This film producer-father directed only one film with super hit star son...

Urdu poets and lyricists didn’t just make their works speak for themselves, but as it was a tradition then, made immortal their hometowns from where they hailed. Among the better known ones like Shakeel Badayuni ( from Badaun, UP), Sahir Ludhianvi ( from Ludhiana, Punjab), Majrooh Sultanpuri (Sultanpur, UP) was one more known poet and writer Hasrat Jaipuri ( from Jaipur, Rajasthan).

Born Iqbal Hussain, 101 years ago, on April 15,1922, Jaipuri (1922-1999) paired with another young talent, Shailendra from Bihar and both of them created lyrical magic in many films of Raj Kapoor, beginning with his first film’Barsaat’ in 1949. So thick was their friendship and association that in his home production ‘Teesri Kasam’, Shailendra invited Hasrat Jaipuri to write lyrics.

Among the penury-struck writers, Jaipuri was prudent as his investments out of film income in real estate made him live comfortably, which facilitated his long tenure in Hindi film industry which started in 1949 and ended in 2004, with a film ‘Hatya’ carrying a song of his, five years after his death in 1999. September 17, 1999 happens to be the 24th death anniversary of his.

Music director Annu Malik is related to him as his mother was Jaipuri’s sister. Another film icon who shares September 17 death anniversary with Jaipuri is Harnam Singh Rawail, a known name in Hindi cinema during the 1940s- 1970s. He has the distinction of directing his first film in 1940 – Dorangia Daku- when he was just 19! He went on to direct his 21st and last film in 1976 – ‘Laila Majnu’- a blockbuster which created a unique record of having two music directors for the film, a rarity in those days.

This was because the first one Madan Mohan died as the film was progressing, making way for another composer Jaidev to score music for a few songs. Rawail’s son, Rahul, also was in the film industry and directed Sunny Deol and Amrita Singh’s first film ‘Betaab’, a huge success in 1983.

Producer Tahir Hussain, father of Aamir Khan, also finds his place in this list of greats as he directed one film with his son ‘Tum Mere Ho’ in the year 1990, when Khan was a rising legend. He bankrolled about a dozen films during his nearly three decade career, beginning with the smashing success ‘Caravan’ in 1971 and ending with ‘Madhosh’ in 1994. He also acted in a few films of his brother Nasir Hussain, another big name in Bombay filmdom during the 1950s to 1980s. Tahir Hussain was born on September 19, 1938 and passed away on February 2,2010.