{"id":75979,"date":"2022-02-06T02:22:40","date_gmt":"2022-02-06T06:22:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=75979"},"modified":"2022-02-06T22:38:41","modified_gmt":"2022-02-07T02:38:41","slug":"lata-mangeshkar-could-sing-in-four-octaves-and-had-a-gift-for-singing-in-character-by-tailoring-her-voice-and-emotions-to-the-actress-she-was-voicing-onscreen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=75979","title":{"rendered":"Lata Mangeshkar could sing in four octaves and had a gift for singing in character by tailoring her voice and emotions to the actress she was voicing onscreen."},"content":{"rendered":"


\nBy Shalini Venugopal Bhagat<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lata Mangeshkar, who enthralled generations of Bollywood audiences as the singing voice behind many actresses\u2019 performances, died on Sunday at Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai, India. She was 92.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The cause was complications of Covid-19, said Pratit Samdani, a doctor at the hospital, according to Indian news outlets. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Twitter that he was \u201canguished beyond words.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms. Mangeshkar leaves a legacy of tens of thousands of songs, mostly in Hindi but also in several other Indian languages. Most of her work was as a playback singer \u2014 a vocalist who does not appear onscreen, but records a character\u2019s songs, which are later dubbed in.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In India, though, she was far from anonymous. She received the Bharat Ratna, India\u2019s highest honor, in 2001. The Ministry of Home Affairs said that she would be given a state funeral and that flags at government buildings would be flown at half-staff for two days.<\/p>\n

Ms. Mangeshkar was known for her range \u2014 she could sing in four octaves \u2014 and her gift for singing in character, tailoring her voice and emotions to the actress she was voicing onscreen. She recorded some of Bollywood\u2019s biggest hits, including \u201cPyaar Kiya To Darna Kya\u201d (Why Fear to Be in Love) from the 1960 film \u201cMughal-e-Azam.\u201d<\/p>\n

In that scene, a courtesan challenges an emperor in court by declaring her love for a prince. Dilip Kumar, who played the prince, called Ms. Mangeshkar\u2019s voice \u201ca miracle of nature\u2019s creativity.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a teenager, in the 1940s, Ms. Mangeshkar played minor roles onscreen. \u201cI never liked it \u2014 the makeup, the lights,\u201d she said in an interview for a book published in 2009. \u201cPeople ordering you about, say this dialogue, say that dialogue. I felt so uncomfortable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe day I started working as a playback singer, I prayed to God: \u2018No more acting in films,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cHe listened to me and I got a fairly good position in playback singing.\u201d<\/p>\n

She would become the singing voice for generations of actresses in the Hindi-language films of Bollywood, from Madhubala and Meena Kumari in the 1950s and 1960s to Kajol and Preity Zinta in the 1990s and 2000s. But she also worked on many films in other Indian languages, including Marathi, Bengali, Tamil, Kannada and Gujarati.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we play her songs one by one, we could hear her for a month and never hear the same song again,\u201d Kajol said Sunday on Twitter. \u201cProlific and profound.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms. Mangeshkar also had a career as a live performer, usually appearing onstage in an understated white or cream-colored sari. India\u2019s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, was said to have been moved to tears by her rendering of a patriotic Hindi song, \u201cAye Mere Watan Ke Logon,\u201d after India\u2019s war with China in 1962.
\n\u201cShe leaves a void in our nation that cannot be filled,\u201d Mr. Modi said on Twitter. Ms. Mangeshkar was an early supporter of Mr. Modi.<\/p>\n

Lata Mangeshkar was born on Sept. 28, 1929, in the city of Indore, in what is now the state of Madhya Pradesh. She was the oldest of five children born to Shuddhamati Mangeshkar and her husband, Pandit Deenanath Mangeshkar, a well-known classical musician active in Marathi-language theater. Her sisters Meena, Asha and Usha and her brother, Hridaynath, all of whom survive her, are also musicians.<\/p>\n

The family was prosperous, living in a large house in the city of Sangli, in what is now the state of Maharashtra. Her father was her first music teacher, and she acted in plays as a child, though her father was reluctant to let his daughters appear onstage. Ms. Mangeshkar spent much of her childhood on the road, as the family accompanied her father\u2019s theater company on tour across the region.<\/p>\n

In the 2009 book, \u201cLata Mangeshkar \u2026 in Her Own Voice,\u201d written by Nasreen Munni Kabir, Ms. Mangeshkar said she gave up formal education on her first day of school. She had brought her 10-month-old sister, Asha, with her, and the teacher refused to allow the baby into the classroom, she said.<\/p>\n

In the late 1930s, she said, the family fell on hard times after Mr. Mangeshkar produced several films that did badly. The theater company closed in 1940, and the Mangeshkars were forced to sell their house and move to Pune. Lata began singing regularly, alongside her father, at classical music concerts, which became the family\u2019s main source of income.<\/p>\n

In 1942, when she was 13, her father died. To support the family, she joined the Navyug Chitrapat Film Company and began acting in Marathi- and Hindi-language films, playing minor roles. In 1945, the company moved its operations to what was then Bombay, and Ms. Mangeshkar\u2019s family moved into a one-bedroom apartment.<\/p>\n

Her fortunes began to change in 1947. In India, the era of the singing film star was coming to an end, and filmmakers had begun hiring professional singers to record the vocal parts. After Ms. Mangeshkar\u2019s voice caught the attention of several film composers and directors, she began working as a playback singer.<\/p>\n

In 1949 came her first hit: \u201cAayega Aanewala\u201d (The One Who Is Meant to Return Will Come Back), from the movie \u201cMahal,\u201d a ghost story that was also a breakthrough for the actress Madhubala.
\nWhen \u201cAayega Aanewala\u201d was first released as a record, Ms. Mangeshkar\u2019s name was nowhere to be seen on the label. But as it got radio airplay, listeners began calling to ask who the singer was. All India Radio, a public broadcaster, contacted the record company and announced Ms. Mangeshkar\u2019s name on air, making her a star overnight.<\/p>\n

Still, she said she spent the next few years working long hours under difficult conditions, recording after the day\u2019s shoot had finished. Playback singers would make their recordings first, with the actors later lip-syncing to them on camera. Eventually, singers like Ms. Mangeshkar worked in studios, but in the early years they recorded on the film sets, which were usually dusty and hot. Fans couldn\u2019t be turned on because of the noise they made.<\/p>\n

\u201cI recorded two songs in the morning, two in the afternoon, two in the evening and two at night,\u201d she said in Ms. Kabir\u2019s book. \u201cI left home in the morning and got back at 3 a.m. the next day and that\u2019s when I ate. After a few hours of sleep, I would wake up at six, get dressed, catch the train and travel from one recording studio to another.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms. Mangeshkar never married. For years, she supported her mother as well as her siblings, until they began their own careers. Her sister Asha Bhosle, 88, is also a well-known playback singer.<\/p>\n

\u201cMusic is my life and God,\u201d Ms. Mangeshkar said in Ms. Kabir\u2019s book. \u201cMy prayer is music \u2014 it is like a father and mother to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Courtesy;New York Times<\/em><\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Shalini Venugopal Bhagat Lata Mangeshkar, who enthralled generations of Bollywood audiences as the singing voice behind many actresses\u2019 performances, died on Sunday at Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai, India. She was 92. The cause was complications of Covid-19, said Pratit Samdani, a doctor at the hospital, according to Indian news outlets. Prime Minister Narendra …<\/p>\n

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