8 things you didn't know about legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar

Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar passed away at the age of 92 in Mumbai on 6 February after getting admitted last month because of COVID-19. As the nation mourns her loss, here are some lesser-known facts about the Nightingale of India.

• Lata Mangeshkar organised a musical concert to raise funds for the Indian cricketing team after their historic 1983 World Cup win. At the time, BCCI President NKP Salve approached cricketer Raj Singh Dungarpur to aid him with raising enough money to compensate the players. Lata Mangeshkar, who was Dungarpur’s friend, headlined a concert that would raise enough funds to pay every player a sum of Rs 1 lakh.
• Sye Paranjpye’s 1998 film Saaz, starring Aruna Irani and Shabana Azmi, follows the story of two musically-inclined sisters whose lives turn around when they relocate to Mumbai. The sisters, sporting plaits, were rumoured to be based on Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhonsle. The film presented the duo’s father as an alcoholic who passes away, leaving the sisters to fend for themselves. It also depicted the elder sister as becoming an overnight singing sensation, while the younger looks after the household until she too ventures out to sing professionally. Asha Bhonsle called the movie a “waste of time”, claiming that the movie took “a couple of incidents and exaggerated them into a three-hour-long film.”

• Lata Mangeshkar was the face of Glycodin syrup advertisements during the 1980s. It is an over-the-counter cough syrup for dry cough
• Two of Lata Mangeshkar songs, namely Tera Sang Pyaar Mein and Wada Na Tod, were played in the background of Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. However, both the songs, along with Mohammad Rafi’s Mera Man Tera Pyaasa, were categorised under original under the film’s soundtrack.
• In 1984, the Madhya Pradesh government constituted a new award — the Lata Mangeshkar award that recognises artists for their contribution to the music industry. The artists are feted with a certificate as well as a cash prize. The Maharashtra government also has an iteration of the award, which was started in 1992. In 2011, the Andhra Pradesh government felicitated Shankar Mahadevan with a Lata Mangeshkar Award.
• Lata Mangeshkar was not only a prolific playback singer, but had also dabbled with music direction. The singer had composed music for a handful of films under a pseudonym. Among the known films she has composed music for, are 1950’s Marathi film Ram Ram Pahuna, Mohityanchi Manjula (1963), Maratha Tituka Melvava (1964), Saadhi Manasa (1965) and Tambdii Mati (1969). The pen name that she used was Anandghan, a tribute to the 17th-century Jain monk, poet and hymnist. Very little is known of his life, except for the collection of his works called the Anandghan Bahattari, which consists of hymns. Developed in 1775, these manuscripts were passed on to future generations aurally. It is comprised of verses in various ragas.
• Among her many well-known numbers, Mangeshkar was also known for her work with Odia music directors in Odia cinema. Among the most beloved tracks are Sei Chuna Chuna Tara Phula Aaji from Suryamukhi (1963) and Aaji Mun Shrabani Luhara Harini Jeun Rajani for Arundhati (1967). Noted Odia composer Shantanu Mohapatra had composed these songs, with both Suryamukhi and Arundhati bagging National Awards in 1963 and ‘67 respectively.
• Narayan Suryajipant Kulkarni Thosar was one of the most well-known Marathi men who went on to lead an ascetic life. A devout follower of Lord Rama and Hanuman, his 17th-century hymns are still performed during Ganpati celebrations. The lines that read as follows – "Oh Lord who provides Joy, takes away Sadness and removes all obstacles in life,” is in fact, also a very well-known Sukhakarta Dukhakarta track sung by the sister duo of Lata and Usha Mangeshkar, that gained considerable traction in the 1970s.

Compiled by Avinash Mudaliar