By dint of discipline, coupled with exceptional longevity, she had lent her voice to a host of actresses, sometimes 50 years her junior. An unparalleled reign over Bollywood music.
Nicknamed “the nightingale of India”, Lata Mangeshkar died at 92, after an unrivaled reign in Bollywood music where she lent her voice for decades to a host of actresses.
The announcement on Sunday of her death, in a Bombay hospital where she had been admitted a few weeks ago after contracting Covid, sparked an immense wave of grief in the country.
Actor Anil Kapoor, known for his performance in Slumdog Millionaire, said to himself “heartbroken but blessed to have known and loved this incredible soul”.
Crowds of fans gathered outside his Bombay home to pay their last respects.
“His voice touches the soul of every Indian”, testified to AFP Rajesh Kumar Ram, 56. “His songs have accompanied us throughout our lives”.
Born on September 28, 1929 in Indore, Madhya Pradesh (center), Lata Mangeshkar began her musical training at an early age under the tutelage of her father Deenanath Mangeshkar, a classical singer and theater actor, whom she said was her first and ” true guru”. When she was only five years old, he took her with him when he performed on stage.
“My father was the huge influence that made me the singer I became. He taught me music.” she said in a daily interview Hindustan Times in 2013.
An idol is born
Died in 1944, “my dad didn’t see me becoming a playback singer. But he predicted my success.she continued, “He told my mother his prophecy: ‘Lata will be so successful that no one will be able to match her’”.
In 1945, the family moved to Bombay. Lata Mangeshkar, who must help her mother provide for her three younger sisters and her little brother, begins a career as a singer in Bollywood. By having him record his first song in 1947 for the film majboorGulham Haider, a great Indian composer, said to him: “People will forget all the others (…) when they hear you”. Dil mera toda, one of the songs in the film, propels her, at 18, into the spotlight.
From then on, the blockbusters of Bollywood would tear off his incomparable voice throughout the following decades, marking many cinematographic works such as Barsaat or Mahal. Accompanied by her younger sister Asha Bhonsle and her brother Hridayanath Mangeshkar, she has worked with almost all of the country’s composers. Her immense glory had made her essential to the point of being invited to sing, in January 1963, at the commemorations of the Republic Day of India.
Nehru moved to tears
She interpreted a patriotic tribute to the soldiers killed in the Sino-Indian war of 1962, Ae mere watan ke logo (“Oh people of my country”) which, it is said, moved Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to tears.
By dint of discipline, coupled with exceptional longevity, she had lent her voice to a host of actresses, sometimes 50 years her junior. So much so that some critics complained that its ubiquity overshadowed young rising stars. But she retained a following of fans that placed each of her songs at the top of the charts.
Remained single, some of her little quirks were famous. She always sang barefoot and transcribed each of her songs by hand before recording it.
Always wearing a long brown braid, red dot on the forehead, she sang in more than 1000 films and published a multitude of albums.
She had some 27,000 songs in her repertoire, performed in dozens of languages, including English, Russian, Dutch and Swahili.
“Pillar of Indian Culture”
Lata Mangeshkar had to drop out of school, yet she could read, write and spoke several languages including Hindi, Marathi, English and Urdu.
After more than 75 years of career, she was surprised to still be adored. She had broadcast a patriotic title on YouTube in March 2019, six months before celebrating her 90th birthday, singing almost until the end of her life.
His body was publicly cremated on Sunday evening in a park in Bombay, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was notably present.
“Future generations will remember her as a pillar of Indian culture, whose melodious voice had an unparalleled ability to bewitch people,” said the latter.
The authorities have declared two days of national mourning.