Lata Mangeshkar
Hemant Varma
I was just carefully listening to the songs of the
film Yeh Dillagi. I thought that Lata Mangeshkar had done nothing
short of ruining a couple of good catchy numbers that she took
upon to sing. She cannot sing anymore and she should gracefully
retire and leave all the romantic duet singing to the younger
generation of singers. On the screen the songs of this film
feel even more strange since there is Kajol on the singing and
her voice is absolutely no where near Kajol's. Similarly
the DARR song, the portion TOOT GAYI TOOT GAYI CHOOR HO GAYI
in that one song goes really down the tubes ofcourse Juhi's
inept dancing makes matters worse. But what is a surprising
coincidence is that both the movies are from Yash Chopra.
He being a ace director should think about these finer points
too instead of being a ANDHA Lataji ka BHAKT.
I know this will generate flames...but these are my views.
Hemant
asch...@ntuvax.ntu.ac.sg
No flames, only support for your views. I had been harbouring the same
thoughts on Lata since the late 60s. Probably she had herself realised that
but like Indira Gandhi was very shrewed in eliminating the competetion. Any
one who tried to challenge her supremacy was shown the exit.
Her first victim was none other than SD Burman in late 50s. SDB always had
a soft corner for Geeta. To put him in place Lata stopped singing for SDB and
this lasted for abou 5-6 Yrs. The second victim was C.Ramchandra and he never
recovered from Lata onslaught. Finally when SJ tried to itroduce Sharda,
everyone knows the out come. Among the producers who suffered at Lata's hands
were B.R.Chopra (Never sang for BR Films after Dhool Ka Phool), Guru Dutta (she
only sang one song in Guru Dutt Films and that was in Chaudavine Ka Chand).
These producers were too great and survived. Even Raj Kapoor had to bow down
to Lata (remeber the rift during Mera Naam Joker and Kal Aj Aur Kal).
Lata sure is shrewed. She knew well in advance her range and weaknesses.
Naushad was going down, SJ were having troubles of there own, SDB no threat,
C.Ramchandra and OPN out, she saw an opportunity to rule the playback singing
by promoting LP. Yeas LP! LP were such a sucker to Lata that even for Discos
they could not think of anyone. Also all LPs compositions are in higher pictch
and that suited Lata's aging voice. Only now when LPs are out and all new
brand of MDs are there that Lata is probably realising that finally her time
has come.
The 20 years of hopeless music in Hindi films (from mid 60s-80s) was as much
due to Lata as it was due to Dushum dushum action drama.
I congratulate you for your courage.
>
>
SAMIUDDIN MOHAMMED
>In article <Cs9s8...@ucdavis.edu>, va...@celtuce.ece.ucdavis.edu (Hemant Varma) writes:
>> her voice is absolutely no where near Kajol's. Similarly
>> the DARR song, the portion TOOT GAYI TOOT GAYI CHOOR HO GAYI
>> in that one song goes really down the tubes ofcourse Juhi's
>> Hemant
>Dear Hemant Bhai;
>No flames, only support for your views. I had been harbouring the same
>thoughts on Lata since the late 60s. Probably she had herself realised that
Yup, me agrees too! Lata's voice has been on the decline since the early 70's and has become pathetic now. However, some MD's, such as Khayyam in Razia Sultan, have managed to extract the best from her even in the late 70's or in
80's. Preetham had given a good example to point out this decline: the songs in Pakeezah were perhaps recorded at different times.... some songs were recorded much later than the others... Lata's voice sounds so refreshing in "Mausam hai aashiquaana...." (which IMHO, is the best song in the movie), while in the others, it sounds different.
>but like Indira Gandhi was very shrewed in eliminating the competetion. Any
>one who tried to challenge her supremacy was shown the exit.
[...some examples of Lata's shrewdness deleted...]
I've been wanting to ask these questions on RMIM for ages now. I guess, now's an oppotune time:
I. What was the reason(s) for the temporary/permanent rift between Lata and:
1. Naushad
2. SDB
3. OPN
4. Rafi
5. C.Ramachandra
II. How were these resolved (if at all they were resolved.
Thanks ....
