Happy Birthday Latadidi
FEW PEOPLE are blessed with a voice as sweet as that of legend Lata Mangeshkar. Rightly termed as the ‘Nightingale of India’, Lataji completes 80 years on Monday, September 28 this year.
Almost each and every song sung by her is hummed by millions of Indians. From film songs to bhajans and ghazals to pop songs, Lataji has reached out to people from almost every walk of life.
Latabai Mangeshkar was born on September 28, 1929, at Sikh Mohalla, Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Lata’s father, Pt Dinanath Mangeshkar was an amateur astrologer and christened his newly born daughter Hema, as per the date and time of her birth. He, however, would prefer to call her Hridiya. Later on, the family members began calling her Lata. The name stuck and she came to be known as Lata Mangeshkar.
She started learning the nuances of music at the age of five from her father Dinanath Mangeshkar, a reputed classical singer from the Gwalior school of music who used to own a theatre company. But his sudden demise in 1942 put Lata and her family into bad times. As she was the eldest among the siblings, she took the responsibility of her mother, three younger sisters and a brother and became the family’s sole breadwinner.
Master Vinayak (Film actress Nanda’s father) , the owner of Navyug Chitrapat movie company, a close friend of the Mangeshkar family helped her start her career as a singer and actress. She began her career as an actress with Hindi and Marathi movies and acted in eight films. She also made her debut as a playback singer with a Marathi film “Kiti Hasaal” in 1942 but her song was edited.
Later, in 1947, she got her first big break in the Hindi film “Aap Ke Sewa Main” in 1947 but it failed to give her any recognition. In those days, the Bollywood music industry was dominated by heavier voices like Noorjehan, Shamshad Begum and Zohrabai Ambalewali. Even, well known producer S Mukherjee refused to engage her for his film “Shaheed,” saying her voice was too thin.
After Vinayak’s death in 1948, music director Ghulam Haider mentored Lata as a singer. Haider gave Lata her first major break with the song “Dil Mera Toda,” from the movie Majboor (1948). However, the turning point in her career came with the song “Aayega Aanewaala,” in the film Mahal (1949).
Lata Mangeshkar’s career as a playback singer spans over six and a half decades, beginning when she was 13 years old in 1942. Apart from singing for 982 Hindi films, she has also lent her voice to many films in regional languages. So, she holds the Guinness Book of World Record title for having made the most number of recordings in the world.
Even today, her voice continues to be the most preferred one amongst the older generation of filmmakers like Yash Chopra, who has convinced her many a times to sing for his films. He says,“ Lataji is a perfect example of a playback singer who can modulate her voice according to various song situations and suit characters as per their age and social status.”
She has been honoured with innumerable awards but the one that truly deserves a special mention is that she is the only second singer in the non-classical category (after MS Subbulakshmi) in India to have received the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award. She is also the fifth woman to receive the Bharat Ratna, after Indira Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Aruna Asaf Ali and MS Subbalakshmi.
It is interesting to note that from the year 1958 to 1966 no other female singer was able to get the filmfare award. After 1969, she even made the unusual gesture of giving up Filmfare awards in favour of fresh talent.
Further, Lataji brought in many constructive changes in Hindi film music which proved to be extremely beneficial for singers in the long run. She is the first singer to introduce the royalty system for singers in the industry. In fact, she is the one who insisted that the singer’s name should be published with the songs instead of actors.
Her revolutionary ideas irked many bigwigs who tried to stop her, but she stayed firm. For instance she stopped singing with legendary singer Mohammed Rafi and even refused to sing for SD Burman, apart from other legendary composers from 1957 to 62, because her demand for royalty was not met. She had a tiff with Raj Kapoor on the issue as well. Such was her clout that she had her way and they came back to her.
Lata Mangeshkar has worked with almost all the top music composers and singers in the film industry. She has sung more than 40,000 songs in over 20 Indian languages. Lyricist and filmmaker Gulzar once said, Lata’s greatness lay in her complete devotion to music. “Singing for her is not merely a profession, it is akin to worship.”
Let us all wish Lata Mangeshkar a very happy birthday and hope to hear more songs from her that will remain in our minds forever.
!!!
OK…I am glad you are in the minority…