Mortal remains of legendary Bharat Ratna playback singer Lata Mangeshkar were consigned to flames on Sunday evening as Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the nation in paying last tributes to her at Mumbai’s Shivaji ground.
Top celebrities, veteran politicians, noted personalities paid their floral tributes to Lata Mangeshkar as her last rites were performed with full state honour.
Among those present were Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, NCP supremo Shared Pawar, Union minister Piyush Goyal, Machine Tendulkar, Have Akhtar, Gulzar, Shah Rukh Khan and members of Mangeshkar family.
Considered to be India’s most respected and one of the greatest playback singers, Lata Mangeshkar’s vast collection of songs regaled, enthralled, and moved generations of music lovers and commoners alike.
Fondly known as Melody Queen and Nightingale of India, Lata Mangeshkar’s demise has left millions in a state of shock, disbelief, and heartbroken.
🔲 #BREAKING: Bharat Ratna #LataMangeshkar passes away. She was 92. pic.twitter.com/8E8SicuMY6
— NewsMobile (@NewsMobileIndia) February 6, 2022
Beginning her career at the tender age of 13 years in 1942, Lata Mangeshkar recorded songs for more than a thousand films not only in Hindi but also in Marathi, Bangla, and other regional languages.
Born to Dinanath Mangeshkar and Shevanti, she took up singing to support her family after the demise of her father who was a well-known Marathi theatre actor and a Hindustani classical vocalist. Her sisters – Asha Bhosale, Meena Khadilkar and Usha Mangeshkar and composer brother Hridaynath Mangeshkar also excelled in their own fields of music.
She ruled the Bollywood music industry for nearly seven decades and it was the dream and desire of every music director to get Lata Mangeshkar on board for their movies.
Her iconic songs include vastly popular “Lag Jaa Gale,” “Pyar Kiya to Darna Kya”, “Rasik Balma’’ and “Ae Mere Vatan Ke Logo” which moved the then Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru to tears when she rendered it after 1962 war of India with China.
Lata sang R D Burman’s first and last songs – in Chote Nawaab (1961) and Kuch Na Kaho in 1942: A Love Story in 1994. Her collaborations with A R Rahman produced popular songs like Luka Chupi in Rang de Basanti (2006) and O Paalanhaare in the movie, Lagaan (2001).
From Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya from Mughal-e-Azam (1960) to Ajeeb Dastaan Hai Yeh, from Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai (1960) to Rangeela Re from Prem Pujari (1970) or even Jiya Jale in Dil Se, she lent her voice to many timeless classics.
In 2012, Lata Mangeshkar launched her own music label called LM Music. Her most recent release (March 2019) was the song Saugandh Mujhe Is Mitti Ki, composed by Mayuresh Pai, which is a tribute to the Indian army and India.
In 1974, she became the first Indian to perform at the Royal Albert Hall. She is the recipient of three National Film Awards, 15 Bengal Film Journalists’ Association Awards, four Filmfare Best Female Playback Awards, two Filmfare Special Awards, Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award and many more. Lata Mangeshkar was bestowed with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1989.
In 2001, she was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honor. The government of France conferred her its highest civilian award (Officer of the Legion of Honour) in 2007.
Lata Mangeshkar holds the distinction of being the most recorded artist in the history of Indian music in Guinness Record in 1974. India’s government honored her with the Daughter of the Nation award on her 90th birthday in September 2019.
The book entitled “Lata Mangeshkar: A Musical Journey” has little known facts intertwined with the story of her life in music, struggles, successes, and her reign as the Queen of Hindi music from the 1940s to the present day.
She teamed up with veteran music directors in Hindi filmdom like Naushad, C. Ramachandra, S. D. Burman, Salil Chowdhury, Lakshmikant-Pyarelal, Roshan, Madan Mohan, Kalyanji-Anandji and others to produce soulful melodies. The resonance in her voice and the sweet melody was God’s gift to her and it was often said that she was the chosen and blessed one of Goddess Saraswati, the goddess of learning and music.
Fondly addressed as “Lata Didi”, her duets with Rafi Sahab, Kishore Kumar, Mukesh, Manna Dey, and others became hugely popular and topped popular charts in radio music shows. She excelled in all kinds of renditions – ghazals, romantics, happy and soulful tragic ones which reflected all moods. Her child-like innocence and purity were reflected in her songs and easily all her songs not only ruled Bollywood but the hearts of music lovers and her admirers. She teamed up with Jagjit Singh to produce an album of ghazals which became hugely popular.
Her last complete music album was for the 2004 Bollywood movie Veer-Zara. For the legendary singer, all honors, awards, and prizes which came her way appear to be so natural and easy. Her magnanimity and humility endeared her not only to each and every Bollywood personality but also to her compatriots. She also performed in India and abroad at various places to enthrall audiences cutting across cultures, proving that music knows no geographical boundaries.
She was also honored with Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, Dadasaheb Phalke Award as well as Filmfare Award for Lifetime Achievement.