Lata Mangeshkar

Revision as of 13:14, 26 January 2014

Lata Mangeshkar

Dawn

Meri Awaz Hi Pehchan Hai bb

By Sibtain Naqvi

Lata Mangeshkar

Everyone has their favourite Lata moment. Mine was in a heavy traffic jam in Karachi in searing heat. As rivulets of sweat coursed down my spine, I wearily turned on the radio and a sweet melody floated on the airwaves. Lag Ja Galay, the quintessential Lata song from the film Who Kaun Thi (1964), floated on the airwaves and at that moment the heat, smog, blaring horns and the loud curses of frustrated drivers all became distant. Music can indeed sooth the savage beast as in this case it did the irate driver.

Nobody including Pandit Dinanath Mangeshkar could have predicted that his eldest offspring, Lata, born on September 28, 1929, would be given the title of ‘the Nightingale of India’.

When the seven-year-old played Narad to her father’s Arjun in Sholapur, little Lata brought the house down with her acting and singing, showing glimpses of the brilliance which would later light up the celluloid. She took her first music lessons from her father at the age of five and the recitals left a strong impression on her, as did the songs of K.L. Saigal, her favourite singer and idol.

According to a popular story, when little Lata came home after watching K.L. Saigal’s Chandidas directed by Nitin Bose, she declared that she would marry Saigal Sahib when she grew up. Hence began Indian filmdom’s most enduring love story between Lata Mangeshkar and Indian film music.

She started her Hindi singing career when she moved to then Bombay (Mumbai) in 1945 and played a minor role alongside Noor Jehan in Master Vinayak’s first Hindi-language film, Badi Maa. She began by imitating Noor Jehan, who with her heavy voice was then the most popular singer. The lyrics of songs in Hindi movies were primarily composed by Muslim poets such as Kaifi Azmi and Janisar Akhtar and contained a higher proportion of Urdu words. Dilip Kumar is said to have once gently chided Lata about her Maharashtri accent while singing Urdu songs. To overcome this predicament she took lessons in Urdu from a maulavi named Shafi.

Lata’s first major hit came in 1949 with Kamal Amrohvi’s film, Mahal. The song was Aayega Aanewala, composed by music director Khemchand Prakash and lip-synced on screen by actress Madhubala. The Venus-like Madhubala crooning for her lover in Lata’s melodious voice created such an everlasting piece of cinematic history that even today, nearly half-a-century later, it is clear why the song is such a sensation.

Moving sentiment is the hallmark of any Lata song. It is her ability to reach inside the lyrics, to probe the nuances of the moods, skillfully balancing changing cadences that make her so much in demand. She brings adaptability across generations and even within the lifespan of an artiste. Think of the wide-eyed child woman appeal of Dimple Kapadia in Hum tum aik kamray mein bundh hoon from the film Bobby and you think of Lata; recall the mature, sensitive Dimple in Yaara seeli seeli from the film Lekin and you still think of her. Trends have changed, technology has come to play a crucial role yet the classic has remained with Lata.

Lata Mangeshkar1

Yash Chopra rightfully says, “Usually, it is an artist who follows the art. But in Lataji’s case it’s the art that has followed her.”

Many compositions were written only for her voice. When Naushad composed Mohe Panghat Pe for the epic Mughal-i-Azam, he called Lata aside and said, “I’ve created this tune only because you are going to render this song. No one else can do justice to this composition.”

Lata was understandably the preferred choice for the leading ladies of her time. From Madhubala to Madhuri, all owe their biggest musical hits to her voice and while they themselves have phased out, Lata continues to fire romance, pain, hope and nationalism with her soulful renditions. No wonder the late Bade Ghulam Ali Khan once exclaimed, “Kambakht toh kabhi besuri hi nahin hoti!” (Dammit, she never sings out of tune).

Still, the living legend’s career has not been without controversy. It’s ironic that once Noor Jehan immigrated to Pakistan and Surriya and Shamshad Begum retired, her biggest rival was her sister Asha Bhosle. With S.D. Burman, Lata had a blow hot-blow cold relationship and the main beneficiary of this was Asha.

Before 1957, S.D. Burman chose Lata for his musical scores in many films including House No. 44 (1955) and Devdas (1955). However, they had a fallout in 1957 and Lata did not sing Burman’s compositions till 1962, with the result that Asha and to a lesser extent Geeta Dutt took over. Asha also became the chosen singer for O.P. Nayyar and for sometime the two sisters’ relationship went through testing times.

Lata’s relationship with most of her male colleagues was cordial. Mukesh, Manna De, Hermant Kumar all worked with her to give memorable numbers. With Kishore Kumar it was especially so, ever since she assumed the worst and mistook him for a lecher following her on her way to meet Khemchand Prakash for whom she sang Aayega Aanewala.

However, with the colossus of her time, Mohd Rafi, she did not see eye to eye. Perhaps as the two leading voices in the industry there was a certain amount of friction, but the issue came to the fore because of a money dispute. Lata wanted singers to get half of the five per cent that the music director got from the producer. Rafi took the moral high ground that a playback singer’s claim on the film-maker ended with the payment of the agreed fee for the song. If the song flopped the singer had already been paid his fee for rendering it.

During the recording of the song Tasveer Teri Dil Mein from the film Maya, (1961), the two were not on speaking terms and Lata even lost her temper at him. Both refused to sing with the other. Later, at the insistence of S.D. Burman, although they decided to make up and sing together, but on a personal level they were not on cordial terms.

She won her first Filmfare best female playback award for Sahil Chowdhury’s composition Aaja Re Pardesi, from Madhumati (1958) and her second in 1962, for the song Kahin Deep Jale Kahin Dil from Bees Saal Baad, composed by Hemant Kumar. In 1969, she declined any further awards to give room to other artistes. In 2001, Lata Mangeshkar was awarded Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour, only the second vocalist to receive it. As Lata celebrates her 79th birthday today, her song rings even more true, encapsulating all that she is:

Naam bhool jaye ga; Chehra yeh badal jaye ga; Meri awaz hi pehchan hai….