Gunin Borah
(The writer is a faculty of Geography in Biswanath College, Chariali. He can be reached at borah.gunin@gmail.com)
Legendary Singer Lata Mangeshkar recorded songs in over a thousand Hindi films and was one of the best-known and most respected playback singers in India. She had a sweet and captivating voice which is the main reason for her popularity.
At the age of 13, Lataji started her career in 1942 and had sung over 30,000 songs in various Indian languages. She is considered one of the greatest singers of Indian cinema and received Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour, in 20001.
She was born on 28 September 1929 in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. She was the eldest of five siblings. Her father was Deenanath Mangeshkar and her mother was Shevanti. Her father was a noted Marathi stage personality popularly known as Master Dinanath. She was introduced to music at an early age. At the age of 13, she recorded her first song for the Marathi film 'Kiti Hasaal'.
Lata Mangeshkar's birth name was 'Hema'. Later, her parents renamed her and kept it, Lata, after the female character, Latika, in one of her father's plays. Her siblings' names in birth order are Meena, Asha, Usha, and Hridaynath. All are accomplished singers and musicians. Her educational carrier is not much known but she proved that a degree is not the only way to earn. She received her first music lesson from her father. When she was five-year-old, she started to work as an actress in her father's musical play.
In her career of more than six decades, she was the singing voice for a bevvy of Bollywood leading ladies. No doubt she had an unprecedented impact on Indian film music. Lataji has pushed back the boundaries of music with her mind-blogging skills since 1942.
When Lata Mangeshkar was 13 years old, her father died due to a heart attack in 1942. The owner of the Navyug Chitrapat movie company named Master Vinayaka took care of them. He was a close friend of the Mangeshkar family. He helped Lata to get started in a career as a singer and actress.
In 1942, Lata Mangeshkar sang the song 'Naachu Yaa Gade, Khelu Saari Mani Haus Bhaari'. It was composed for the Marathi movie 'Kiti Hasaal'. As a teenager, she struggled and supported her family. She established herself as a playback singer in the Hindi film industry of the 1940s. She moved to Mumbai in 1945. She started taking lessons from Ustad Aman Ali Khan of Hindustani Classical music.
In 1948, Vinayaka died and music director Ghulam Haider mentored her as singer. He introduced Lata to producer Sashadhar Mukharjee. She recorded the hit 'Uthaye ja unke sitam' in Andaz (1949), and her destiny was sealed. From this point, she gave her musical voice to every major leading lady, representing every generation of Hindi cinema from Nargis to Madhuri Dixit and Preti Zinta.
Her singing contributed a great deal to the commercial films like Mahal (1949), Barsaat (1949), Meena Bazar (1950), Aadhi Raat (1950), Afsana (1951), Aansoo (1953) and Adl-e-Jehangir (19550). She also sang various Raag-based songs for Naushad in Deedar (1951), Amar (1954), and Mother India (1957). Composer SD Barman before 1957 chose Lata as the leading female singer for his musical scores in Sazaa, House No. 44, and Devdas (1955). Indian people can't forget the song 'Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya' from Mughal-E-Azam (1960). Lataji sang this song very beautifully and still, it remains in everyone's heart. It was composed by Naushad and lip-synced by Madhubala. Two popular Bhajans were recorded by Lataji in 1961 namely 'Allah Tero Naam' and 'Prabhu Tero Naam'. She was awarded her Filmfare Award in 1962 for the song.
Lata Ji sang a patriotic song against the backdrop of the Sino-Indian war in January 1963. The song was 'Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo' in the presence of Jawaharlal Nehru, then the Prime Minister of India. The song was composed by C Ramachandra and written by Kavi Pradeep.
The 1960s also witnessed the beginning of the association of Lata Ji with Laxmikant Pyarelal, the music director for whom she sang the most popular songs. It is said that she sang over 700 songs for the composer duo over 35 years, many of which become hits.
She sang several playback songs for Marathi films. During the 1960s and 1970s, she also sang various Bengali songs. She recorded duets with Kishore Kumar, Mukesh, Manna Dey, Mahendra Kapoor, and Mohammed Rafi in the 1960s. Various songs by Lata Mangeshkar were composed by Laxmikanta Pyrelal and RD Burman in the1970s.
She won National Film Award in 1973 for Best Female Playback Singer for the song 'beeti Na Bitai' from the film Parichay. It was composed by RD Barman and written by Gulzar. She again won the National Award in 1975 for the song 'Roothe Roothe Piya' from Kora Kagaz, composed by Kalyanji Anandji. She also staged several concerts from the 1970s onwards including various charity concerts.
In the early 1980s, she worked with composers namely RD Burman, son of SD Burman, Rajesh Roshan, Anu Malik and Anand Milind. In the Assamese language also sung several songs. The song 'Dil Hoom Hoom Kare from Rudaali (1993) made the highest record sales that year. Another Assamese song 'Jonakara Rati' (1986) with music and lyrics by Bhupen Hazarika sung by Lata Ji. In the late 1980s, she also sang for Tamil movies.
During the 1990s she recorded with various music directors like Anand Milind, Nadeem Shravan, Jatin Lalit, etc. She won her third National Film Award for the Best Female Playback Singer for the song 'Yaara Sili Sili', composed by her brother Hridaynath. She also sung for almost all Yash Chopra films. Even AR Rahman had recorded a few songs with her during the 1990s. She was awarded the Zee Cine Award for Lifetime Achievement in the year 1999.
Lata Ji was awarded the Bharat Ratna Award, India's highest civilian honour in the year 2001. She also established the Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital in Pune in the same year. It is managed by the Lata Mangeshkar Medical Foundation. She was the recipient of honorary doctorates from Sangeet Natak Akademi (1989), Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwavidyalaya, Khairagarh, and Shivaji University, Kolhapur.
Lata Mangeshkar is lovingly referred to as the 'Nightingale of India'. Known as the 'Nightingale of India', she has left behind a treasure trove of songs vocalized in her mellifluous voice sung across a career that lasted for over 70 years. Lata Ji considered one of the greatest Indian playback singers will live among Indians forever through her melodies.