Raja Mehdi Ali Khan was an Indian writer and lyricist who rose to stardom within the Hindi film industry in the late 1940s till the 1960s. Khan was greatly influenced by contemporary Urdu poets and writers, the first of which was his mother, Hebay Saheba. He went on to establish himself as a protean lyricist who could pen ballads of romance alongside spirited verses of patriotic fervour with equal ease.

Born in Karmabad (present day Pakistan), Khan began his early tutoring under his mother Hebay Saheba. Khan then worked under renowned poet Dr. Allama Iqbal.  These early influences greatly inspired his poetry. By the 1940s, Khan began working at All India Radio in Delhi. Khan's association with veteran Urdu writer, Sadat Hassan Manto brought him to Mumbai where he started working as a dialogue writer in Hindi film industry. Khan got his first break as a lyricist with Filmistan's film Do Bhai (1946). The songs of the film were very successful and he went on to pen song lyrics for countless films within a short period of time. These included Shaheed (1948), Actress (1948), Vidya (1948), and Ziddi (1948).

 Khan's association with music composer, Madan Mohan created some immortal songs in films such as Ada (1961), Mera Saaya (1966), Woh Kaun Thi (1964), Neela Akash (1965), Anpadh (1962) and Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah (1967)  amongst many others.

 While Raja Mehdi worked with various music directors during his career in Hindi film industry, for example, for Shaheed (1948), he worked with Ghulam Haider,  and with O P Nayyar for Ek Musafir Ek Hasina (1962).

After a successful career that lasted more than a decade, Khan subsequently withdrew from the Hindi film industry. However, he continued to publish his poetry and short stories such as 'Biswin Sadi', 'Shama Bano' and 'Khilona’ till his death on 29 July, 1996.