• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Politics
  • Health
  • Travel
  • Gay Pride
  • Music
  • Sports
  • Law/Justice
  • Celebrities
  • Men
  • Space
  • Science
  • Gay Iconography
  • Madonna
  • Books
  • Monkeypox
  • Film/TV

Lata Mangeshkar, the ‘Nightingale of India’ who mesmerized a nation

Towleroad February 6, 2022 Leave a Comment

‘Nightingale of India’ Lata Mangeshkar has died
Link
hqdefault
03:10

‘Nightingale of India’ Lata Mangeshkar has died

hqdefault
02:40

Beloved Indian singer Lata Mangeshkar dies at 92 - BBC News

 
Published by
DPA
 
491124 origin 1
An undated picture shows Indian President Ram Nath Kovind (L) speaking with Indian singer Lata Mangeshkar. Legendary Bollywood singer Mangeshkar, popularly known as the “Nightingale of India” and one of the country’s top cultural icons, died on Sunday at the age of 92. Shakir Hussain/BERNAMA/dpa

Lata Mangeshkar, popularly known as the “Nightingale of India,” at times could move leaders to tears with her mellifluous and soulful singing.

Her seemingly ageless voice was behind generations of Bollywood divas – but she was more than a so-called “playback” singer, recognized from roadside vendors to soldiers on remote frontiers or elites at luxury hotels.

The multibillion-dollar Bollywood film industry has spawned an immensely popular music industry and Lata Mangeshkar was its indisputable queen.

She was a portly Marathi woman, camera-shy and a somewhat lonesome figure in the gregarious world of glamour. But she wielded enormous power in the industry by dint of her mesmerizing talent.

Mangeshkar was born in the central Indian city of Indore on September 28, 1929 to noted Marathi stage personality and classical singer Deenanath Mangeshkar and his wife Shevanti.

Growing up with four younger siblings – Meena, Asha, Usha and Hridaynath, all of whom would become famous singers, music composers and directors in their own right – Lata Mangeshkar received her initial music lessons from her father.

In 1942, she suffered a big blow at the age of 13 when her father passed away. Taking up a career in music to fend for the family, she juggled singing with acting in Marathi films.

Mangeshkar recorded her first song for Marathi film “Kiti Hasaal” that year, though it was dropped from the final version of the movie.

Mangeshkar soon moved to Mumbai, formerly Bombay, where besides establishing her career, she also trained in Hindustani classical music.

In 1949, Mangeshkar had her first major hit song, “Aayega Aanewala” (The one meant to return, will return) in the Hindi film “Mahal,” after which her voice and career would soar to the greatest of heights in the Indian cinema.

Music critics said her unusually high-pitched singing rendered the old trend of heavily nasal voices totally obsolete and changed the face of Bollywood playback singing forever.

Through the 1960s and 1970s, Mangeshkar stamped her dominance in the playback-singing industry even as she faced accusations of monopoly.

The Nightingale of India’s renditions of patriotic songs were particularly popular.

In the late 1940s, as the British rulers intensified censorship, she sang the song “Vande Mataram” (I Bow to You Motherland), raising the spirits of a colonized nation fighting for its freedom.

Years later, in 1963, in a memorable moment of her career, she sang “Aye Mere Watan Ke Logon” (Ye, the people of my land), commemorating Indian soldiers who died in the 1962 war with China, in the presence of then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru on India’s Republic Day in New Delhi.

A moved Nehru wept in public as Mangeshkar sang, according to reports from that time.

The song, an appeal to countrymen to overcome their grief and remember the sacrifice of the soldiers, touched a chord with an entire nation traumatized by the war.

Mangeshkar’s superlative success continued through the 1970s and the 1980s, when she also sang in several of India’s regional languages. She started doing concerts and performed around the world.

Mangeshkar began taking up fewer projects through the 1990s and early 2000s, even though she sang in some of Hindi cinema’s biggest hits during this time, including “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge” (1995), “Dil to Pagal Hai” (1997) and “Veer Zaara” (2004).

