India’s Nightingale,Singer Lata Mangeshkar Dies At 92

Lata Mangeshkar, for whom the title playback singer is not enough, has passed away in Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital. She was 92. Ms. Mangeshkar was…

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Lata Mangeshkar, for whom the title playback singer is not enough, has passed away in Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital. She was 92. Ms. Mangeshkar was taken to the ICU unit Tuesday after testing positive for COVID-19.
Lata Mangeshkar, who has received awards like Bharat Ratna, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Dadasaheb Phalke Awards, was an icon of Indian film, having sung playback for a long list of Hindi movies; she additionally sang in a few regional dialects including Marathi and Bengali. Ms. Mangeshkar, who had a background of a musical family, also composed music as well as produced a handful of films. Lata Didi was popularly known as the ‘Nightingale of India.’
Lata Mangeshkar was born in the year 1929. They were 5 siblings and Lata Didi was the oldest of five kin, among them Singer Asha Bhonsle who visited Mangeshkar in the clinic after she was taken to ICU. Their dad was traditional singer Pandit Deenanath Mangeshkar, who gave the youthful Lata Mangeshkar her first music lesson. In 1942, when her father passed away, 13-year-old Lata Mangeshkar started her career in music, juggling singing with acting parts in Marathi films. In 1945, Ms. Mangeshkar had an early hit in the song Aayega Aanewala from the film Mahal, featuring Madhubala. From that time, Lata Mangeshkar’s voice and career took off to the best. She sang raga-based compositions by Naushad in films like Baiju Bawra, Mother India and Mughal-E-Azam, Shankar-Jaikishan’s melodic hits in Barsaat and Shree 420; Salil Chowdhury’s lilting tracks in Madhumati won her a Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer; three more Filmfare Awards came by way of Bees Saal Baad, Khandan and Jeene Ki Raah. Lata Mangeshkar won three National Awards for Best Female Playback Singer for the films Parichay, Kora Kagaz, and Lekin. Other memorable films in her credits include Pakeezah, Abhimaan, Amar Prem, Aandhi, SIlsila, Chandni, Sagar, Rudali, and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge.
Among Lata Mangeshkar’s most known songs is Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo among others; the song, commemorating Indian soldiers who died in the 1962 war with China, was performed on Republic Day in 1963 at the National Stadium in New Delhi. Lata Mangeshkar sang it live in front of President S Radhakrishnan and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
Lata Mangeshkar formed music for a small bunch of Marathi films, winning the Maharashtra State Government’s honor for Best Music Director in 1965 for the movie Sadhi Manase. She likewise created a few movies, for which she also sang.

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