Hema Mangeshkar, excellently known as Lata Mangeshkar was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She was also known as Queen of Melody; Nightingale of India. Her songs had been featured in many films and she was the recipient of the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honor. Lata received her first music lesson from her father and at the age of five, she started to work as an actress in her father’s musical plays (Sangeet Natak in Marathi). She held the record for most recordings in the world, with more than 25,000, according to the Guinness Book of World Records from 1974 to 1991. Lata was also well recognized for recording songs in over thirty-six Indian languages and a few foreign languages, though primarily in Hindi, Bengali, Marathi. As well, she became the first Indian to perform at Royal Albert Hall, London in 1997. Sadly, we lost such a versatile icon on 6th February 2022.
Lata Mangeshkar Leave The World Forever
Lata Mangeshkar passed away on 6th February 2022 at 8:12 a.m., aged 92, from Multiple Organ Dysfunction Syndrome after undergoing 28 days of constant treatment for Pneumonia and COVID-19. On 8th January 2022, she tested positive for COVID-19 with mild symptoms and was admitted to Breach Candy Hospital’s intensive care unit in Mumbai. She remained in the ICU with signs of “marginal improvement” in her health. The doctors treating her had taken her off the ventilator on 28th January after her health “improved marginally”; however, she was back on the ventilator on 5th February, after her health deteriorated, and was undergoing “aggressive therapy”.
PM Narendra Modi and stars of the entertainment industry attended the funeral, where large crowds gathered to pay their respects. Two days of national mourning will follow the funeral and the national flag will be flown at half-mast throughout the country. Crowds gathered outside her home, where her coffin began its journey to a city park where it was publicly cremated. Mr. Modi was among those who laid flowers on the pyre.
What was Lata Mangeshkar Famous For?
- Being an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer.
- For recording songs in over thirty-six Indian languages and a few foreign languages.
Source: @nytimes
Where was Lata Mangeshkar from?
Lata Mangeshkar was born on 28th September 1929 with the real name of Hema Mangeshkar in Indore, Indore State, British India. She was of Indian nationality and she belonged to the Asain ethnicity. Similarly, her religion was Hindu and her race was black. Lata lastly celebrated her 92nd birthday in 2021 and as per her birth date, her star sign was Libra. She was the daughter of Deenanath Mangeshkar (father), a Marathi and Konkani musician, and his wife Shevanti Mangeshkar (mother). She was the eldest child in the family. Meena, Asha, Usha, and Hridaynath, in birth order, are her siblings; all are accomplished singers and musicians. In 1942, when Mangeshkar was 13, her father died of heart disease.
Source: @instagram.com/lata_mangeshkar
How was the Career of Lata Mangeshkar?
- Lata Mangeshkar kicked off her career singing the song “Naachu Yaa Gade, Khelu Saari Mani Haus Bhaari” after which she got a small role in Navyug Chitrapat’s Marathi movie “Pahili Mangalaa-gaur” (1942). Her first Hindi song was “Mata Ek Sapoot Ki Duniya Badal De Tu” (1943).
- Then she sang “Paa Lagoon Kar Jori” for Vasant Joglekar’s Hindi-language movie “Aap Ki Seva Mein” (1946) and one of her first major hits was “Aayega Aanewaala,” a song in the movie “Mahal” (1949).
- She made her debut in Tamil playback singing with “Vanaradham” in 1956 and sang many raga-based songs for Naushad in movies such as “Deedar” (1951), “Baiju Bawra” (1952), “Amar” (1954), “Uran Khatola” (1955) and “Mother India” (1957).
- She was chosen as the leading female singer by composer S. D. Burman for his musical scores in “Sazaa” (1951), “House No. 44” (1955), and “Devdas” (1955).
- She recorded two popular bhajans, “Allah Tero Naam” and “Prabhu Tero Naam” in 1961 and sang the patriotic song “Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo” against the backdrop of the Sino-Indian War on 27th January 1963.
- Also, she had sung in R. D. Burman’s first film, “Chhote Nawab” (1961), and later in his films such as “Bhoot Bungla” (1965), “Pati Patni” (1966), “Baharon Ke Sapne” (1967), and “Abhilasha” (1969).
- She also sang over 700 songs for the composer duo over a period of 35 years, many of which became huge hits as well as she sang several playback songs for Marathi films.
- During the 1960s and 1970s, she sang several Bengali songs and made her Kannada debut in 1967 for the film Kranthiveera “Sangolli Rayanna”.
- In 1972, Meena Kumari’s last film, “Pakeezah”, was released which featured popular songs including “Chalte Chalte” and “Inhi Logon Ne”, sung by Mangeshkar.