Sami Mohammed (A Naushad fan).... hoping to get some answers to these Q's.
asch...@ntuvax.ntu.ac.sg
Dear Sami Bhai,
I think I mentioned in my earlier posting few facts on rifts between LATA Bai
and MDs: I am trying to do again.
OPN: When OPN arrived in Bombay as MD in a film called "ASMAAN", he approached
Lata for singing. Lata responded to him " Main her ek altoo faltoo ke liye
nahine gaati hoon". That was it. OPN being a stubburn and confident Punjabi
told Lata that he will excell without her. He did. This rift lasted foe ever.
SDB: As I mentioned that owing to her bad experiences in her childhood she
lacked confidence always felt insecure. SDB was from princly Estate in East
Bangal, and a Bangali, well educated in music. He always had soft corner for
Geeta Dutt and Lata did not like that. She could not blackmail him but she
tried to harm him (without success). The rift was cleared in 1961/62 when RD
wanted to become MD. Mehmood was producing a film called "CHHOTE NAWAB" with
himself and Ameeta and Shailendra wrote the songs. It was decided that if Lata
sings then probably RD might get fame. SO for his Beta ki Khatir SDB phoned
Lata " Lata Pancham Ab Bada Ho Gaya Hai, Sangeetkar Bana Chahta Hai Magar Uski
Saflata Ke Liye Tumhara Ashirvad Mangta Hai". By that time Geeta was almost
out so SDB & Lata pairing flourished.
MRafi: Rafi had two problems: He never cared for money, some producers who
could not pay him, he used to wait. Also Rafi was very emotional during
singing while Lata was Steady. in early 60s Lata wanted Royalties on all
songs. Producers in those time used to pay a fixed singing amount. Rafi, Mukesh,
Manna Dey (Most expensive), were with this system, but Lata wanted this to
change. But rafi did not care so they stopped singing together for 3-4 years
until LP brought them back together in SHAGIRD and majrooh wrote a very fitting
song for their union "Hai kuchh Khafa Khafa". Her Jhagda with BR Chopda was
also on Royalty, but he never gave in.
Cramchandra: Cramchandra and Basant Desai were the only MDs in those times who
were Marathi and Lata had a soft corner for them. But then in NAVRANG CR used
ASHA exclusively and Lata was furious. CR fired back and they stopped working
together. The rift was removed temporarily by V.Shantaram who convinced both
to work together for his fil "STREE". By that time the damage to CR had
already been done. Thereafter they worked together in just one film "BAHURANI
*ing Mala Sinha Guru Gutt and on that famous patriotic song "Ai Mere Watan Ke
Logo"
SJ: The rift between Lata & SJ was publicised as being due to Sharda. Shanker
introduced SHARDA in Suraj (remeber those famous songs: Titli udi) and she
gained instant fame. Probably this threatened Lata and she put Shanker in his
place. Jaikishen was very polite compared to Shanker, so he tried his best to
heel the rift but Shanker would not give in. Though Lata sang for SJ but most
of these were composed by Jaikishen. The rift was only heeled when Jaikishen
died in 1971. Shanker gave up Sharda and Lata was back. Before Lata had row
with Shanker, she and Jaikishen at one time were sworn enemy of each other. In
early 60s (61-62) when it was open that Jai was crazy about Pallavi, Lata being
crazy about jai did not tolerate it and told Jai so. Jai did not ask her to
sing for 2-3 years. In those days all Jai female compositions were sung by
Suman Kalyanpur. This rift was very temporary and was heeled within a year or
2.
NAUSHAD: No rift with Lata. Naushad was always a very diplomatic person.
I am tired now.
Ajay P Nerurkar
: but like Indira Gandhi was very shrewed in eliminating the competetion. Any
: one who tried to challenge her supremacy was shown the exit.
Why was Lata so powerful that she could "show the exit" to her rivals ?
: Her first victim was none other than SD Burman in late 50s. SDB always had
: a soft corner for Geeta. To put him in place Lata stopped singing for SDB and
: this lasted for abou 5-6 Yrs. The second victim was C.Ramchandra and he never
: recovered from Lata onslaught. Finally when SJ tried to itroduce Sharda,
: everyone knows the out come. Among the producers who suffered at Lata's hands
Then why did SDB revert to Lata ?
