Lataji’s divine Bhajan Mata Saraswati Sharda , composer Jaidev’s imperishable ode to Mata Saraswati featured in Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s underrated Amitabh Bachchan-Om Prakash-Rekha-Asrani starrer Alaap . Released in 1977 and directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee ,it is one of Lataji’s own favourites and decidedly one of her finest Bhajans.
Speaking of this glorious devotional Hrishikesh Mukherjee once said to me, “You know,I consider Lata a reincarnation of Mata Saraswati…not just me many others in this industry, including my dear friend Raj Kapoor think she is Mata Saraswati in person…. So when she sang about Mata Saraswati in my film I felt it was a song about her.”
Hrishida couldn’t stop talking about his Mata Saraswati. “Do you know, Lata never charges a single penny from me? She never took money for any of those immortal songs she has sung for me in Anuradha, Anupama ,Abhimaan, etc. I’d insist on some remuneration she she would say, ‘Ek beti apne pita se paise nahin lete.’ A daughter never takes money from her father.”
So then what about all those stories in the entertainment industry about her being money-minded?“All spread by jealous singers. Not only me, Lata sings many of her songs for free. She has the heart of a Devi Maa. Only love flows out of it,” Hrishida had gone misty-eyed.
Speaking further on the astonishingly sublime music of his film Alaap Hrishida had regretfully said to me, “Beta, you know this is my misfortune that , but I worked only once with two of the best music composers of the film industry: Madan Mohan in Bawarchi and Jaidev in Alaap. I wish I had worked more often with them. Lekin kya ho jata hai na…ek comfort zone baan jata hai .One keeps working with the same artistes. This is wrong.”
About his enduring devotion to Lataji’s voice Hrishida ended with an anecdote. “She sang a song in my film Gol Maal(Ek baat kahun gar manon tum) where there was a technical error. R D Burman suggested we re-record it. I said let it be. ‘An erroneous Lata song is far more preferable to a correct song by any other singer.’ Do you know there is one song in Gol Maal Sapne mein dekha sapna by Kishore Kumar where Lata is mentioned very prominently?”