Lata Mangeshkar, respectfully called as Lata Didi, is one of the bets singers Hindi film industry has ever produced. She holds the accomplishment of getting listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most recorded artist in the world. Her glorious journey commenced in 1942 and spanned over a period of seven decades. Lata Didi has recorded songs in her voice for over a thousand films. She also holds the acclaim of lending her vocals in over thirty-six Indian languages and foreign languages. Lata has three siblings and the eldest in the family. Singers Asha Bhosle, Hridaynath Mangeshkar, Usha Mangeshkar and Meena Mangeshkar are younger sisters to Lata Mangeshkar. She was conferred with the highest recognition in Indian cinema, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, in the year 1989.
EARLY LIFE
Born on September 28, 1929 in Indore, Central Provinces (now Madhya Pradesh), Lata Mangeshkar was the eldest daughter in the family of five children born to Dinanatha and Shevanti Mangeshkar – a Maharashtrian Brahmin family. Dinanatha belonged to the town of Mangeshi in the state of Goa and changed his last name from Haridkar to Mangeshkar in order to identify with his hometown, Mangeshi. He was a proficient classical singer and stage actor. Lata didi was primarily named Hema after she was born, but later her father renamed her as Lata, drawing inspiration from one of his plays. Lata had four siblings – three sisters, Asha, Usha and Meena; and one brother, Hridaynath. All children in the Mangeshkar family received education and training in classical music from their father.
From the age of five, Lata began acting in her father’s musical plays. She imbibed knowledge and took lessons in classical music from maestros like Amanat Khan, Pandit Tulsidas Sharma and Aman Ali Khan Saheb. K.L. Saigal’s music inspired her when she was young. Lata Didi did not receive formal education as she did not attend school. Her father, Pandit Dinanath passed away when Lata Didi was just 13 years old. As the eldest child of the family, the entire financial responsibility of the family rested upon her shoulders.
Deenanath Mangeshkar
Deenanath’s first wife was Narmada (later renamed “Shrimati” by her in-laws). She was the daughter of Seth Haridas Ramdas Lad – a prosperous businessman of the town of Thalner (between Dhule and Jalgaon(Khandesh), Maharashtra. Dinanath and Narmada were married in 1922. Dinanath changed his wife’s name to ‘Shrimati’. She was 19 at the time and Dinanath was 21. They had a daughter named Latika, who died in her infancy. Deenanath’s wife died shortly after. Deenanath’s second wife was his first wife’s sister. Her name was Shevanti. Some sources claim that Dinanath named his second wife ‘Shrimati’ as well. Some have her name as ‘Shuddhamati’. The marriage of Deenanath and Shevanti was solemnised at a quiet ceremony within the house in 1927. Shevanti’s mother chose not to attend. Deenanath and his second wife had five children: Lata, Meena, Asha, Usha, and Hridaynath. Their first child was named Hridaya. But Deenanath called her Lata in memory of his deceased daughter. The name stuck and it is by that name that his legendary eldest daughter, Lata Mangeshkar, is known today.
Asha Bhosle
Asha Bhosle is best known as a playback singer in Hindi cinema, although she has a wider repertoire. Asha, at the age of 16, had eloped with 31-year-old Ganpatrao Bhosle. They separated in 1960. They have three children and five grandchildren. The eldest of her three children, Hemant Bhosle (named after Hemant Kumar), spent most of his early years as a pilot and quit to have a brief career as a music director. Bhosle’s daughter Varsha committed suicide on 8 October 2012; she was 56 years old and worked as a columnist for The Sunday Observer and Rediff.
Asha’s youngest child, Anand Bhosle, has studied business and film direction. He manages Asha’s career. Her grandson, Chaitanya (Chintu) Bhosle (Hemant’s son) is a part of the world of music. He is a member of India’s first & only boy band, “A Band of Boys”.
Hemant Bhosle’s best known composed duets were the Kishore Asha duets like Aji Kaho Kya Haal Hai from An padh picturised on Vijendra Ghatke and Sarika and Salamat Raho Tum from same film Anpadh picturised on Ashok Kumar and Sarika. Her son Hemant died of cancer in 2015. Hemant’s son Chaitanya Bhosle is a singer and has few albums to his name.
Asha’s first husband Ganpatrao was her personal secretary. Their marriage failed miserably in 1960. Her husband and in-laws mistreated her. After a few years of marriage, Asha was turned out by a suspicious Ganpatrao and she went to her maternal home with two children and pregnant with her third child. She continued to sing in films to earn money. Asha married Rahul Dev Burman in 1980. This was second marriage for both Rahul and Asha. Rahul, 6 years younger than her, earlier got divorced from Rita Patel in 1971.
Usha Mangeshkar
Usha Mangeshkar is an Indian singer who has recorded many Hindi, Marathi, Nepali, Bhojpuri and Gujarati songs. She remained unmarried.