I don't know what SJ saw in Sharda's voice.
What fascinates me is the argument advanced by singers who say their
progress was thwarted by Lata and Asha. If they were good there is
nothing Lata or Asha could have done to halt their progress.
I think Lata (and Asha) could call the shots because MDs realised
there was no alternative to these two.
Lata's voice is certainly not what it used to be, but it is not
'pathetic' (as somebody put it).
Perhaps she should try to sing a little lower and QUIT film music
now instead of singing for the likes of Nadeem-Shravan and Anand-Milind.
--
Ajay
Rahul V. Tikekar
Lata Mangeshkar has lost her magic. *I* still find her voice to be
quite amazing. Let me see if I can put down my reasoning in a nice
manner:
1. Somebody wrote that she did not get along with Raj Kapoor. But
if you look at the films Prem Rog, Ram Teri Ganga Maili (one of
my favorites) it has been Lata all the way. Her rendering of
'Ek Radha Ek Meera, Dono Ne Shaam Ko Chaaha...' is simply wonderful.
2. Look at the film Maine Pyar Kiya. In this Lata sings for Bhagyashree
who is, in the film at least, a very young girl. Still Lata's voice
is so good, one will not guess that it is such an old lady singing
for such an young girl.
3. Turning to some recent films, her rendering of 'Darwaaza Band Kar Lo',
in Darr is very very good, as is her rendering of 'Kuch Na Kaho',
in 1942: A Love Story.
4. Yes, I do agree that some of the newer singers today are very good
(e.g., Alka Yagnik and Sadhana Sargam); however, for my money Lata
is still the best.
5. There's a cassette of Lata Mangeshkar's in which she talks about
different music director's and singers. I forget the title of that
cassette. In that Lata says that in her opinion, what makes a song
great is not the tune but the lyrics. In my opinion, the lyrics
of many of today's songs, suck. So it may be that the bad lyrics
don't bring out the best in a singer. Well that's the way I feel
anyway.
-- Rahul Tikekar
SanJoe
>1. Somebody wrote that she did not get along with Raj Kapoor. But
> if you look at the films Prem Rog, Ram Teri Ganga Maili (one of
> my favorites) it has been Lata all the way. Her rendering of
> 'Ek Radha Ek Meera, Dono Ne Shaam Ko Chaaha...' is simply wonderful.
yup, her voice sounds good in this one ...
>2. Look at the film Maine Pyar Kiya. In this Lata sings for Bhagyashree
> who is, in the film at least, a very young girl. Still Lata's voice
> is so good, one will not guess that it is such an old lady singing
> for such an young girl.
>
>3. Turning to some recent films, her rendering of 'Darwaaza Band Kar Lo',
> in Darr is very very good, as is her rendering of 'Kuch Na Kaho',
> in 1942: A Love Story.
beg to disagree here...in fact, these are the very two examples (#2 and #3) that i
was going to cite in support of my argument that her voice has lost all its
sweetness !! :)) this being a subjective issue, lets not discuss it further :)))
>5. There's a cassette of Lata Mangeshkar's in which she talks about
> different music director's and singers. I forget the title of that
> cassette. In that Lata says that in her opinion, what makes a song
> great is not the tune but the lyrics. In my opinion, the lyrics
> of many of today's songs, suck. So it may be that the bad lyrics
> don't bring out the best in a singer. Well that's the way I feel
> anyway.
This is primarily why i wrote this article.. couldn't stop myself from commenting
above tho :)))
i think you are referring to "Lata: In Her Own Voice"... its a collection of
4 cassettes released by HMV. I think Lata speaks about the importance of good lyrics before playing the song "teri aankhon ke siwa duniya me rakkha kya hei".. (awesome !! one of the few songs of which i like the male AND the female versions equally... another one that immediately comes to mind is "na tum hume jaano.." by hemant and
suman kalyanpur...) This album contains brief commentaries by different MDs,
lyricists, directors, actors+actresses, etc., who have worked with Lata.
