Which is your favourite Lata Mangeshkar song? This is as difficult to decide as plucking out your favourite star from the sky. But what about the songs that matter the most to the Goddess Of All Melodious things?She picks.We listen.
1. Aayega aanewala:Mahal (1949): The song that actually announced the arrival of the singing phenomenon. Lataji remembers every detail of the song: “I’ve forgotten most of my recordings. Even the songs that I’ve sung are mostly forgotten. But Aayega aanewala is still fresh in my mind. The haunting tune was composed by Khemchand Prakash.I had a string of hit songs in 1949. But this song from Kamal Amrohi Saab’s Mahal was something else. Everyone was humming it .Everywhere I went I herad the song. Main aapko ek mazedaar baat bataaon? The film’s record did not have my name on it. The singer’s name was given as ‘Kamini’ the character who lip-synced the song on screen.Since the heroine(Madhubala) played a ghost, I was literally the ghost-voice in this song.” It was the first of many songs that I sang for a ghost. The song became a rage.I had to sing it in every live concert .Ironically I did not get credited for the song . The 78 rpm record mentioned the name on the label as ‘Kamini’ the character who lip-synced my song on screen in Mahal.”
2. Hawa mein udta jaye/Jiya beqaraar hai:Barsaat ( 1949): “1949 was really the year when I arrived as a playback singer. It was the busiest year of my life. I was running from recording studio to another with barely room for pause.During this year I sang 150-160 songs. Most of them became hits. But the songs of Shankar-Jaikishan for Barsaat were popular on another level altogether.Every song in this film was a rage. But Hawa mein udta jaye and Jiya beqaraar hai were the biggest hits in Barsaat. Both were playful mischievous songs. Most of my biggest hits have been on a more serious note.
3.Vande mataram:Anand Math(1952): “I think it was in 1952 that Hemantda(Mukherjee) called me to the recording of this song.Did we know at that time that we were creating a monumental song which every Indian would sing for his motherland? I would be lying if I said no. Singing Bamkim Chandra Chatterjee’s immortal words gave me sense of pride. I am grateful to Hemantda for choosing me for this song.I was still fairly new at that time. But he felt only I could do justice to it. Yeh mere liye bahot badi baat tthi.”
4. Allah tero naam: Hum Dono ( 1961): “ Of all the genres of songs, the devotional Bhajan is my favourite. And among all the Bhajans my favourite,and why just my favourite everyone’s favourite , is Allah tero naam. It is a deeply felt lyric written by the great Sahir Ludhianvi Saab.And Jaidev Saab composed such a beautiful tune! I did not sing that many songs for Jaidev Saab. But whatever I sang for him was very special.To be honest, I knew I was singing something special when we recorded the number. The composer Jaidevji always composed something special for me.I loved singing his compositions.Allah tero naam was a deeply emotional Bhajan. Today when there is such a growing communal divide the message of the one-ness of Ishwar and Allah is more relevant than ever.””
5. Dil deewana bin sajna ke mane na:Maine Pyar Kiya(1989): “This song was a turning-point for no other reason except that it came to me at a time when I was seriously considering retirement. Nothing inspiring was coming way. The film-music industry was in a slump.I felt there was no reason to continue doing playback singing. I decided to pursue my lifelong interest in classical singing instead. Just then composer Raam Laxman came to me with the songs of Maine Pyar Kiya.Dil dewaana and the songs of Yash Chopra’s Chandni revived my interest in playback singing.
6.Jaa jaa re sugana ja re:Musafir(1957): “This one is a personal favourite because I got to sing with my favourite actor, my adopted brother Dilip Kumar Saab who is no more.I miss him so much.We sang this song together in 1957 . I was amazed by his preparation.He sang like a professional singer. The composer Salilda(Chowdhary) was astonished.Was there anything that Dilip Saab couldn’t do?”
