Lata Mangeshkar: Melodious Voice, Strong Identity
When did you last hear Lata Mangeshkar’s emotional rendition of the patriotic song, “Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo“, literally, “Oh, People of My Country”? This song that was sung just after the Chinese aggression in 1963, had stirred the entire nation with emotions. Including the then Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was moved to tears.
Lata Mangeshkar was born on 28th September, 1929, in Indore. Her father, Dinanath Mangeshkar, was a renowned classical singer himself. Lata was introduced to music at a very young age. The life history of Lata Mangeshkar is truly fascinating. For over 60 years now, we have admired her success, determination, philanthropy, and simplicity. All of this are depicted in the caricature, and are the key things that have made her one of the most looked-up lady!
Lata Mangeshkar was very young when her father passed away, thus making the family dependent on Lata. To take care of her family’s economic situation, Lata acted in as many as 8 films from 1942 to 1948. She debuted as a playback singer in a Marathi film named Kiti Hasaal (1942). Unfortunately the song was edited out. Her first Hindi playback was for the film, Aap Ki Sewa Mein (1947), but she did not get noticed. While auditioning for the movie Shaheed (1948), she was rejected on the account of her thin voice.
The song, Dil Mera Toda, finally got her noticed and it was touted as her breakthrough song. The husky voices of all other singers became obsolete in front of the high pitched voice of Lata Mangeshkar. The music industry had a huge makeover with her arrival. By the late 50′s, the younger sister of Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle, also came into the scene. They were both touted as the unbeatable voices of the industry.
Lata was featured in the Guinness Book of World Records from 1974 to 1991, for having made the most recordings in the world. The category was removed in 1991 and re-introduced in 2011 that officially acknowledged Lata’s sister, Asha, as the most recorded artist in music history. It is estimated that Lata has more than 30,000 solo, duets, and chorus backed songs in 20 different languages from 1948 to 1987. Now, it must be way over 40,000!
Lata Mangeshkar has been honored with innumerable awards, but the one that truly deserves a special mention is the highest Indian civilian award, Bharat Ratna. She has received three national awards, and eight Filmfare awards, after which she stopped accepting awards in order to promote new talent.
On this International Women’s Day, Wish all women a happy Womens day!
The tender mother who bleeds and stretches to make room for you, the chaste and duteous wife who sets up the dinner table after cleaning up her office desk, the grateful daughter who lets her parents relive their childhood in their old age, the ever-dependable comrade to her siblings who is always all ears to listen, and the concerned citizen who lives the change she wants to see in the world.