SanJoe
---
*******************************************************************************
gum aur khushii me fark naa mehesoos ho jahaan,
mai dil ko us maqaam pe laataa chalaa gayaa ...
*******************************************************
Sandeep Joshi 318 Riggs Hall,
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Tel. : Off. - (803) 656-1126 Clemson University,
Res. - (803) 654-0919 Clemson, SC 29634.
Email : sjo...@eng.clemson.edu
*******************************************************************************
Sudeep Surender
>Pardonez Moi, but I beg to disagree with the people who claim that
>Lata Mangeshkar has lost her magic. *I* still find her voice to be
>quite amazing. Let me see if I can put down my reasoning in a nice
>manner:
>
>1. Somebody wrote that she did not get along with Raj Kapoor. But
> if you look at the films Prem Rog, Ram Teri Ganga Maili (one of
> my favorites) it has been Lata all the way. Her rendering of
> 'Ek Radha Ek Meera, Dono Ne Shaam Ko Chaaha...' is simply wonderful.
>
when Bobby was on the anvil Raj Kapoor had gone and touched Lata's feet
to get her to sing in it. I guess it was smooth sailing after that.
Also it was very gracious of Lata to refuse to go into the
running for any Filmfare award (best vocal female) so as to let the
competition shine.
Sudeep
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sudeep Surender email: ssur...@mipos2.intel.com
Intel Corporation
Santa Clara, CA 95052
SAMIUDDIN MOHAMMED
>i think you are referring to "Lata: In Her Own Voice"... its a collection of
>4 cassettes released by HMV. I think Lata speaks about the importance of good lyrics before playing the song "teri aankhon ke siwa duniya me rakkha kya hei".. (awesome !! one of the few songs of which i like the male AND the female versions equally...
I agree. This is really one of the few songs for which both the male
as well as the female version sound equally good! However, in almost *all*
the other cases, I prefer the male version to the female one, while
Preetham prefers the female version :-) However, when there is a solo and
a duet version, the duet usually sounds better.
>ther one that immediately comes to mind is "na tum hume jaano.." by hemant and
>suman kalyanpur...)
I like the Hemant version better....
Sami Mohammed (A Naushad fan)
>SanJoe
Vandana Venkatesan
[..deleted article about Lata's rift with different people..]
=> Cramchandra: Cramchandra and Basant Desai were the only MDs
=> in those times who were Marathi and Lata had a soft corner for them.
[..deleted till end of posting..]
What about Chitragupta, who was the music director for Bhabhi
(chal uD ja re panchi ki ab yeh des hua begaana), Insaaf (do
dil dhadak rahe hain aur aawaaz ek hai), Kaali Topi Laal
Rumaal (laagi chhote na ab toh sanam) etc? Wasnt he a
Maharashtrian too?
-Vandana.
Desi Dude
>Pardonez Moi, but I beg to disagree with the people who claim that
>Lata Mangeshkar has lost her magic. *I* still find her voice to be
>quite amazing. Let me see if I can put down my reasoning in a nice
>manner:
>1. Somebody wrote that she did not get along with Raj Kapoor. But
> if you look at the films Prem Rog, Ram Teri Ganga Maili (one of
> my favorites) it has been Lata all the way. Her rendering of
> 'Ek Radha Ek Meera, Dono Ne Shaam Ko Chaaha...' is simply wonderful.
>2. Look at the film Maine Pyar Kiya. In this Lata sings for Bhagyashree
> who is, in the film at least, a very young girl. Still Lata's voice
> is so good, one will not guess that it is such an old lady singing
> for such an young girl.
I completely disagree with you on this one rahul, Lata sounds horribly at
sea in songs such as "tum ladki ho, main ladka hon" and "aaja sham hone aaye"
>3. Turning to some recent films, her rendering of 'Darwaaza Band Kar Lo',
> in Darr is very very good, as is her rendering of 'Kuch Na Kaho',
> in 1942: A Love Story.
As for Darr, she sounds awful in the beautiful lines ' Tut ke main tut ....'
< stuff deleted>
Amar