LATA MANGESHKAR 1929

The undisputed Nightingale of Indian cinema! Guinness Book of World Records listed her as the mostrecorded artiste in the world with no less than 30,000 solo, duet and chorus-backed songs recorded in 20 Indian languages between 1948 and 1987. To put it simply, Lata is the most prolific and popular playback singer in Indian cinema’s history. She has sung for over 50 years for actresses from Nargis to Preity Zinta, not to speak of the thousands of non-film and non-Hindi songs. Daughter of Dinanath Mangeshkar, the owner of a theatre company and a reputed classical singer in his own right, he gave Lata singing lessons from the age of five. She also studied under renowned singers. Aman Ali Khan Sahib and Amanat Khan. She made her entry into Bollywood around 1940 when singers like Noor Jehan and Shamshad Begum ruled the roost. She was initially rejected since it was felt her voice was too thin and high-pitched. Her father died in 1942 and the responsibility of supporting her family fell upon her. Between 1942 and 1948 she acted in eight films in Hindi and Marathi. She made her debut as a playback singer in the Marathi film Kiti Hasaal (1942) but the song was edited out! However, she got her big break in 1948 with Ghulam Haider in the film Majboor and 1949 saw the release of four of her films:

Mahal, Dulari, Barsaat and Andaz. Each was a runaway hit, with their songs hitting the popularity chart after which there was no looking back for the nightingale. The 1960s and 1970s have seen her go from strength to strength. Several singers have in the intervening period come and gone but Lata has gone on and on. She recalls her childhood yearnings which she could later more than fulfill. “I’ve been fond of diamonds from childhood. As a child, my father used to design jewellery. But we couldn’t afford it. He had a keen eye for jewellery and was fond of wearing precious stones. We kids were equally fascinated by jewels but until I became a professional playback singer. I refused to wear jewellery. I had decided I’d wear only diamonds.” It is an onerous task to choose even just 100 of her best songs but a mention must be made of her rendering of ‘Ae mere watan ke logon’. Penned by the classic poet Pradeep and set to music by C Ramachandra, it was a tribute to the Indian jawans who lost their lives in the disastrous 1962 war with China. Lata sang the emotionally charged song, as only a veteran could and an already shattered Jawaharlal Nehru was moved to tears. Among the many prestigious awards for Lata Mangeshkar are the Padma Vibhushan, the Dada Saheb Phalke award, Rajiv Gandhi award, culminating with the Bharat Ratna in 2001. She has also been a Member of Rajya Sabha.