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Lata Mangeshkar, also called the Nightingale of India, has been the doyen of the Indian playback scene for the last five decades and is still going strong. Born on September 28, 1929 in Indore, Mangeshkar has been active in all walks of Indian popular and light classical music having sung ghazals, bhajans and pop. In fact, she has sung over 50,000 songs in 20 Indian languages for three generations of heroines, ranging from Madhubala to Zeenat Aman to Kajol. She even made it to the Guinness Book of Records as the most recorded artist in the world.
Dinanath Mangeshkar, her father, owned a theatrical company and was a classical singer, a disciple of the Gwalior school, and gave her singing lessons from around the age of five. She also studied with Aman Ali Khan Sahib and later Amanat Khan. Brother Hridaynath, a music director, and sisters Asha (Asha Bhosle) and Usha have also left a deep impression in the world of music. One of her earliest songs, Aayega aanewala from the movie Mahal, shot Madhubala to fame 50 years ago. This was followed by numerous hits over the next few decades, including Baiju Bawra, Madhumati, Hum Dono, Aandhi, Silsila and the recent Dil To Pagal Hai, to name a few.
Her album of ghazals, Sajdaa, in collaboration with Jagjit Singh, and some albums of bhajans were evidence of the fact that she was the undisputed number one singer in the country. The name of Lata Mangeshkar has also become a byword in Indian semi-classical music. A soprano with over three octave range, she has an indescribable, unsoiled purity in her voice. It is delicate, sharp and clear in difficult note patterns. Her rendition is marked with a rare sense of rhythm and lyrics.
In fact, she now wants to devote more attention to singing classical-based songs. Lata is not very happy with the kind of lyrics that are being written these days and recalls the days of yore when there was emotion in the songs. Also, over the last 57 years of her singing career, Lata thought of retiring several times, but it was the affection of her fans that never let her call it a day
The magic of Lata Mangeshkar has never faded, and she voices the heroines of the present generation with elan. She has moved on gracefully from Madhubala to Madhuri, retaining the same freshness that she did in her youth. Her recent and most notable blockbusters include Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge Dil To Pagal Hai Hum Aapke Hain Koun and Pukar. A R Rahman also achieved a playback coup of sorts by pairing her with Sonu Nigam in One 2 Ka 4, with Khamoshiyaan gungunaane lagi.
Lata’s most memorable contribution is, however, not from any movie or album. Her soulful rendition of the patriotic song, Ae mere watan ke logon, following the 1962 Indo-China war, moved even the then Mrime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, to tears. It is amazing that even at age 70, Lata’s voice retains the youth and freshness of a 16-year-old.
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