SPECIAL FEATURE: LATA MANGESHKAR ALBUM
A Radio Sargam Special

The legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar has become one of Bollywood's biggest ever idols. Her appeal crosses all borders and her fan base exists throughout the world. In a tribute to her achievements, the World Music Network has compiled an album including some of the most memorable tracks from her amazing catalogue.

Titled 'The Rough Guide To Bollywood Legends: Lata Mangeshkar', the album has been compiled by Ken Hunt, a full-time writer, broadcaster and translator specializing in music.

Bollywood - the Bombay-based centre of the Hindi-language film industry - long ago overtook Hollywood in terms of output and, many suspect, also in terms of influence and worldwide market penetration. Very likely, as the lights dim and colour shatters the darkness, one voice will cut through the silence, and this will be Lata Mangeshkar's. Whether singing a bhajan (a Hindu devotional hymn), a liltingly romantic song about rebirth or a raga-based film hit, she is one of India's greatest vocalists and one of the pre-eminent and most popular singers of our age. In the entire history of Indian film song, the greatest playback artist of either sex, the one that has reigned the longest, the one that everyone looks up to, is Lata Mangeshkar.

The oldest of five siblings, Lata was born in 1929 in Indore, Madyha Pradesh. Lata appeared as a child actress in several Marathi pictures and within a month of her father's death in 1942 she had begun to work to support the family. They moved from Pune to Kolhapur before ending up in Bombay in 1944, the epicentre of the wartime Hindi-language film industry. In between 1947 and 1949 the Bombay film industry was transformed and during this period Lata was one of several up-and-coming playback singers. In 1949 Lata sang the playback for a song that was to launch her career. She sang 'Aayega Aanewala' for Kamal Amrohi's directing debut Mahal, which was one of the year's biggest box-office successes. Until this time playback singers were a secret albeit an increasingly leaky one, but so many people requested 'Aayega Aanewala' that Radio Goa broke the taboo and started naming Lata as the playback singer.

'Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya' is taken from Mughal-E-Azam (1960), a film that for generation after generation has fired people's imagination. This film is a sumptuous re-enactment, that reunited Lata and the commanding classical vocalist Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, albeit it only in the opening credits. Lata has recorded duets with the cream of India's male playback singers, including Abhijeet, Manna Dey and Kishore Kumar. 'Yeh Dil Diwana Hai' from the film Ishq Par Zor Hai (1970) is a chance to hear Lata singing with Mohd. Rafi, the male artist who Lata has recorded the most duets with.

'Inhi Logon Ne' is a song from Kamal Amrohi's film Pakeezah (1971), one of the greatest musical melodramas in the history of world cinema. This was Amrohi's last film, and it was hugely successful. Lata rose to the challenge with 'Inhi Logon Ne', which makes shimmering use of footwork and ghungroos (ankle bracelets) as a rhythm component. The title song to Raj Kapoor's film 'Satyam Shivam Sundaram' (1978) and its other songs proved to be massive hits. The film examined love in its sacred and profane, inner and outward forms. The legend is that Kapoor was so smitten by Lata's voice that he regarded her as the living embodiment of Sarasvati, the Hindu goddess of music and learning, and developed this film as a vehicle for her vocal skills.

In 'Sare Shaher Mein', from the film Alibaba Aur Chalis Chor (1980), Lata sings a duet with Asha Bhosle - her sister with whom she has sung the most female duets with. Asha's second husband, R.D. 'Pancham' Burman, composed this song. 'Yara Seeli Seeli' is taken from S.S. Gulzar's film about rebirth Lekin (1990), which brought the talents of the Mangeshkars together. Hridaynath wrote the music, Lata produced the film, and Asha, Hridaynath and Lata all did playback. Lata's father, Dinanath, died oblivious to the fact that he had founded the most successful musical dynasty in Indian musical history. 'Kuchh Na Kaho' is taken from Vidhu Vinod Chopra's film 1942 A Love Story (1994). This film gripped the popular imagination in a way that transcended everybody's expectations and produced timeless, melodious songs.

For more information, please visit: http://www.worldmusic.net .

WRITTEN BY ROBEEL HAQ