Lata Top 100 Songs

[Ozella Vires]

Mangeshkarrecorded songs in over thirty-six Indian languages and a few foreign languages, though primarily in Hindi, Bengali, Nepali, and Marathi.[15][16] She received several accolades and honors throughout her career. In 1989, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award was bestowed on her by the Government of India.[17] In 2001, in recognition of her contributions to the nation, she was awarded the Bharat Ratna, becoming only the second singer to receive India's highest civilian honour.[18] In 2007, France made her an Officer of the National Order of the Legion of Honour, the country's highest civilian award.[19]

She was the recipient of three National Film Awards, 15 Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards, four Filmfare Best Female Playback Awards, before declining further ones, two Filmfare Special Awards, the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award amongst others. In 1974, she became the first Indian playback singer to perform at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England.[20]

Her mother, Shevanti (later renamed Shudhamati), was a Gujarati woman[28] from Thalner, Bombay Presidency (now in northwest Maharashtra). Shevanti was Deenanath's second wife; his first wife Narmada, who had died before his marriage to Shevanti, was Shevanti's older sister.[29] Her maternal grandfather, Seth Haridas Ramdas Lad, was from Gujarat, a prosperous businessman and landlord of Thalner. She learned Gujarati folk songs such as garbas of Pavagadh from her maternal grandmother.[30]

She received her first music lesson from her father. At the age of five, she started to work as an actress in her father's musical plays (Sangeet Natak in Marathi). On her first day of school,[31] Mangeshkar left because she was not allowed to bring her sister Asha along with her.[33]

In 1942, when Mangeshkar was 13, her father died of heart disease.[34] Master Vinayak (Vinayak Damodar Karnataki), the owner of Navyug Chitrapat movie company and a close friend of the Mangeshkar family, took care of them. He helped her get started in a career as a singer and actress.[35]

She sang the song "Naachu Yaa Gade, Khelu Saari Mani Haus Bhaari", which was composed by Sadashivrao Nevrekar for Vasant Joglekar's Marathi movie Kiti Hasaal (1942), but the song was dropped from the final cut.[36] Vinayak gave her a small role in Navyug Chitrapat's Marathi movie Pahili Mangalaa-gaur (1942), in which she sang "Natali Chaitraachi Navalaai" which was composed by Dada Chandekar.[31] Her first Hindi song was "Mata Ek Sapoot Ki Duniya Badal De Tu" for the Marathi film Gajaabhaau (1943).[37] The Bollywood industry was yet to find its feet, so Mangeshkar had to first concentrate on acting, which she did not like, as the lights and people ordering her around made her feel uncomfortable.[21]

She moved to Mumbai in 1945 when Master Vinayak's company moved its headquarters there. She started taking lessons in Hindustani classical music from Ustad Aman Ali Khan of Bhindibazaar Gharana.[38][39] She sang "Paa Lagoon Kar Jori" for Vasant Joglekar's Hindi-language movie Aap Ki Seva Mein (1946),[31] which was composed by Datta Davjekar.[40] The dance in the film was performed by Rohini Bhate, who later became a famous classical dancer.[41] Lata and her sister Asha played minor roles in Vinayak's first Hindi-language movie, Badi Maa (1945). In that movie, Lata also sang a bhajan, "Maata Tere Charnon Mein." She was introduced to music director Vasant Desai during the recording of Vinayak's second Hindi-language movie, Subhadra (1946).[42][43]

Initially, she is said to have imitated the acclaimed singer Noor Jehan, but she later developed her own style of singing.[31] She brought a new signature style of singing to Indian film music, moving away from mehfil-style performances to suit both 'modern' and 'traditional' female protagonists. A soprano range voice with less volume or amplitude, she had enough weight in her voice to give definite shape to the melody of Indian film songs.[45] Although she had limited coloratura skills in her early career, she developed better tone and pitch as she progressed in her playback career.[46] Lyrics of songs in Hindi movies were, in those days, primarily composed by Urdu poets and contained a higher proportion of Urdu words, including the dialogue. Actor Dilip Kumar once made a mildly disapproving remark about her accent while singing Hindi/Urdu songs; so for a period of time, she took lessons in Urdu from an Urdu teacher named Shafi.[47] In subsequent interviews she said that Noor Jehan heard her as a child and had told her to practice a lot. The two stayed in touch with each other for many years to come.[48]

One of her first major hits was "Aayega Aanewaala," a song in the movie Mahal (1949), composed by music director Khemchand Prakash and lip-synced on screen by actress Madhubala.[49][a] This was a defining moment for her, and a catalyst for the recognition of playback singers in India. Before this, playback singers were seen as the vocal equivalent of a stuntman and remained invisible and uncredited. This song was such a big hit, that Radio Goa revealed her identity and she became a star in her own right. This opened the door for other playback singers to achieve the recognition they deserved.[21]