7.Dil mera toda: Majboor(1948): It was because of this hit song that Lataji’s journey as the singing supremo started. During an interview 30 years ago with me Lataji had very clearly credited the Majboor composer Master Ghulam Haider with the kickoff credit for her career. Lataji had said, “There are many versions and stories of who discovered me and who was instrumental in giving me my first big break. Let me tell you the true story.When I came to Mumbai I worked for Master Vinayak. My sister Meena and I stayed with Master Vinayak’s father while the rest of my family lived in my mother’s parents’ home. In 1946 I told Master Vinayak that I needed to live with my family. That’s when we all started living in one home .In 1947 Master Vinayak passed away.Ten days after his death a photographer who worked in his company took me to a music director Harishchandra Vade. He heard me sing and recorded two songs in my voice for a film called Love Is Blind. That film got shelved. However a junior-artiste supplier, a Pathan, heard me sing.He recommended me to Master Ghulam Haider who had just come from Pakistan. I really respected him for his music in Khazanchi, Shahid, Khandaan , etc. I went to meet him.This was 1947 and I was merely 18. I remember he was recording. He kept me waiting till evening. My cousin sister was with me.He finally called me to sing at around 5 pm. When I went in he was playing the piano. I got frightened when I saw him. I wondered what a music composer who had worked with Noorjehan would think of me.He asked me to sing. I sang one of his songs from the film Humayun.Then he said to sing one more song.I sang a Noorjehan number. Then he wanted to record my voice. During those days songs were record on film. There was no tape.He asked me who my guru was. When I told him it was Amanat Ali Khan Saab he said they were friends. Then Master Ghulam Hyder played my voice to the very successful producer Shashadhar Mukherjee who said, ‘Yeh awaaz nahin chalegi,yeh awaaz bahot patli hai, ’(this voice won’t work, it’s too tinny).Shashadharji needed a playback voice for actress Kamini Kaushal. And he felt my voice didn’t match hers.Master Ghulam Hyder was livid. He ordered me to accompany him to the Bombay Talkies studio in Malad where Majboor was being shot. He was the music composer. He didn’t say anything to me. He just made me rehearse a song. Later when we recorded he said, ‘People will forget everyone including Noorjehan when they hear you.’ The first song he recorded with me was a duet with Mukesh Bhaiyya Angrezi chora chala gaya. This was my first major break. I recorded 3-4 songs for Majboor. Composer Khemchand Prakash heard them and signed me for Ziddi. For this film I sang a duet with Kishore Kumar. Then composer Anil Biswas heard me. That’s my musical journey began. The credit for giving me my first major break goes to Master Ghulam Haider. Incidentally Shashadhar Mukherjee later admitted to me he was wrong about my voice and crazy to have rejected my voice. I sang for many of his films including Anarkali and Nagin.”
8.Ae diluba: Rustam Sohrab(1963): This masterpiece ranks very high on Lataji’s own list of challenging songs. “It has an Arabesque lilt very unusual for those times in Hindi film songs. And it followed no conventional format. Sajjad Hussain Saab who composed this , one of the most important songs of my career was one of the earliest composing stalwarts to show faith in my voice. I remember some of the ruling composer of the 1940s had dismissed voice as too thin. Sajjad Saab was the second man after my father who predicted my future as a singer. I didn’t get to sing too many songs for him. But Ae dilruba remains a favourite. Sajjad Hussain composed what you call complex songs. And rumours were spread that he’s too exacting,temperamental and egoistic. Actually I loved Sajjad Hussain’s music because like Naushad saab and Madan bhaiyya, he insisted on poetic lyrics. These composers understood and appreciated Urdu. Those who had some difficulties with Urdu or Hindi would consult specialists. For instance Burman dada and Salil Chowdhary would make a 1000 inquiries about the Urdu and Hindi words.I’ll tell you another thing about Sajjad saab’s music. He was very particular about melody. Even if one instrument was slightly off-key,he would be livid. Once during a recording, he asked a famous singer to stop at the gandhar. The singer wanted to know what gandhar was.Sajjad saab was aghast. Sometimes I wonder what he would have said about today’s singers. Like my brother, Sajjad saab used to get angryabout any trace of imperfection. Sajjad saab would compose nothing but classical music. He played the mandolin superbly.
9.Oh Sajna barkha bahaar aye: Parakh( 1960): The rain song in which the Sitar sounds like a playful flirtatious companion to Lataji’s voice drizzling down droplets of nectar from Heaven. Lataji admits that of all the inhumanly challenging compositions that she sang for Salil Chowdhary, O sajna barkha bahaar ranks as the most influential. “I’ve sung many songs about the rain. But none as beloved as O sajna. The Sitar is the real star of this song, not me.” There is a myth that the Sitar in O sajna has been played by Pandit Ravi Shankar.Wrong! The Sitar is played by another genius Jayram Acharya. Speaking about the challenges that Salil Chowdhary tossed at Lataji she had said, “Salilda was Salilda. No one could compose songs like him. His tunes were layered and textured and very difficult to sing. I loved the challenge of singing Salilada’s ‘Raaton Ke Saaye Ghane’ in Annadata and ‘Rajnigandha Phool Tumhare’ on Rajnigandha.”Folklore has it that once during a particularly difficult recording of a song composed by Salil Chowdhury, Lataji had passed out.She laughs, “It’s a fact. I did faint while singing one of his songs. Salilda’s tunes were a special challenge for me. And the fact that many of his Bangla compositions were later sung in Hindi made it doubly difficult for me. Salilda’s ‘Ja Re Ude Ja Re Pakhi’ became ‘Ja Re Ud Re Panchi’ in Hindi. ‘Na Mono Lage Na’ and ‘Nishidin Nishidin’ were composed and sung in both Bangla and Hindi, and so many others.”
