Taller a tree is, deeper its roots are!
People judge someone with the height they have achieved but
they never know from how much depth they have risen. Our musical legend Lata
Mangeshkar has her own story of life which has tested her lot of times but each
time, her passion for music has won and world gained such a musical legend!
Lata ji was born on September 28, 1929 when India was under
British rule. Her father was a classical singer and theater actor. When she was
five years old, she started working as an actress in her father’s musical
plays.
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| Lata Mangeshkar (Image: Hindilyrics) |
When Lata ji joined school, she used to sing songs there for
which teacher scolded her and she stopped going to school! She was 13 years old when her father died. It was a hard
time and at that time of crises, Master Vinayak, the owner of Navyug Chitrapat
Movie Company and a close family friend helped them. Thirteen years old Lata ji
sang her first song ‘Naachu Yaa Gade’ for a Marathi movie.
In 1945, she took lessons in Hindustani classical music from
Ustad Amanat Ali until he migrated to Pakistan in 1947. Master Vinayak died in
1948 and then director Ghulam Haider mentored Lataji.
Once, a producer rejected Lataji by saying that her voice is
too thin and that producer was Sashadhar Mukherjee. Haider had introduced her
to Mukherjee and after hearing such words, Haider became annoyed and said,“In
coming years producers and directors would fall at Lata’s feet and beg her to
sing in their movies”.
Lata ji got her major break with the song ‘Dil Mera Toda’
from the movie majboor in 1948.
Once, Dilip Kumar remarked on her Maharashtrian accent in
singing. Lata ji took that as an opportunity of improvement and thus took
lessons. Many directors and producers didn’t support her at first but it was
Lataji was destined to be a legend. She didn’t only work with those people
lately but she worked with their next generation, with their children too. Such
is the power of time!
Some people were surely jealous of the fame and name that
she was getting from her incomparable singing. In early months of 1962,
somebody gave her slow poison. She sensed death for three days and after ten
days, she started to recover. After this incident, her cook flew away without
even taking his salary.
One more interesting day lies in the life story of Lata ji.
It was on January 27, 1963. Lata ji sang the song ‘Aye Mere Watan Ke Logon’ in
the presence of our first Prime Minister Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru. This song
brought tears to the eyes of our first Prime Minister.
Lata ji have a distinctive voice with a vocal range more
than three octaves. She has recorded songs for more than 2000 Indian Movie. She
has received Padma Vibhushan in 1999 and Bharat Ratna in 2001.
She is one of the musical legends ever born in the human
history!
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