LATA MANGESHKAR
Lata Mangeshkar, the singer of the Millennium, the melody queen of Bollywood on her 80th birthday . Her fans celebrated her 80th birthday on 28th September 2009. She is popular as’ The Nightingale of India’. The music lovers all over the world listening to her celestial voice for over six decades. She sang in over a thousand Bollywood movies and has sung songs in over twenty regional Indian language. She has recorded over 30,000 songs in 14 Indian languages, making her the most recorded voice in history. She received the highest civilian honor of India Government of India, ‘Bharatha Rathna’. She also featured in the ‘Guinness Book of World Records’ from 1974 to 1991 for having made the most recordings in the world. Now also her sweet voice continues to inspire the nation.
BIOGRAPHY
Lata Mangeshkar was born in Indore on September 8, 1929. Her father Pandit Deenanath Mangeshkar was a classical singer and theater actor. Her mother is Shudhhamati. Lata was named ‘Hridaya’ at her birth. Lata is the eldest child of her parents. Asha, Hridayanath, Usha, and Meena are her siblings in sequence. She learned the first lessons about music from her father. Her formal education was limited to one day in school. In the early stages, she was rejected from many projects that her voice was too high pitched and thin. She started her playback career through a Marathi film ‘Kiti Hasaal’ in 1942. But this song was edited out. She got a break through the film ‘Majboor’ with Ghulam Haider in 1948. 1949 saw the release of her four movies Mahal, Dulari, Barsaat , and Andaz. All four of them became a big hit. In 1960’s she is being known as one of the leading playback singers. In 1960, her song ‘Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya’ from Mughal-E-Azam composed by Naushad became very famous. In 1962 she received the ‘film fare award’ for the song ‘Kahin Deep Jale Kahin Dil’ from ‘Bees Saal Baad’. She has recorded duets with all the leading male singers of her era, including Mukesh, Manna Dey, Mohammed Rafi, and Kishore Kumar. In 1970’s she again strengthened her presence in the field of playback singing. Most notable songs of her in 1970’s were composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal and Rahul Dev Burman. In 1973 she won the ‘National Film Award for Best Female playback ‘ Singer for the song ‘Beeti Na Bitai’ from the film ‘Parichay’. She again received the same award for the song ‘Roothe Roothe Piya’ from the film ‘Kora Kagaz’. In 1981 she recorded her first duet with S P Balasubrahmanyam for the film ‘Ek Duje Ke Liye’. She won her third ‘National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer’ for her song ‘Yaara Sili Sili’. Even today some of Hindi Cinema’s biggest hits, includes Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), Dil To Pagal Hai (1997), and Veer-Zaara (2004) features her sweet voice. In 2007 she released an album Saadgi, featuring eight ghazal-like songs written by Javed Akhtar and composed by Mayuresh Pai. She has also staged many concerts in India and abroad, including several charity concerts. She also sang some bhajans. She composed music for the film ‘Ram Ram Pavhane’ in 1955.
AWARDS AND HONORS
Lata Mangeshkar received several awards and honors in her career. She gained ‘Padma Bhushan’ in 1969 and ‘Padma Vibhushan’ in 1999. She also won the ‘National award for the Best female singer’ for three times. She received the ‘NTR National Award’ in 1999. She received the ‘Filmfare Best Female Playback Awards’ for four times. She was later awarded ‘Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award’ in 1993. The state Government of Madhya Pradesh and state Government of Maharashtra instituted the ‘Lata Mangeshkar Award’ in honor of her. In 1974 she listed in the ‘Guinness Book of Records’ as the most recorded artist in the history. She is also being the winner of ‘Dadasaheb Phalke Award’for her contribution to Indian Cinema.
