Lata Mangeshkar, an “Indian nightingale” who has given her voice to Indian films for more than 70 years, was honoured at a state funeral on Sunday after she passed away at the age of 92.
“Lata Di died at 8:12 a.m. due to multiple organ failure after more than 28 days of being diagnosed with Covid-19,” Dr Pratit Samdani, Dr Mangeskar, told reporters outside Breach Candi Hospital. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to Mangeskar at the funeral, according to a post posted from his verified Twitter account. Bollywood stars, including Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan, were seen at the vigil, along with cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar.
The Indian government has ordered two-day national mourning for the deceased singer. The national flag will be flown at half-mast from Sunday to Monday, the Indian Ministry of Internal Affairs announced on Sunday. “There will be no official parties,” the ministry added. Mangeshkar was a singer – he gave music that actors imitated – for countless Indian films. Her soft voice, which could achieve a high tone with unsurpassed ease, has become a part of almost every Indian household.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that he was “indescribably tortured”. “Kind and caring Lata Didi (sister) left us. “It leaves a void in our nation that cannot be filled,” he wrote on Twitter on Sunday. “The coming generations will remember it as an excellent Indian culture, whose melodic voice had an incomparable ability to hypnotize people.
Bollywood actors and Indian politicians paid tribute to the deceased star on Sunday.
“How can such a voice be forgotten! Deeply saddened by the death of Lata Mangeskar, my sincere condolences and prayers,” actor Akshay Kunar wrote on Twitter.
Opposition Congressman Rahul Gandhi also expressed his condolences in a tweet. “She has remained India’s favourite voice for decades,” he said. “Her golden voice is immortal and will continue to resonate in the hearts of her fans.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan also paid tribute to the singer with a tweet. “With the death of Lata Mangeskar, the subcontinent lost one of the truly great singers the world knew. Listening to her songs has given so much pleasure to so many people around the world. ”
At the age of 5, Mangeshkar started training with her father in classical Indian music. Her father, Deenanath Mangeshkar, was a successful classical singer and stage actor. His daughter started her career singing in his musical pieces.
Mangeshkar performed in public for the first time when she was only 9 years old, and she recorded her first song at the age of 13. A month after she recorded her first song, her father died. Left to support four younger siblings and her mother, Mangeshkar began working in the Indian film industry. At first, the music directors rejected her, saying that her voice was too thin and sharp. By 1948, she had lent her voice to half a dozen films.
A voice from the movies
Mangeshkar was born on September 28, 1929, in Madhya Pradesh. Because of her father’s reputation on the classical music scene, she met several composers, such as Aman Ali Khan, who mentored and trained her for several years.
As her career took off, Mangeshkar delivered successive hits making her one of the most sought-after singers in the country. In Indian films, it is standard practice for the music director to insert eight to 10 songs that are played in sync with the film’s plot.
Singers like Mangeshkar are hired to record songs in advance and with whom the actors would synchronize their lips or the sequence would take place on the screen. Unlike Hollywood, where artists record albums and that music is procured for a particular film, in India singers generate music and lyrics exclusively for the film.
Her break came in 1949 with the film “Mahal”, for which she sang the famous song “Aaiega Aanevala”. She won her first film award for the song “Aaja Re Pardesi” in the film “Madhumati” in 1958 and the first national film award in 1973 for the song “Beeti Na Bite” in the film “Parichai”.
She gave her voice to music and verses written by great composers and songwriters of the time such as Madan Mohan, R.D. Burman, Gulzar, and A.R. Rahman. Music directors procrastinated with their projects to accommodate her busy schedule, and composers wrote their music keeping in mind her voice.
She also sang “Aie Mere Watan Ke Logon”, a song that was supposed to inspire people in the country after the 1963 Indo-Chinese War. It became an anthem with Mangeskar praying with requests for it at every concert.
