Lata Mangeshkar was born in Indore on September 28, 1929, and became, quite simply, the most popular playback singer in Bollywood’s history. She has sung for over 50 years for actresses from Nargis to Preity Zinta, as well as having recorded albums of all kinds (ghazals, pop, etc). Until the 1991 edition, when her entry disappeared, the Guinness Book of World Records listed her as the most-recorded artist in the world with not less than 30,000 solo, duet,and chorus-backed songs recorded in 20 Indian languages between 1948 and 1987. Today that number might have reached 40,000!
IBADAT – A Tribute to Lata Mangeshkar on her 87th birthday by Arpita Heere
Lata Mangeshkar was born in a Marathi-speaking family in Indore. Her father, Pandit Deenanath Mangeshkar, was a classical singer and theatre actor, while her mother Shevanti was a homemaker.
After her father’s death due to heart disease in 1942, thirteen-year-old Lata was forced to earn a living for the entire family. She took to singing and acting to make ends meet.
She sang her first song – Naachu Yaa Gade, Khelu Saari Mani Haus Bhaari – for Vasant Joglekar’s Marathi movie Kiti Hasaal (1942). Sadly, the song was dropped from the final cut of the movie.
With the film industry dominated by singers like Noor Jehan and Shamshad Begum who had heavy nasal voices, Lataji faced rejection as her soft voice was labeled too high pitched and thin by many.
She got her first major break with the song Dil Mera Toda from the movie Majboor (1948) but her first major hit was Aayega Aanewaala from the movie Mahal (1949), which was picturised on Madhubala.
There was no looking back for Lataji, who went on to sing hits like Jab Pyar Kiya Toh Darna Kya from Mughal-e-Azam (1960) and Ajeeb Dastaan Hai Yeh from Dil Apna Aur Preet Parayi (1960).
Here’s wishing Lataji a very happy birthday and a great year ahead.