Meena Mangeshkar Khadikar
Meena Khadikar is an Indian Marathi and Hindi language playback singer and composer. She is also popular for composing various children’s songs. She married to Mr. Khadikar who died around 2011. Her son Yogesh Khadikar has recorded a few songs. Yogesh is married to Jitendra Abhisheki’s daughter.
Hridaynath Mangeshkar
Hridaynath Mangeshkar is a music composer and singer. He is married to Bharati Malvankar Mangeshkar, daughter of Marathi comedian Damuanna Malvankar. They have two sons Aadinath Mangeshkar and Vaijnath Mangeshkar and a daughter Radha Mangeshkar. In 2009, Radha launched her debut album Naav Maaza Shaami. She has been trained by Hridaynath and accompanies him in various stage shows.
CAREER
Lata Mangeshkar had a memorable career, taking up different roles, succeeding at some than others. An extremely natural and god gifted voice made her the most successful and illustrious female playback singer from the period between 1940s till 1980s. From the age old to the modern, Lata Mangeshkar holds the track record of rendering her vocal chords to actresses belonging to different generations. From Vyjayantimala to Preity Zinta, Lata has offered renditions across generations and genres. Her voice touched the hearts of millions of people within and across the borders for decades. Besides singing, Lata also tried her destiny in acting at the start of her career. Whilst she did few roles, her music direction career did not work out as successful as her singing career.
PLAYBACK SINGING
Right after the death of her father, Lata Didi began her career in the year 1942. A family friend, Vinayak Damodar Karnataki assisted her acquire jobs as actress in Marathi and Hindi films. Like a warrior, Lata Didi’s early life was quite rock-strewn as she struggled to discover her traction in the film industry. Her debut song as a playback singer was ‘NaachuYaa Gade, Khelu Saari Mani Haus Bhaari’, for a Marathi language film ‘Kiti Hasaan’ with music composer Sadashivrao Nevrekar. Unfortunately, the song was chopped from the film before release. In the year 1943, her first song in Hindi came with ‘Mata Ek Sapoor Ki Duniya Badal De Tu’ from the movie Gajaabhaau.
In 1945, Lata Mangeshkar moved to Bombay. She was frequently rejected by contemporary music composers who found her voice extremely slim and prickly, which was not keeping up with the chosen trend of that time. Lata Didi even went to the extent of imitating famous singers like Noor Jahan to satisfy the requirements of music directors.
Apart from Master Vinayak, Lata also graced and flourished under the tutelage of music director Ghulam Haider. Under his training, Lata Didi achieved her first identification in the song ‘Dil Mera Toda, Mujhe Kahin Ka Na Chhora’ from the 1948 movie Majboor. It was the turbulent hit number, ‘Ayega Anewala’ from the movie Mahal which catapulted Lata Didi to fame in the year 1949.
The inflection point in her career arrived as she started working with major, mainstream music composers and playback singers of the time. Lata Mangeshkar started working with eminent music directors like Sachin Dev Burman, Salil Chowdhury, Sankar Jaikishan, Naushad, Madan Mohan, Kalyanji-Anandji, Khayyam and Pandit Amarnath Husanlal Bhagat Ram. 1950s saw her work in successful films like Baiju Bawra (1952), Mother India (1957), Devdas (1955), Chori Chori (1956) and Madhumati (1958). Her first official recognition came in the form of her first Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer in 1958 for the song ‘Aaja Re Pardesi’ from the movie Madhumati with Salil Chowdhury as the music composer.
Lata Mangeshkar seamlessly fluttered between varied genres for assorted music directors. She easily flitted between different genres for various music directors. She sung raga based song like ‘MoheBhool Gaye Sawariya’ based on Raga Bhairav from the 1952 film BaijuBawra. She sung western theme song like ‘Ajeeb Dastan Hain Yeh’ from Dil Apna aur Preet Parayi (1960) as well as Bhajan like Allah Tero Naam for the movie Hum Dono in 1961. She was the voice behind the most glamorous heroines of the time, from Madubala to Meena Kumari. She moved dignitaries including Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to tears with her rendition of the famous patriotic song ‘Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon’.
She started playback singing for regional films in Tamil and Marathi. Her first song in Tamil was ‘Enthan Kannalan’ in the film Vanaradham in 1956. In Marathi films, she sung for her brother Hridaynath Mangeshkar who was a celebrated music director, in films like Jait Re Jait. He sang playback for Bengali films for music directors like Salil Chowdhury and Hemant Kumar. She made her debut in the Kannada playback industry with the song Bellane Belagayithu composed by Lakshman Berlekar from the movie Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna in 1967. In 1974, she recorded her only Malayalam song “Kadali Chenkadali” for the film Nellu, composed by Salil Chowdhury, and written by Vayalar Ramavarma.
