Remembering Lata Mangeshkar, ‘nightingale of Bollywood’ and Indian icon – 4 things to know about the humble movie playback singer who once moved prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru to tears
- Nasreen Munni Kabir’s book, Lata Mangeshkar in Her Own Voice, talked about her father’s key role – she also had a surprising love of Las Vegas’ slot machines
- Called ‘Devi’, she first sang in the film Mahal in 1949 and Bollywood, as well as her moving version of Aye Mere Watan Ke Logon (O, People of My Land), shaped her career
She recorded songs in more than 30 languages and lent her voice to over 1,000 films, changing the face of Bollywood and making her voice a part of India’s story.
On February 6, Lata Mangeshkar, nicknamed “the nightingale of Bollywood”, died at the age of 92. She was hospitalised on January 11 after contracting Covid-19 and died of multiple organ failure at the Breach Candy hospital in Mumbai.
Her death has impacted people across the whole of India, with two days of national mourning being declared. As India is united in sadness over her loss, we’re also remembering her legacy to provide some solace through this dark time.
Here’s a glimpse at her life’s journey …
She was born into music
The Bollywood icon was born in Indore, on September 28, 1929. Her father was a singer, theatre actor and producer of musicals. She was never formally educated, with a maid teaching her the Marathi alphabet and a priest teaching her Sanskrit.
Singing was her true passion and, in the book Lata Mangeshkar in Her Own Voice by Nasreen Munni Kabir, she spoke about the bond she shared with her father, detailing how he motivated her when she was learning how to sing as a child. She said she used to make excuses not to train her voice and eventually told her father she felt shy to sing in front of him. He told her a father is like a guru and her goal was to sing better than her guru, motivating her to push on and continue singing.