Every Hindi film song by Lata Mangeshkar, in one graphic

73 years. At least 5,401 songs. In other words, Lata Mangeshkar has been at it for a long time.

By Gurman Bhatia and Aparna Alluri

September 28, 2016

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She started singing when she was 13. In 1949, a 20-year-old Lata caught her big break: the haunting “Aayega Aanewala” from Mahal.

Each block is a Hindi film song sung by her.

She sang the most in 1951. Two hits from the year: “Ghar Aya Mera Pardesi” from Awara and “Shola Jo Badke” from Albela.

She was the most prolific in this decade. She was singing at least one Hindi film song every other day.

She sang often for Nargis and Madhubala, two of the biggest heroines of their time.

More than half her songs — 3,482 — were solos. The rest — 1,919 — were either duets or had multiple singers.

She sang the most with Mohammed Rafi (450). Then came Kishore Kumar (348), followed by Mukesh (161).

She sang the most for composers Laxmikant-Pyarelal (689), followed by Shankar-Jaikishan (461) and R.D. Burman (355). She never worked with OP Nayyar, one of the most successful composers.

In the 90s, Lata sang for Kajol. She had also sung for Kajol’s mother Tanuja, aunt Nutan and grandmother, Shobhana Samarth: three generations of actors.

She last sang in 2015, more than seven decades since her first song. It’s a career that is nearly as old as the Bollywood we know.