- Lata’s first concert overseas was at the Royal Albert Hall, London, in 1974 and was the first Indian to do so.
- She sang the main theme song “Satyam Shivam Sundaram,” in the 1978 Raj Kapoor-directed “Satyam Shivam Sundaram”.
- As well, she worked with the children of composers she had earlier worked with within the late 1970s and early 1980s and sang many songs in the Assamese language, and developed a very good relationship with the Assamese musician Bhupen Hazarika.
- From the 1980s onwards she worked with music directors such as “Shiv-Hari in Silsila” (1981), “Faasle” (1985), “Vijay” (1988), and “Chandni” (1989) and made a comeback to Tamil films with two back-to-back renditions of composer Ilaiyaraaja’s songs “Aaraaro Aaraaro” and “Valai Osai” in the late 1980s.
- During the 80s, she sang hits such as “Sun Sahiba Sun” in “Ram Teri Ganga Maili” (1985) for Ravindra Jain, “Chand Apna Safar” in “Shama” (1981), “Shayad Meri Shaadi” and “Zindagi Pyar Ka” in “Souten” (1983), “Hum Bhool Gaye Re” in “Souten Ki Beti” (1989) for Usha Khanna.
- Subsequently, Mangeshkar recorded with music directors including Anand–Milind, Nadeem-Shravan, Jatin-Lalit, Dilip Sen-Sameer Sen, Uttam Singh, Anu Malik, Aadesh Shrivastava, and A. R. Rahman during the 1990s and launched her own production house for Hindi movies which produced the Gulzar-directed movie “Lekin….” in 1990.
- She released “Shraddanjali – My Tribute to the Immortals” in 1994 and recorded her first Hindi song with the composer Ilaiyaraaja, for the film “Lajja” in 2001.
- Mangeshkar released the album “Sarhadein: Music Beyond Boundaries” on 12th April 2011 and she came back to playback sing and record at her own studio the song “Jeena kya hai, jaana maine” for “Dunno Y2… Life Is a Moment” (2015).
- She launched her own music label, LM Music, with an album of bhajans, “Swami Samarth Maha Mantra” on 28th November 2012 and recorded a Bengali album, “Shurodhwani” in 2014 whereas Mangeshkar had sung 185 songs in Bengali, making her debut in 1956 with the hit song “Aakash Prodeep Jwole”.
- One of her latest songs was “Jeena Hai Kya” from “Dunno Y2” (2014).
- Furthermore, “The Guinness Book of Records” listed Lata Mangeshkar as the most recorded artist in history in 1974, stating that she had reportedly recorded “not less than 25,000 solo, duet and chorus backed songs in 20 Indian languages” between 1948 and 1974.
Source: @abplive
Awards and Achivements
- National Film Awards
- BFJA Awards
- Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer
- Filmfare Special Awards
- Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award
- Padma Bhushan (1969)
- Dadasaheb Phalke Award (1989)
- Maharashtra Bhushan (1997)
- Padma Vibhushan (1999)
- Bharat Ratna (2001)
- Officer of the National Order of the Legion of Honour (2006)
Source: @iwmbuzz
Was Lata Mangeshkar Married?
Lata Mangeshkar was never married. While she mostly steered clear from answering questions about her personal life, on a rare occasion the singer shared her thoughts on love, marriage, and children and their gravity in her life. When asked to share who was the lucky man in her life and how love influenced her, Lata told Hindustan Times, “There are some things only for the heart to know. Let me keep it that way.” In addition to this, she also spoke about the popular opinion that a woman is ‘incomplete’ unless she was married and had children. “People talk all sorts of things, so learn to ignore them. Else, it’ll be difficult to lead a happy life. Energies that are negative and depressing should be kept at bay. I have always done that,” she said in the same interview dated back to 2013. Hence, Lata was living a single life till her death. Concerning her sexual orientation, she was straight.
What was the Net Worth of Lata Mangeshkar?
Lata Mangeshkar was a talented woman who had a net worth of $16 million at the time of her death (2022). She also earned a handsome amount of salary which was around 40 Lakhs Indian Rupees per year. Lata had gained a considerable amount of money from her profession as her major source of income was from her playback singer and occasional music composer career. She was sincere in her work.
How tall was Lata Mangeshkar?
Lata Mangeshkar was 5 ft 2 in or 157.5 cm tall and her body weighed around 65 kg or 143.5 lbs. She had black hair and eyes color. Lata’s body build type was average. Moreover, her soulful voice and pierced ears attracted a lot of people towards her.
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