It is melody queen Lata Mangeshkar's birthday

By Arpana Sep 28, 2006, 14:37 GMT

New Delhi, Sep 28 (IANS) Singing legend Lata Mangeshkar, who turned 77 Thursday, is still going strong and continues to lend her voice to the latest crop of actresses, some young enough to be her granddaughters.

From popular and light classical music to film songs, from ghazals to bhajans and pop, she has sung all kind of songs in her more-than-five decade-long career.

Lata has worked with almost all the top music composers and singers in the industry. She has sung more than 30,000 songs in over 20 Indian languages.

'I have sung thousands of songs and I feel there are many which are not good, but there are also many songs which are the best.'

'Have you ever seen a waterfall retrace its path?... I have seen it... rather heard it in didi's voice. The tinkling notes of her taan tumble forth like a waterfall plunging down a cliff and then go back exactly the same way,' Asha Bhosle, her sister and popular singer, was quoted as saying.

Lata brought in many constructive changes in Bollywood which proved to be extremely beneficial for singers in the long run. And not only her contemporary singers but the new generations are reaping the benefits from what she sowed decades ago.

Headstrong and confident, Lata had her way and introduced the royalty system for singers in the industry. In fact, she is the one who insisted that the singer's name should be published with the songs instead of actors.

Her revolutionary ideas irked many bigwigs who tried to stop her, but she continued with her move. For instance she stopped singing with Mohammed Rafi. She even refused to sing for S.D. Burman and from 1957 to 62 she didn't sing any song for the maverick composer. She had a tiff with Bollywood's biggest showman Raj Kapoor on the issue as well.

Such was her clout that she had her way and they came back to her.

'She could have been selfish enough with her achievements. But she is such a great person that she works for the betterment of everyone. She is helpful. In fact, she fights for the younger generation also. She stands by them,' Raju Singh, who scored the background score of Madhur Bhandakar's 'Page 3', told IANS.

However, he regrets not having worked with Lata yet.

'Lataji is still a dream to work with. It's very unfortunate that I haven't got a chance to work with her though she has released my new album. Working with Lataji is an achievement for new generations. It gives the feeling of fulfilment,' added Singh.

Born on Sep 28, 1929, to a family of musicians settled in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, Lata started learning the nuances of music at the age of five from her father Dinanath Mangeshkar, a reputed classical singer from the Gwalior school of music who used to own a theatre company.

Since singing was in her blood, Lata was able to master the vocal lessons much quicker than the others in her age group. Her talent was noticeable to everyone who came in contact with her.

But the sudden demise of her father in 1942 put Lata and her family into bad times. Lata being the eldest among the siblings, had to take the responsibility of her mother, three younger sisters and a brother. The burden of the sole breadwinner fell on her shoulders and she carried her responsibilities religiously and sincerely.

She started her career as an actress with Hindi and Marathi movies and acted in eight films. While she was working as an actress, she also made her debut as a playback singer with a Marathi film 'Kiti Hasaal' in 1942 but her song was edited.

Later, in 1947, Lata got her first big break in Hindi film 'Aap Ke Sewa Main' in 1947 but it failed to give her any recognition. In those days, the Bollywood music industry was dominated by heavier voices like Noorjehan, Shamshad Begum and Zohrabai Ambalewali.

In fact, in the beginning it was very difficult for the young Lata to find a foothold with her thin voice. Well-known producer S. Mukherjee refused to engage her for his film 'Shaheed', saying her voice was too thin.

However, the film's music composer Ghulam Haider was impressed with this new singing talent and used her voice for the song 'Dil mera toda' in 'Majboor'. The film was released in 1948 and opened new avenues for the struggling singer.

The very next year Lata stuck gold with 'Barsaat' 'Andaaz', 'Dulari' and 'Mahal'. All the songs from these four films were super-hits, particularly 'Aaega aanewaalaa' from 'Mahal', which changed Lata's fortunes forever in the industry.

Her high-pitched singing proved to be a welcome change in front of the base nasal voices of the day. Her initial style of singing was reminiscent of Noorjehan, but she soon evolved her own distinguished style. The phenomenal success of 'Mahal' made Lata the most powerful woman in the film industry during that period.

After the 1962 Indo-China war, Lata sang 'Aye mere watan ke logon' that moved the then Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru to tears, and he said, 'Beti toone mujhe rula diya.'

It was at this time that the then Pakistani prime minister said he would gladly 'exchange Lata for Kashmir'.

Written by Pradeep, 'Aye mere watan ke logon' till date continues to inspire Indians and is considered one of the most moving songs extolling patriotism.

After ruling the roost for decades, from the 80s onwards Lata started cutting down on her workload to concentrate on foreign shows.

Even today, her voice continues to be the most preferred one amongst the older generation of filmmakers who without fail convince her to sing for their movies. One of them is well-known filmmaker Yash Chopra. Lata sang all the songs for his crossover love story 'Veer-Zaara'.

She also lent her voice for Madhur Bhandarkar's highly acclaimed film 'Page 3'.

Satyajit Ray and Lata are the only two people to have received both the Bharat Ratna - India's highest civilian honour - and the Dada Saheb Phalke Award - the most prestigious film award. She is the fifth woman to receive the Bharat Ratna, the other four are - Indira Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Aruna Asaf Ali and M.S. Subbalakshmi.

'I wish she lives for a hundred more years. She is a source of inspiration for all of us. She is an institution in herself,' said Singh.

To honour Lata, Zee Network's music Channel Zee Music has named itself Zee Lata for the day and will play only her songs Thursday.

Other TV channels have come up with various programmes to show their respect and love to the singer.

© 2006 Indo-Asian News Service