Biography

Known for his simple and poetic lyrics, Hasrat Jaipuri was one of the most influential songwriters in the history of Indian film. For much of his early career, Jaipuri worked with near-legendary film composer Raj Kapoor. Making his debut with Barsaat, Kapoor's second film, in the 1940s, Jaipuri worked on more than two hundred films before his retirement in the late-1980s. While his most successful songs, "Shri 420" and "Awara," were collaborations with Kapoor, he also wrote such hits as "Teesri Kasam," "Brachmachari" and "Andaaz" with Shammi Kapoor. Shortly after Jaipuri's death in 1999, at the age of eighty-one, composer Naushad said, "Hasratsaheb was a good human being and Urdu poet. He was loved by one-and-all in the film industry and was one of the last pillars of the RK Studios." ~ Craig Harris