Lata Mangeshkar succumbs to Covid-19

 

I am anguished beyond words. The kind and caring Lata Didi has left us. She leaves a void in our nation that cannot be filled. The coming generations will remember her as a stalwart of Indian culture, whose melodious voice had an unparalleled ability to mesmerise people. pic.twitter.com/MTQ6TK1mSO

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 6, 2022

Lata Mangeshkar (92), “ Nightingale of Bollywood” and Indian national icon, one of India’s most venerated singers who singing era reigned for half a century during her lifetime sang thirty thousand songs has died. She had been admitted to Breach Candy hospital in Mumbai in January after testing positive for Covid-19 and died of multi-organ failure.

Lata Mangeshkar, born in 1929, sang for every female star from the 1940s to the 1990s and worked with almost all the leading Bollywood directors from Raj Kapoor, Mani Ratnam,  and Guru Dutt, also sang “Aye Mere Watan Ke Logon” ( Ye the people of my land), a haunting and soulful tribute to slain Indian soldiers in the disastrous 1962 war with China.

A lyricist described her melodic voice as “pure and clear as the finest pearl of crystal”.

Her big break came in 1949 – a haunting song called Aayega Aanewala for the movie Mahal. She sang thousands of songs lip-synced by Bollywood’s biggest heroines across generations. She received India’s highest honour for civilians, the Bharat Ratna, in 2001.

Mangeshkar was never married although she had a rich life outside her work, with interests ranging from cars to cricket. Her father a classical musician Pandit Deenanath Mangeshkar, gave the young Lata Mangeshkar her first music lesson in 1942, and launched her music career as a 13-year-old, juggling singing with acting parts in Marathi films in1945. She and compositions by Naushad in films like Baiju Bawara, Mother India, and Mughal-E-Azam, Shankar-Jaikishan’s hits in Barsaat and Shree 420, Salil Chowdhury’s Madhumati, and AR Rahman’s1998 Dil Se,  “Jiya Jale” which included the rich, visceral Chenda melam, a Kerala folk percussion.

Her music trail playing Lata hit songs across all formats from gramophone records to tapes to digital. She sang at The Royal Albert Hall for her first international performance in 1974, which was sold, and performed two consecutive shows as well.

The Indian government has announced two days of mourning from today and will be given a state funeral. Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has accorded the temporary status of cremation ground to Shivaji Park where Lata Mangeshkar will be cremated inside Shivaji Park not the crematorium on Sunday at 6:30 pm.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said  Lata Mangeshkar’s death left a “void in our nation that cannot be filled”.

Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted that Mangeshar’s voice was “immortal and continue to echo in the hearts of her fans”.

Former Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli said her songs had “touched millions of people around the world”.

Hema Malini Bollywood actor said she was “lucky” to have performed several songs sung by Lata Mangeshkar.