“An Unparalleled Icon”: Heartfelt tributes to legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar
The nightingale of India, voice of the millennium and queen of melody left the world today, one of India’s biggest cultural icons and a singer who defined music and melody for generations across South Asia.
Born in Indore in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh on 28 September 1929, she began learning music at the age of five from her father, Deenanath Mangeshkar, who was active in the world of theatre.
After her father’s death, the family moved to Mumbai where a teenage Mangeshkar began singing for Marathi movies.
She also took bit roles in a few films to support her family, but would say later that her heart wasn’t in it. “I was happiest singing,” she told interviewers.
Together with her younger sister Asha Bhonsle – a superstar in her own right – the “Nightingale” Mangeshkar dominated Bollywood music for more than half a century and is considered by many to be the Indian film industry’s greatest-ever playback singer.
An artist so distinguished and impossibly prolific, Mangeshkar managed to do what many couldn’t. She accomplished a level of perfection that remains unmatched in Hindi film music. “Kambakhat galti se bhi besura nahi gaati (She doesn’t sing out of tune even by mistake),” Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan had famously said in exasperation and happiness about her.
Her extraordinary career spanned more than half a century and she recorded thousands of songs in 36 languages
She received several accolades and honors throughout her career. In 1987 the Dadasaheb Phalke Award was bestowed on her by the Government of India. In 2001, in recognition of her contributions to the nation, she was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour and is only the second female singer, after M. S. Subbulakshmi, to receive this honor. France conferred on her its highest civilian award, Officer of the National Order of the Legion of Honor, in 2007.
She was the recipient of three National Film Awards, 15 Bengal Film Journalists’ Association Awards, four Filmfare Best Female Playback Awards, two Filmfare Special Awards, the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award and many more. In 1974, she became the first Indian to perform at Royal Albert Hall, London.
Mangeshkar sang thousands of songs which were lip-synced by Bollywood’s biggest heroines across generations.
She received India’s highest honor for civilians, the Bharat Ratna, in 2001.
In 2004, when she turned 75, one of Bollywood’s biggest directors, Yash Chopra, wrote that he saw “God’s blessings in her voice”.
Mangeshkar, who never married, had a rich life outside her work with interests ranging from cricket to cars.
Tomorrow, on her passing away, Maharashtra government has declared a public holiday to remember the legend and her extraordinary contribution to the world of Indian music. To mourn the death of Lata Mangeshkar, Maharashtra Government declared a public holiday on Monday and the West Bengal government announced a half-day holiday. Meanwhile, the Goa government has declared three days State Mourning, from February 6 to February 8 in tribute to legendary singer and Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Sikkim have announced two days of State Mourning.
Meanwhile, the Government of India has announced two-day national mourning in memory of the legendary singer of India. The national flag to fly at half-mast for two days as a mark of respect.
“Two days of state mourning will be observed today and tomorrow during which the National Flag will be flown at half-mast throughout India as a mark of respect to Lata Mangeshkar. State honors’ to be accorded to her,” Government of India said in a statement on Sunday.
