Early Rejections To Bharat Ratna, Remembering Lata Mangeshkar’s Musical Journey On Her Birth Anniversary

The fans of Indian music will be celebrating the 95th birth anniversary of musician Lata Mangeshkar today. Her contribution to the Indian music industry in a career spanning over eight decades gained her honorific titles such as the ‘Queen of Melody’, ‘Nightingale of India’ and ‘Voice of the Millenium’. The singer has received several accolades – National Awards, Bharat Ratna, Filmfare and Lifetime Achievement Awards. In 1974, Lata Mangeshkar became the first Indian playback singer to perform at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England. Despite a successful career, Lata Mangeshkar didn’t have a smooth start in the music industry of India. In the initial years of her career, the singer was rejected for a thin voice from Dilip Kumar’s film, Shaheed, released in 1948. Lata Mangeshkar’s first salary was Rs 25. Lata Mangeshkar died on February 6, 2022.

Shaheed was directed by Ramesh Saigal. It starred Dilip Kumar and Kamini Kaushal in the lead roles. The director, Ramesh Saigal, rejected the singing skills of Lata Mangeshkar because her voice was too thin. It didn’t match the actress’ physique and tone. The music was composed by Ghulam Haider. The album of this film featured singers like Geeta Dutt, Surinder Kaur, Lalita Dewoolkar and Mohammed Rafi.

Lata Mangeshkar hailed from a family of singers. Her father, Deenanath Mangeshkar was a Marathi and Konkani classical singer and theatre actor. The singer was initially named Hema after her birth. Her parents later renamed her Lata after a female character, Latika, in one of her father’s plays.

The singer gained fame with her songs in the film Ziddi in 1948. Lata Mangeshkar sang songs for Kamini Kaushal, a seasoned actress of that era. In those days, the singer’s name was not put on the disc. Hence, Lata Mangeshkar’s name was absent from the disc. It was named Asha, Kamini Kaushal’s name in the film. At that time, the actors’ names were mentioned but singers did not get credit. After the song became popular, Kamini Kaushal started getting a lot of love from people as a singer. Kamini Kaushal got upset and felt hesitant to take Lata’s credit.

She requested the recording company to put Lata’s name in place of hers. It happened and then, Lata’s name was written replacing Asha. Lata Mangeshkar got Rs 25 for singing on stage for the first time. She considered this as her first salary.