She collaborated with noted male playback singers like Mohammed Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Mukesh, Hemant Kumar, Mahendra Kapoor and Manna Dey in many projects. She became the unrivaled queen of the playback industry and enjoyed star status. People could not praise her voice enough and every major producer, music director and actor was vying to work with her. Her duets with Kishore Kumar all through the 1970s and 1980s became legends of the Hindi Film Industry and are celebrated till date. Songs like ‘Kora Kagaz’ from film Aradhana (1969), ‘Tere Bina Zindagi Se’ from the 1971 film Andhi, ‘Tere Mere Milan Ki’ from Abhimaan (1973) and ‘Aap Ki Ankhon Me Kuch’ from the film Ghar (1978), are some examples of unforgettable musical magic that this pair created.
During the 1980s Lataji worked on compositions by Rahul Dev Burman, son of Sachin Dev Burman, and Lataji’s would be brother-in-law. R.D.Burman who was known to prefer Asha Bhosle for his versatile compositions, used Lataji’s voice for his more melodious compositions like ‘Kya Yahi Pyar Hai’ in Rocky (1981), ‘Humein Aur Jeene Ki’ in Agar Tum Na Hote (1983), ‘Tujhse Naraaz Nahin’ in Masoom (1983) and ‘Seeli Hawa Chhoo Gayi’ in Libas (1988).
Her collaboration with music director duo Laxmikant Pyarelal produced some of the most superhit songs of the time that are still hummed with equal enthusiasms by Indians. The duo considered Lataji instrumental in their success. ‘Dil Vil Pyar Vyar’ from Shagird (1968), Sheesha Ho YaDil Ho from Asha (1980), Mere Naseeb Mein from Naseeb (1981) and Ye Galiyan Ye Chaubara from Prem Rog (1982) are some of their most popular collaborations. Other acclaimed scoresin the 1980s with include title track from Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1985) with music director Ravindra Jain and Dikhayi Diye Yun in Bazaar (1982) with Khayyam.
1990s onwards, Lataji worked with music directors like Anu Malik, Jatin Lalit and A.R. Rahman. Films like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Hum aapke Hain Kaun, Dil Se, Rang De Basanti featured acclaimed songs sung by Lataji. She gradually decreased the volume of her work due to health reasons, singing selective compositions. She launched several albums during her musical career including Chala Vahi Des (1979) with Brother Hridaynath Mangeshkar, Ram Ratan Dhan Payo (1983) and Shraddanjali-My Tribute to the Immortals (1994).
Music Director
Lata Mangeshkar also assumed the role of music director for several Marathi Films, first of which was Ram Ram Pavhane in 1955. Her other projects were Maratha Tituka Melvava (1963), Mohityanchi Manjula (1963), Sadhi Manase (1965) and Tambadi Mati (1969). She won Maharashtra State Government’s Best Music Director Award for the film Sadhi Manase with the song ‘Airanichya Deva’ receiving the best song award.
Producer
As a producer, Lata Mangeshkar made four films – Vaadal, a Marathi language film in 1953, Jhaanjhar with C. Ramchandra as co-producer in 1953, Kanchan in 1955 and Lekin…, the directorial venture of lyricist Gulzar in 1990. She launched her own music label in 2012 called LM Music and released a Devotional album along with younger sister Usha Mangeshkar.
Awards and Honors
Lataji has received numerous awards and honors for her illustrious career as a playback singer. Some of the Awards she won are Padma Bhushan (1969), Dadasaheb Phalke Award (1989), Padma Vibhushan (1999), Maharashtra Bhushan Award (1997), NTR National Award (1999), and ANR National Award (2009). She was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s Highest Civilian Award in 2001. She won 3 National Film Awards (1972, 1974, 1990), and 12 Bengal Film Journalists’ Association Awards (1964, 1967-1973, 1975, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1991). She has also won the Filmfare Awards for Best Female Playback Singer four times (1958, 1962, 1965, 1969, 1993, and 1994). She was awarded the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993.
Controversies
Lata Didi, like everyone else, was a mere mortal. Not everything was rose-colored and hunky dory in her life as she had to experience her share of controversies as well. Her relationship with distinguished music director S.D. Burman turned sour as the two had a incongruity and the duo did not work with each other between 1958 and 1962.
She also had a difference of opinion with Mohammed Rafi over the issue of royalty. She was constantly pitted against her own sister Asha Bhosle for the number one spot. There was a controversy over the Guinness Record in 1974, where Lataji was named as the most recorded artist in history as she has recorded “not less than 25,000 solo, duet and chorus backed songs in 20 Indian languages” between 1948 and 1974. Mohammed Rafi disputed the statistics, and after 1991 the record was suspended from the Guinness Book of Records.
