November 6th, 2010

Lata Mangeshkar – Profile

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Back to Legends – Lata Mangeshkar

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Lata Mangeshkar

Lata Mangeshkar

The doyen of playback singing in Indian cinema, Lata Mangeshkar’s songs have captured the hearts and imagination of millions around the world. In a career spanning five decades she has sung thousands of songs in several languages. Her voice is a soprano over three-octave.

Born in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, Lata Mangeshkar is eldest of the five siblings, namely. Asha Bhosle, Meena Khadikar, Usha Mangeshkar, and Hridayanath Mangeshkar. Her father, noted singer and stage actor Dinanath Mangeshkar, was her first teacher. After his demise, in 1942, she began working.

Lata Mangeshkar started her career as a child actress; she was 13 years of age. Her playback singing debut came in Vasant Joglekar’s Aap Ki Sewa Mein, in 1947. At a time when such singers as Shamshad Begum and Noorjehan ruled, she slowly made her presence felt with films such as Majboor and Mahal, for which she rendered the unforgettable Aaega, aane wala. After the Indo-China War, in 1962, her rendering of the song Ae mere watan ke logon, a song written by Kavi Pradeep, moved the then prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, to tears.

Lata Mangeshkar has lent her voice to heroines from Meena Kumari to Madhuri Dixit. She surprised even her fans with the range of her singing when, at the age of 70, she sang Jiya jale for the film Dil Se, which was a huge hit and was recorded in just 40 minutes. She has worked with almost all the leading music directors. She was at her best with musicians such as Naushad, C. Ramchandra, S.D. Burman, Madan Mohan, and Shanker Jaikishen. Films like Abhimaan, Dastak, and Amrapali are among her most memorable work. In the 1990s, she came up with vintage winners in Lekin (which she also produced), Rudaali, and the immensely popular Hum Aapke Hai Koun. She has also composed for and produced many Marathi films.

Lata Mangeshkar received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1989 and the Bharat Ratna in 2001 – (Source :- Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema)

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