Her song Aye Maalik Tere Bande Hum which was the original composition of Vasant Desai and used in the film Do Aankhen Barah Haath on 1957, was adapted by a Pakistani school as the school anthem.[57]

In 1961, she recorded two popular bhajans, "Allah Tero Naam" and "Prabhu Tero Naam", for Burman's assistant, Jaidev.[52] In 1962, she was awarded her second Filmfare Award for the song "Kahin Deep Jale Kahin Dil" from Bees Saal Baad, composed by Hemant Kumar.[52]

On 27 January 1963, against the backdrop of the Sino-Indian War, she sang the patriotic song "Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo" (literally, "Oh, People of My Country") in the presence of Jawaharlal Nehru, then the Prime Minister of India. The song, composed by C. Ramchandra and written by Kavi Pradeep, is said to have brought the Prime Minister to tears.[31][60]

She also sang several playback songs for Marathi films, composed by Marathi music directors including Hridaynath Mangeshkar, Vasant Prabhu, Srinivas Khale, Sudhir Phadke and herself, under the pseudonym Anandghan. During the 1960s and 1970s, she also sang several Bengali songs composed by music directors like Salil Chowdhury and Hemant Kumar.[72]

She made her Kannada debut in 1967 for the film Kranthiveera Sangolli Rayanna by recording two songs for the music director Lakshman Berlekar.[73] The song "Bellane Belagayithu" was well received and appreciated.[74]

In the 1960s, she recorded duets with Kishore Kumar, Mukesh, Manna Dey, Mahendra Kapoor and Mohammed Rafi. For a brief period during the 1960s, she was not on good terms with Mohammed Rafi over the issue of royalty payments to singers. She wanted Rafi to back her in demanding a half-share from the five percent song royalty that the film's producer conceded to select composers.[75] But Rafi took a diametrically opposite view, and believed that a playback singer's claim on the filmmaker ended with the payment of the agreed fee for the song, leading to tensions between the two. After an argument during the recording of the song "Tasveer Teri Dil Mein", from Maya (1961), the two refused to sing with each other.[76] The music director Shankar Jaikishan later negotiated a reconciliation between the two.[77]

In 1973, she won the National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for the song "Beeti Na Bitai" from the film Parichay, composed by R. D. Burman, and written by Gulzar.[81] In 1974, she sang her only Malayalam song "Kadali Chenkadali" for the film Nellu, composed by Salil Chowdhury, and written by Vayalar Ramavarma.[82][83] In 1975, she again won the National Award, this time for the song "Roothe Roothe Piya" from the film Kora Kagaz, composed by Kalyanji Anandji.[84][85][86]

From the 1970s onward, she also staged many concerts in India and abroad, including several charity concerts. She transformed the way Indian music concerts were perceived in the West.[87] Her first concert overseas was at the Royal Albert Hall, London, in 1974. (Despite some sources claiming that she was the first Indian to do so,[88][89] according to the Hall's own records, the first Indian to perform there was the late Ravi Shankar, on 21 October 1969.[90]) Until that time, film music concerts were song-and-dance affairs held in community halls and colleges, rarely taken seriously. Mangeshkar demanded to sing in mainstream halls only, which was an honour that until then was bestowed only upon classical musicians.[87]

She also released an album of Mirabai's bhajans, "Chala Vaahi Des", composed by her brother Hridaynath Mangeshkar. Some of the bhajans in the album include "Saanware Rang Ranchi" and "Ud Jaa Re Kaaga".[91] In the early 1970s, she released other non-film albums, such as her collection of Ghalib ghazals, an album of Marathi folk songs (Koli-geete), an album of Ganesh aartis (all composed by her brother Hridaynath) and an album of "abhangs" of Sant Tukaram composed by Shrinivas Khale.[92][93]

In the 1978 Raj Kapoor-directed Satyam Shivam Sundaram, she sang the main theme song "Satyam Shivam Sundaram," among the chart-toppers of the year. The film's story is inspired by her, according to Kapoor's daughter Ritu Nanda in her book Raj Kapoor. The book quotes Kapoor as saying, "I visualised the story of a man falling for a woman with an ordinary countenance but a golden voice and wanted to cast Lata Mangeshkar in the role."[94]

In June 1985, the United Way of Greater Toronto invited her to perform at Maple Leaf Gardens. At the request of Anne Murray,[107] Lata sang her song "You Needed Me". 12,000 attended the concert, which raised $150,000 for the charity.[108][109]

In 1990 she launched her own production house for Hindi movies which produced the Gulzar-directed movie Lekin.... She won her third National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for singing most of the songs in the soundtrack album with Yaara Seeli Seeli being the highlight, which was composed by her brother Hridaynath.[121][122]

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