Lata Mangeshkar Indian playback singer
Lata Mangeshkar, the Queen of Melody of India was born September 28, 1929 in Indore and from her tender days has been active in all walks of Indian popular and light classical music having sung film songs, ghazals, bhajans and pop. She is hailed not only in India, but also in the international continuum as the supreme voice of popular Indian music, herself an Indian Institution. Till the year 1991 edition of the Guinness Book of Records she was listed as the most recorded artist in the world with not less than 30,000 solo, duet and chorus-backed songs recorded in 20 Indian languages between 1948 and 1987, not to speak of today! It was the untimely death of her father Dinanath Mangeshkar made her the main breadwinner of the family and had to fight with the adverse world to get a two square meal for the family. Though she had first playback singing in the Hindi movie Aap ke Sewa Main (1947) she was unable to leave any impression, but the release of four films. Barsaat, Andaaz (1949), Dulari and Mahal gave her the real footing. By 1950 the Lata wave had changed the Industry. Her high-pitched singing rendered obsolete the heavy basy nasal voices of the day. Except Gita Dutt and Shamsad Begum none in the industry survived the Lata onslaught. Even hr own sister Asha Bhonsle had to fight a lot to find her own foothold! It was this phenomenal success that made Lata the most powerful woman in the Film Industry. Her battle with Mohd. Rafi in the 1960s and S.D. Burman is still remembered with reverence, which she ultimately won! It is to be mentioned, that the decades of 1960s and 70s saw Lata go from strength to strength even as there were accusations of her monopolizing the field.
For her glaring contribution Lata Mangeshkar was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the latest jewel in Lata's crown is having India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna conferred on her.
