Lata Mangeshkar

Lata Mangeshkar is a Singer from India. She is one of the best-known Playback singers in the Hindi movie industry. Mangeshkar's career started in 1942 and has spanned over six and a half decades. She sang in over 980 Bollywood movies and has sung songs in over twenty regional Indian languages, mostly in the Hindi. She is the elder sister of the equally accomplished singer Asha Bhosle and lesser-known singers Hridayanath Mangeshkar, Usha Mangeshkar and Meena Mangeshkar.

Lata is the Second vocalist ever to have received the Bharat Ratna, India's highest Civilian Honour.

Mangeshkar was featured in the "Guinness Book of World Records" from 1974 to 1991 for having made the most recordings in the world. The claim was that she has recorded no less than 25,000 Solo, Duet and chorus-backed songs in 20 Indian languages between 1948 to 1974 (30,000 songs between 1948 and 1987, according to 1987 edition). Over the years, while several sources have supported this claim, others have raised concerns over its veracity, claiming that this number was highly exaggerated and that Mangeshkar's sister, Asha Bhosle, had more song recordings than she had.

Lata Mangeshkar was born a Konkani family in Sikh Mohalla, Indore. Which then used to be in Central India Agency and is now in the State of Madhya Pradesh. Her father, Pandit Deenanath Mangeshkar, was a Classical singer and theater actor. Her mother, Shudhhamati was Deenanath's second wife. The family's last name used to be Hardikar - Deenanath changed it to Mangeshkar in order to identify his family with his native town, Mangeshi in Goa. Lata was named "Hema" at her birth.

In 1942, when Lata was 13, her father died of heart disease. Master Vinayak (Vinayak Damodar Karnataki), the owner of Navyug Chitrapat movie company and a close friend of the Mangeshkar family, took care of them. He helped Lata get started in a career as a singer and actress.

Her first Hindi song was 'Mata Ek Sapoot Ki Duniya Badal De Tu' for the Marathi film, Gajaabhaau (1943). Lata moved to Mumbai in 1945 when Master Vinayak's company moved its headquarters there. She started taking lessons in Hindustani classical music from Ustad Amanat Ali Khan Bhendibazaarwale. She sang 'Paa Lagoon Kar Jori' for Vasant Joglekar's Hindi-language movie Aap Ki Seva Mein (1946), which was composed by Datta Davjekar. Lata and her sister Asha played minor roles alongside actress Noor Jehan in Master Vinayak's first Hindi-language movie, Badi Maa (1945). In that movie, Lata also sang a 'Bhajan' (religious song), 'Maata Tere Charnon Mein'. She was introduced to Music director Vasant Desai during the recording of Master Vinayak's second Hindi-language movie, Subhadra (1946).

Initially, Lata imitated Noor Jehan, who was then the most popular singer, but later she developed her own style of singing. In that period, lyrics of songs in Hindi movies were primarily composed by Muslim poets and contained a higher proportion of Hindustani words. Actor Dilip Kumar once made a mildly disapproving remark about Lata's Maharashtrian accent while singing Hindi/Hindustani songs. So for a period of time, Lata took lessons in Hindustani from a maulavi, Shafi.

Mangeshkar sang many raga-based songs for Naushad in movies such as 'Baiju Bawra' (1952), Mughal-E-Azam (1960) and Kohinoor (1960). Ae Chorre Ki Jaat Badi Bewafa, a duet with G. M. Durrani, was Lata's first song for composer, Naushad. The duo, Shankar-Jaikishan, chose Lata as the female singer in practically all movies for which they scored, primarily for Raj Kapoor. These movies include Aag, Aah (1953), Shree 420 (1955) and Chori Chori (1956). Before 1957, composer Sachin Dev (S. D.) Burman chose Lata as the leading female singer for his musical scores in many movies, including Sazaa (1951), House No. 44 (1955) and Devdas (1955). However a rift developed between Lata and Burman in 1957, and Lata did not sing Burman's compositions again until 1962.

In 1990, Mangeshkar launched her own production house for Hindi movies. Its first (and only movie), Lekin, flopped. However, she won her third National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for her song 'Yaara Sili Sili' from the film. During the 1990s, she became very choosy. Some of her songs in this period were with music directors like Jatin-Lalit, Nadeem-Shravan, and more.

Mangeshkar has sung for almost all the Yash Chopra films and films from his production house Yash Raj Films, including Chandni (1989), Lamhe (1991), Darr (1993), Yeh Dillagi (1994), Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995), Dil To Pagal Hai (1997) and later on Mohabbatein (2000), Mujhse Dosti Karoge (2002) and Veer Zaara (2004). The Yash Raj Films banner's songs have been known for their romantic melodies identified with Mangeshkar's voice and songs such as Kabhi Main Kahun, Hothon Pe Bas , Hogaya Hai Tujhko, Humko Hamise Churalo and Tere Liye have become classics.

In 1999, Lata Eau De Parfum, a perfume brand named after her, was launched. In 1999, she was nominated as a member of Rajya Sabha. However, she did not attend the Rajya Sabha sessions regularly, inviting criticism from several members of the House, including the Deputy Chairperson Najma Heptullah, Pranab Mukherjee and Shabana Azmi. She stated the reason for her absence as ill-health. It was also reported that she had not taken a salary, allowance or a house in Delhi for being a Member of Parliament.

In 2001, Lata Mangeshkar was awarded "Bharat Ratna", India's highest civilian honor. In the same year, she established the Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital in Pune, managed by the Lata Mangeshkar Medical Foundation (founded by the Mangeshkar family in October 1989). In 2005, she designed a jewellery collection called Swaranjali, which was crafted by Adora, an Indian Diamond export company. Five pieces from the collection raised £ 1,05,000 at a Christie's, and a part of the money was donated for the 2005 Pakistan earthquake relief. Also in 2001, she recorded her first Hindi song with the composer Ilaiyaraaja, for the film Lajja (2001); she had earlier recorded Tamil and Telugu songs composed by Ilaiyaraaja.

Lata Mangeshkar has won several awards and honors, including Padma Bhushan (1969), Padma Vibhushan (1999), Dada Saheb Phalke Award (1989), Bharat Ratna (2001), three National Film Awards and 12 Bengal Film Journalists Association Awards. She has also won four Filmfare Best Female Playback Awards. In 1969, she made the unusual gesture of giving up the Filmfare Best Female Playback Award, in order to promote fresh talent. She was later awarded Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993.

Lata Mangeshkar's song 'Wada Na Tod' is also heard playing in the background of the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) and can be found on the film's soundtrack.
On June 21, 2007, she released an album Saadgi, featuring eight ghazal-like songs written by Javed Akhtar and composed by Mayuresh Pai.