalam<\/a><\/em> for Jaikishan, for the same film. [Hasrat would write six of Barsaat\u2019s <\/em>10 songs.] The Dream Team were now falling into a pattern \u2013 Hasrat worked mostly with Jaikishan, while Shailendra formed a partnership with Shankar, though this was by no means an exclusive arrangement.<\/p>\n

Hasrat was a self-confessed, unabashed romantic. In fact, it was love that inspired him to write poetry. In an interview with Lehren TV<\/em>2<\/sup> many years ago, he quoted that first attempt at verse:<\/p>\n

Tu jharoke se jo jhaanke to main itna poochuun<\/em>
\nMere mehboob, tujhe pyaar karuun ya na karuun<\/em><\/p>\n

It was that neighbour \u2013 Radha \u2013 that he wrote Ye mera prem padhkar<\/em><\/a> (Sangam<\/em>) to \u2014 his first love letter, he says. That poetic confession would later be sung to another \u2018Radha\u2019 \u2014 Vyjayanthimala in Sangam. <\/em>\u00a0Similarly, Dil ke jharoke mein tujh ko bithaa kar<\/em><\/a> (Brahmachari<\/em>) had its origins in the last letter he wrote to his Radha, as she married someone else. In that same interview, Hasrat jovially confessed that as a bus conductor, he had often allowed beautiful girls to travel free on his routes, because their beauty inspired him.<\/p>\n

This romantic streak was evident in his lyrics as well \u2014 his masterful pen traversed the myriad exquisite shades of romance: love, longing, heartbreak and everything else in between. Think of the pathos of Tum mujhe yun bhula na paaoge<\/em><\/a> (Pagla Kahin Ka<\/em>) or the coquetry inherent in Ye kya kar daala tune dil tera ho gaya<\/em> (Howrah Bridge<\/em>). Soak in the sheer romance of first love in Meri aankhon mein bas gaya koi re<\/em><\/a> (Barsaat<\/em>) and shed a tear for the searing anguish of a broken heart in Rasik balma<\/em><\/a> (Chori Chori<\/em>).<\/p>\n

\"Geeta

Hasrat Jaipuri standing beside Talat Mahmood, in a recording studio. Music composer Mukul Roy and his sister Geeta Dutt are next to Talat<\/p><\/div>\n

Hasrat could also turn his pen to sensual verse when he wanted; whether it was the naughty Main kaa karuun Ram mujhe buddha mil gaya<\/em><\/a> (Sangam<\/em>) or the sensuous Ho maine pyaar kiya<\/em><\/a> (Jis Desh Mein Ganga Bahti Hain<\/em>). For the latter song, Hasrat had penned a verse:<\/p>\n

Jab jab tujh ko dekhuun aane lagii angdaaii<\/em>
\nDheere dheere aakhir band kali muskaaii <\/em><\/p>\n

This caused problems when the film went to the Censor Board for certification. According to Hasrat, the board members refused to listen to reason \u2014 they thought the verse was too erotic. Not wanting the song to be axed, Hasrat requested Raj Kapoor to show him the picturisation, and then, masterfully changed the offending lines to:<\/p>\n

Jab jab un ko dekhuun laaj se main sharmaaii<\/em>
\nDheere dheere aakhir man ki kali muskaii\u00a0\u2014\u00a0 <\/em>words that matched the lip movements on screen.<\/p>\n

Hasrat also had a puckish sense of humour that found its way in the delightful riddles of Ichak daana bichak dana <\/em><\/a>(Shri 420<\/em>), in the youthful exuberance of Is duniya mein jeena hai to<\/em><\/a> (Gumnaam<\/em>) and the sheer lunacy of Aao twist karein<\/em><\/a> (Bhoot Bangla<\/em>) where he writes:<\/p>\n

Suno, aur gaur se suno<\/em>
\nArre, pehle taaliyaan to bajaao! <\/em><\/p>\n

So, here, on his 101st<\/sup> birth anniversary, is a bouquet of Hasrat ki haseen hasratein\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

1. Anticipation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Humre gaaon koi aayega<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Professor<\/em><\/strong> (1962)<\/strong>
\nSinger: Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle<\/strong>
\nMusic: Shankar-Jaikishan<\/strong><\/p>\n

A bevy of young women are celebrating the advent of Spring, the season of love. And amidst them are two young women who have escaped the tiresome discipline imposed on them by their grandmother \u2014 for this afternoon, at least. Their thoughts turn to love as an escape from the tedium of their lives \u2013 perhaps a young man will come and sweep them off their feet.<\/p>\n

Din ka suraj raat ka chanda raahon ka ujiyaara<\/em>
\nHamre nain pe chhaayaa bin dekhe matwaara<\/em>
\nRam hii jaane kaisa hoga sapna jis ka pyaara<\/em>
\nHaay re jis ki aankh ne hum par pyaar ka jaduu daara<\/em><\/p>\n

They don\u2019t know who, they don\u2019t know how, but come he will.<\/p>\n