Lata Mangeshkar is the Musical Empress of India.
The famous voice of India, Lata Ji, was born on 28th September 1929. She was the daughter of a well-known theatre artist and classical singer, Pandit Deenanath Mangeshkar. The legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar has given her voice to over 25000 songs during her long professional career as a playback singer.
Let us celebrate her journey by looking into the lesser-known facts about her life.
She was born as Hema Mangeshkar. Later, her name got rechristened to Lata. It got inspired by the name of a character, Latika, from one of her father’s play, Bhaw Bandhan.
Lata Mangeshkar started her career at the age of five. Lata Ji started her career as an actor performing for her father’s musical play. When she entered the film industry, she faced rejections as a playback singer due to her thin voice. It led her towards the path of acting. During 1942 and 1948, Lata Mangeshkar worked in over eight films.
Her debut song never saw the light of the day. Lata Ji recorded her first song for a Marathi film in 1942. But it got dropped from the movie. Later in the same year, her first song was released. It was for the Marathi film Pahili Mangalaa-gaur.
Lata Mangeshkar secured her position in the industry. After the release of the movie Mahal in 1949, Lata Mangeshkar became an overnight star. The song Aayega Aanewala was an absolute hit, which ensured a firm position in the industry. It marked her way towards the successful musical.
She protested to add a category for best playback singer in the Filmfare awards. Before 1958, there was no category awarding playback singers in the industry. This award got included after her protest. Lata Mangeshkar won this award from 1958-1966, but in 1969 she gave this up to promote fresh talents.
Lata Mangeshkar won national awards. She received her first National Award for the song in the film Parichay. She also became the oldest National Award winner for Best Playback Singer (Female) at 61 years. Lata Mangeshkar is the only playback singer to receive Bharat Ratna Award after M S Subbulakshmi.
She is also a producer and a music composer. Vidai (Marathi, 1953) became the first film to release under the production of Lata Ji. She also produced Jhaanjhar (1953), Kanchan (1955) and Lekin (1990). Lata Mangeshkar also composed music for the first time for the Marathi movie Ram RamPavhana.
Her song brought tears to the Prime Minister eyes. On 23rd January 1963, her Aye Mere WatanKe Logo song moved Jawaharlal Nehru to tears.
LataMangeshkar is truly a National treasure.