Through the 1990s, no new voice could challenge or unseat the doyenne from her position as the best female singer in Bollywood.

“When you are talking about Michael Angelo, Beethoven or Shakespeare, the name says it all. Lata Mangeshkar’s greatness is her name itself,” noted lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar said in a 2021 interview with The Hindu newspaper.

Mangeshkar also composed music and produced a handful of films. As a singer, she enjoyed clout that top producers, directors and actors could not even dream of.

Over the decades, she received India’s top civilian awards, the Padma Vibhushan and Padma Bhushan, and in 2001, the country’s highest honour, Bharat Ratna, the Jewel of India.

She was bestowed India’s top award in cinema, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, and France’s highest civilian award, Officer of the Legion of Honour in 2007, besides numerous national and international awards.

Despite her fame and fortune, Mangeshkar led a quiet, simple life. She never married and was close to her family and siblings. She loved cooking, cricket, photography and reading.

In recent years, she stopped performing for films but recorded a few devotional and patriotic songs. In a 2018 interview, the veteran singer said she would never stop singing.

“I will continue to sing till my last breath. Music is the essence of my existence,” she said.

491124 491124 origin 1 1

 

Medics transport the body of legendary Bollywood singer Lata Mangeshkar into an ambulance after she died on Sunday at the age of 92. Shashank Parade/PTI/dpa

Topics: Aaon, towleroad

  • Activists Rally, Make Case For Thailand Marriage Equality; Present Rewritten Version of  Constitutional Court’s Ruling On Marriage Law

    Activists Rally, Make Case For Thailand Marriage Equality; Present Rewritten Version of Constitutional Court’s Ruling On Marriage Law

    On May 17, the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia(IDAHOT), activists held a rally for LGBTQ+ rights and called for marriage equality by rewriting the Constitutional Court’s ruling on the Thai marriage law. On November 17, …Read More »
  • New House map sets stage for Brooklyn slugfest headlined by Bill de Blasio, Mondaire Jones

    New House map sets stage for Brooklyn slugfest headlined by Bill de Blasio, Mondaire Jones

    Published by New York Daily News NEW YORK — The ink has barely dried on New York’s much-revised House map, but a radically transformed 10th Congressional District has set the stage for an unruly political scramble …Read More »
  • Kate McKinnon Leaving SNL; What? Also Aidy Bryant, Pete Davidson  and Kyle Mooney Set to Depart After This Season.  Season Finale TONIGHT

    Kate McKinnon Leaving SNL; What? Also Aidy Bryant, Pete Davidson and Kyle Mooney Set to Depart After This Season. Season Finale TONIGHT

      Published by InsideHook   By Tobias Carroll The current season of Saturday Night Live featured the show’s largest cast ever, with 21 different comedians appearing on screen at various points during the year. Based on …Read More »
  • Explicit Photos To Blame? ‘Speechless’ Madonna Is Outraged After Being BLOCKED From Instagram Live

    Explicit Photos To Blame? ‘Speechless’ Madonna Is Outraged After Being BLOCKED From Instagram Live

    Published by Radar Online KCS Presse / MEGA Madonna was in utter shock to discover that Instagram had blocked her from going live, sharing a video of the awkward moment she found out on Friday. “What …Read More »
Previous Post: « ‘Snake oil salesmen’ advised Trump on 2020 election, Pence aide says
Next Post: Hugh Hefner’s former girlfriends Kristina and Karissa Shannon relieved he’s dead »

Primary Sidebar

News

  • Harris, White House Spox Rip Oklahoma For Passing Near-Total Abortion Ban Weeks After Leaked Supreme Court Opinion

    Harris, White House Spox Rip Oklahoma For Passing Near-Total Abortion Ban Weeks After Leaked Supreme Court Opinion

