Legendary playback singer Lata Mangeshkar is noted for her distinctive voice and vocal range that extended over more than three octaves.
She was born on 28 September 1929 in Indore, India. She was the eldest of five siblings. Her father was Pandit Deenanath Mangeshkar and her mother was Shevanti. His father was a noted Marathi stage personality popularly known as Master Dinanath.
She was introduced to music at an early age. At the age of 13, she recorded her first song for Vasant Joglekar’s Marathi film Kiti Hasaal.
Lata Mangeshkar’s birth name was “Hema”. Later, her parents renamed her name and kept it, Lata, after a female character, Latika, in one of her father’s plays, BhaawBandhan. Her siblings’ names in birth order are Meena, Asha, Usha, and Hridaynath. All are accomplished singers and musicians. Her educational career is not much known but she proved that a degree is not the only way to earn. She received her first music lesson from her father. When she was five years old, she started to work as an actress in her father’s musical plays.
In her career of more than six decades, she was the singing voice for a bevy of Bollywood leading ladies. No doubt she had an unprecedented impact on Indian film music. Lata Mangeshkar pushed back the boundaries of music with her mind-boggling skills since 1942.
When Lata Mangeshkar was 13 years old, her father died due to a heart attack in 1942. The owner of Navyug Chitrapat movie company named Master Vinayak or Vinayak Damodar Karnataki took care of them. He was a close friend of the Mangeshkar family. He helped Lata to get started in a career as a singer and actress.
In 1942, Lata Mangeshkar sang the song “Naachu Yaa Gade, Khelu Saari Mani Haus Bhaari”. It was composed by Sadashivrao Nevrekar for Vasant Joglekar’s Marathi movie Kiti Hasaal. The song dropped from the final cut.
As a teenager, she struggled and support her family. She established herself as a playback singer in the Hindi film industry of the 1940s. She moved to Mumbai in 1945. She started taking lessons from Ustad Aman Ali Khan of Bhindibazaar Gharana in Hindustani classical music.
She won several awards and honours and some of them are listed below:
2009 – ANR National Award
2007 – Legion of Honour
2001 – Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award
1999 – Padma Vibhushan
1999 – Zee Cine Award for Lifetime Achievements
1999 – NTR National Award
1997 – Maharashtra Bhushan Award
1989 – Dadasaheb Phalke Award
1972, 1974, and 1990 – Three National Film Awards
15 Bengal Film Journalists’ Association Awards
1959, 1963, 1966, and 1970 – Four Filmfare Best Female Playback Awards.
1993 – Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award
1994 and 2004 – Filmfare Special Awards
1984 – State Government of Madhya Pradesh instituted the Lata Mangeshkar Award of Lata Mangeshkar
1992 – the State Government of Maharashtra also instituted a Lata Mangeshkar Award
1969 – Padma Bhushan
2009 – She was awarded the title of Officer of the French Legion of Honour, France’s highest order
2012 – She was ranked number 10 in Outlook India’s poll of the Greatest Indian.
She is also a recipient of honorary doctorates from Sangeet Natak Akademi (1989), Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwavidyalaya, Khairagarh, and Shivaji University in Kolhapur.
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