Best Of The Best

Lata Mangeshkar turned 90 recently. Devesh Sharma chalks up snippets about her collaboration with popular music directors

- Devesh Sharma

Aayega aanewala, the haunting song from Mahal (1949), composed by music director Khemchand Prakash made Lata Mangeshkar a mass favourite and became the foundation stone of her super success. She won her first Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer for Aaja re pardesi from Madhumati (1958). Her other wins were for Kahin deep jale kahin dil (Bees Saal Baad, 1962), Tumhi mere mandir (Khandaan, 1965) and Aap mujhe acche lagne lage (Jeene Ki Raah 1969). After this she magnanimously excused herself from the category to promote fresh talent.

Her versatility led her to form long-lasting associations with all top music directors of her era. Her exhaustive knowledge of Indian classical music and her inherent ability to latch on to the mood of the tunes made her an invaluable asset. Every composer she worked with benefitted from the association. We bring short sketches of her association with golden greats like Naushad, SD Burman, Shankar-Jaikishan, Madan Mohan, C Ramchandra Laxmikant-Pyarelal, RD Burman and Kalyanji-Anandji…