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BIOGRAPHY OF LATA MANGESHKAR
by
David Courtney
working tools
lata Mangeshkar
Lata Mangeshkar (circa 1990)
Lata Mangeshkar is India's most well known
playback singer
. She has sung in all the major Indian languages and is one of the
most recorded artists in the world.
Childhood
Lata Mangeshkar was born in on September 28, 1929 in Indore, Madhya
Pradesh into a Maharashtrian Brahmin household. Her father was
Dinanath Mangeshkar
and her mother was named Shudhmati.
Lata was the oldest of several children. She had a younger brother
named Hridayanath Mangeshkar, as well as three younger sisters named
Asha (Bhosle),
Usha and Meena. (Of these Asha Bhosle would grow up to rival Lata in
the world of film music.)
Her exposure to music began in infancy. Her father Dinanath was an
accompanied classical vocalist and was very active in the theatre. It
is said that
Lata made her acting debut at the age of five in a play in which her
father was participating.
Lata's musical studies were not limited to hearing her father sing.
She also studied under Aman Ali Khan, and later under Amanat Khan, and
acquired a good
background in classical music.
Early Career
Lata's early film career was characterized by numerous changes in
direction, false starts, and a general unsteadiness. It was not at
all clear that she
was destined to be a successful singer.
1942 proved to be a very crucial year in here life. This was the year
that the film "Kit Haaal" was release. This was the first film that
Lata recorded
for; unfortunately her song would be cut and not make it to the
finished version. More traumatically for the young Lata, is that this
was the year that
her father died of a heart attack.
Lata was only 13 years old when her father died, but as the oldest
child, responsibility fell upon her to help take care of her families
financial needs.
She took to acting in small films in order to do this. Her first
appearance was a very small role in Pahili Mangalagaur (1942). Later
she acted in such
films as "Maajhe Baal" (1944), "Chimukla Sansar" (1943), "Gajabhau"
(1944), "Jeevan Yatra" (1946), "Chhatrapati Shivaji" (1952), "Badi
Maa" (1945).
The period in the early 40's did not look promising for Lata. Her
thin voice was very different from the heavier voice quality that was
in vogue (e.g.,
Noor Jahan). She received numerous rejections. It was not until 1947
that she was able to get a toehold in the industry by singing "Pa
Lagoon Kar Jori
Re" in the film "Aap ke Sewa Main" (1947). Lata sang several songs in
other films over the next few years, but her first big hit was in 1949
with "Aayega
Aanewaala".
There is no doubt that the partition played a role in Lata's rise to
fame. During the partition, there was a disruption when many
directors, producers
and artists left Bombay, while others migrated to India from Lahore.
One of the most notable artists to leave India, was Noor Jahan, who
was the undisputed
queen of the filmsong at the time. This disruption opened the doors
to Lata in an industry that previously may have been harder to get
into.
As the 1950's began, Lata was firmly established as a film singer.
Music directors she sang for included such greats as
Shankar-Jaikishan, and Anil Biswas.
During this period, "Mahal", "Barsaat", "Ek Thi Ladki" and "Badi
Bahen" were just some of the famous films that used her voice.
Lata's Peak
The next three decades would see Lata Mangeshkar reign as the
undisputed queen of the Hindi film song. She sang with almost all of
the major music directors,
and acquired a considerable clout in the politics of the film industry.
It is pointless to try and enumerate the songs that she did; however,
there are a few songs which stand out. In particular "O Sajna Barkha
Bahaar Aayee"
from Parakh (1960), "Aaja re Pardesi" from Madhumati (1958), "Itna na
Mujhse Tu Pyaar Badhaa" from Chhaya (1961), "Allah Tero Naam" from
"Hum Dono" (1961),
"Ehsaan Tera Hoga Mujh par" from "Junglee" (1961), and "Yeh Sama" from
"Jab Jab Phool Khile" (1965), seem particularly notable.
Lata also worked with most of the major music directors in this
period. Her work with, both S.D. Burman and R.D. Burman were very
fruitful. She also worked
with, Shankar /Jaikishan, Salil Chowdhury, Naushad and a host of
others. It is often said that her best work came with her songs for
Madan Mohan and C.
Ramchandra. It is interesting to note that O.P. Nayyar was one of the
few major music directors to not utilize her talents.
However Lata's reign was not always a smooth one. There was the well
known professional rivalry with her sister Asha Bhosle. For some
years she would
not sing with Mohd. Rafi due to a long standing dispute over
royalties. For some years she would not work with the music director
S.D. Burman. During
the peak of her career, she had a tremendous political clout within
the film industry and is known to have exercised this freely.
Lata's Decline
All things come to and end, and Lata's professional career was no
exception. Over the decades, the actresses for whom she was singing
became younger, and
Lata was growing older. It was inevitable that at some point it was
no longer going to be a workable match.
We cannot pinpoint a time where her career started to decline.
However by 1980 it was clear that it was not a necessity to have Lata
sing for a film.
Furthermore, there was a change in the style of the new songs.
Emerging music directors such as A.R. Rahman just did not see Lata's
voice as fitting into
their approach to creating music (although Lata did lend her voice for
some of his work). The result of all of this was that Lata Mangeshkar
gradually
moved from the peak of her career into today's state of semiretirement.
Never-the-less, this period shows some of Lata's most interesting work.
Songs such as "Sun Sahiba Sun" ("Teri Ganga Maili" - 1986), "Yaara
Seeli Seeli" ("Lekin" - 1990), even today stand our as some of her
most memorable work.
In 2001 Lata Mangeshkar was awarded India's highest civilian honor the
"Bharat Ratna",
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