Lata Mangeshkar: A Brief Biography
Born on 28th September 1929 in Indore (M.P.), Lata Mangeshkar is one of the greatest singers India has ever produced. Mangeshkar family could very well be called the premier musical family of India as father Pt. Dinanth and 5 siblings- Lata, Usha, Asha (Bhosle), Meena (Khadikar) and Hridaynath have all contributed immeasurably in the field of popular music as singers and composers.
Lata recorded her first song Naachu yaa gade khelu saari for a Marathi film ‘Kiti hasaal’(1942) and in ‘Aap ki seva mein’ (1947), she made her playback singing debut for Hindi films with the song Paa laagun kar jori. Even though she has sung in excess of 7500 songs in many different languages, her maximum output and best works are in Hindi, Marathi and Bengali. As a singer, her main body of work comprises of film songs. Simplicity and easy accessibility of this musical form coupled with Lata’s matchless virtuosity and versatility has made her a national cultural icon that has stood the test of time. It is the class, creativity, critical acclaim and cultural impact, not to mention the consistent commercial success of her musical output that has set her apart from her contemporaries and has given her the status of proverbial ‘Melody queen of India’. Most of the stalwarts in Indian Classical music have praised her role in popularizing their genre in masses through her semi-classical film songs. The legendary classical singer Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan had once affectionately called Lata as ‘Ustadon ki ustaad’. Commercially speaking, various film soundtracks and non-film
Lata recorded her first song Naachu yaa gade khelu saari for a Marathi film ‘Kiti hasaal’(1942) and in ‘Aap ki seva mein’ (1947), she made her playback singing debut for Hindi films with the song Paa laagun kar jori. Even though she has sung in excess of 7500 songs in many different languages, her maximum output and best works are in Hindi, Marathi and Bengali. As a singer, her main body of work comprises of film songs. Simplicity and easy accessibility of this musical form coupled with Lata’s matchless virtuosity and versatility has made her a national cultural icon that has stood the test of time. It is the class, creativity, critical acclaim and cultural impact, not to mention the consistent commercial success of her musical output that has set her apart from her contemporaries and has given her the status of proverbial ‘Melody queen of India’. Most of the stalwarts in Indian Classical music have praised her role in popularizing their genre in masses through her semi-classical film songs. The legendary classical singer Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan had once affectionately called Lata as ‘Ustadon ki ustaad’. Commercially speaking, various film soundtracks and non-film