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In a league of her own: How Lata struck a chord and broke records
Lata started her musical training under the tutelage of her father Deenanath, singing in his theatrical productions when she was just five years old. She also began acting in her father’s musical plays
Born in Indore on September 28, 1929 to renowned Marathi theatre actor and Hindustani classical musician, Pandit Deenanath Mangeshkar and Shevanti Haridas Lad, Lata Mangeshwar was named Hema at birth. Her parents later renamed her Lata, after a character Latika of her father’s play Bhaaw Bandhan.
Growing up with four younger siblings — Meena, Asha, Usha and Hridaynath — Lata started her musical training under the tutelage of her father Deenanath, singing in his theatrical productions when she was just five years old. She also began acting in her father’s musical plays.
CAREER
In 1942, when Lata was just 13, she was forced to take on the role of the breadwinner after her father’s death, and recorded her first playback song for a Marathi film, Kiti Hasaal that same year. She also acted in a Marathi film, Pahili Mangalagaur.
The family moved to Mumbai in 1945, and recorded her first Hindi film playback song in 1946.
She soon began learning Hindustani music from Ustad Aman Ali Khan of the Bhindibazaar gharana. Madhubala-starrer Mahal, where she sang the breakthrough Aayega Aanewala, bolstered her position in the industry.
By the 1950s, Lata cemented her position as the most popular playback singer of Hindi cinema, working with some of the most notable music composers of her generation, including Anil Biswas, Naushad Ali, Madan Mohan, SD Burman, C Ramchandra, Khayyam, among others.
In a move reflecting her huge following, she was invited by the government to sing a patriotic tribute to soldiers killed in the 1962 Indo-China war at India’s Republic Day commemorations in January 1963. Her rendition of “Oh the People of My Country” reportedly moved then-prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru to tears.
In 2012, she launched her own music label, LM Music. By this time, she had thousands of songs in several Indian languages, from Punjabi to Tamil, Bengali to Chhattisgarhi, and across genres from Gurbani to ghazals to qawwals to classical compositions.
AWARDS & ACHIEVEMENTS
She was bestowed with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1989. In 2001, Mangeshkar was awarded India’s highest civilian honour the Bharat Ratna, and she received France’s Legion d’Honneur in 2009 in recognition of her contribution to Indian music and cinema. She was also the recipient of three National Film Awards, 15 Bengal Film Journalists’ Association Awards, four Filmfare Best Female Playback Awards and several others. In 1974, Mangeshkar became the first Indian to perform in the Royal Albert Hall, London.
She also holds the distinction of being the most recorded artist in the history of Indian music in Guinness Record in 1974. The Indian government honoured her with the Daughter of the Nation award on her 90th birthday in September last year.
PHILANTHROPY
In 2001, she established the Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital in Pune. The hospital was managed by the Lata Mangeshkar Medical Foundation, which was earlier founded in October 1989 by the Mangeshkar family.
In 2005, she designed her very own jewellery collection called Swaranjali. Five pieces from the collection raised £105,000 at a Christie’s auction part of which was donated for the 2005 Kashmir earthquake relief. The United Way of Greater Toronto invited her to perform at Maple Leaf Gardens in June 1985. Canadian singer Anne Murray requested Mangeshkar to sing her song, You Needed Me. 12,000 attendees were present at the concert, which eventually raised $150,000 for the charity.