  • Trump pays $110,000 fine for blocking New York state tax probe

    Trump pays $110,000 fine for blocking New York state tax probe

  • Erdogan demands concessions to back Swedish, Finnish NATO membership

    Erdogan demands concessions to back Swedish, Finnish NATO membership

  • Zelensky says Ukraine has ‘broken the backbone’ of the Russian army

    Zelensky says Ukraine has ‘broken the backbone’ of the Russian army

Break

  • Evan Spiegel & Miranda Kerr Pay Off $10 Million In Loans Of Otis College’s Graduating Class

    Evan Spiegel & Miranda Kerr Pay Off $10 Million In Loans Of Otis College’s Graduating Class

  • Vladimir Putin’s Daughter SECRETLY Living In Germany With Man Named Igor Zelensky

    Vladimir Putin’s Daughter SECRETLY Living In Germany With Man Named Igor Zelensky

  • Tucker Carlson: Voice of white America’s outrage and fears

    Tucker Carlson: Voice of white America’s outrage and fears

  • Viola Davis was called by director’s maid’s name

    Viola Davis was called by director’s maid’s name

RSS Partner Links

  • Will Prince Charles & the Queen deal with the ‘counsellors of state’ issue soon?
  • Mayor Sadiq Khan invited the Sussexes to LA & they invited him to Montecito
  • Kim & Khloe Kardashian Go Gothic Glam for Kourtney Kardashian & Travis Barker's Wedding - See All the Photos!
  • Machine Gun Kelly Wears Blue Leopard-Print Suit to Travis Barker & Kourtney Kardashian's Wedding with Megan Fox
  • You're Welcome: The Might Casey Swings Out
  • Amanda Bynes Reveals The One Show She'd Return To Acting For
  • Michelle Yeoh & Mindy Kaling Honored at Gold House's 2022 Gold Gala
  • Mick Jagger Responds To The Harry Styles Comparisons, Says That Harry Is A “Superficial Resemblance” Of His Younger Self
  • John Mulaney Fans Say They Felt Ambushed By Him Bringing Dave Chappelle Out For His Show

Most Recent

  • Hayley Kiyoko Comes Out About Dating ‘Bachelor’ Star Becca Tilley In Video For Her Catchy New “For the Girls” A Parody of Lesbian Dates, Reality Tropes: WATCH

    Hayley Kiyoko Comes Out About Dating ‘Bachelor’ Star Becca Tilley In Video For Her Catchy New “For the Girls” A Parody of Lesbian Dates, Reality Tropes: WATCH

  • Activists Rally, Make Case For Thailand Marriage Equality; Present Rewritten Version of  Constitutional Court’s Ruling On Marriage Law

    Activists Rally, Make Case For Thailand Marriage Equality; Present Rewritten Version of Constitutional Court’s Ruling On Marriage Law

  • New House map sets stage for Brooklyn slugfest headlined by Bill de Blasio, Mondaire Jones

    New House map sets stage for Brooklyn slugfest headlined by Bill de Blasio, Mondaire Jones

  • Kate McKinnon Leaving SNL; What? Also Aidy Bryant, Pete Davidson  and Kyle Mooney Set to Depart After This Season.  Season Finale TONIGHT

    Kate McKinnon Leaving SNL; What? Also Aidy Bryant, Pete Davidson and Kyle Mooney Set to Depart After This Season. Season Finale TONIGHT

  • Explicit Photos To Blame? ‘Speechless’ Madonna Is Outraged After Being BLOCKED From Instagram Live

    Explicit Photos To Blame? ‘Speechless’ Madonna Is Outraged After Being BLOCKED From Instagram Live

  • US archbishop bans Pelosi from communion over abortion rights support

    US archbishop bans Pelosi from communion over abortion rights support

  • Giuliani meets with U.S. House Jan. 6 panel, CNN reports

    Giuliani meets with U.S. House Jan. 6 panel, CNN reports

Most Commented

Social

Twitter @tlrd | Facebook | Instagram @tlrd
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2022 · Log in