On Sunday, acclaimed singer Lata Mangeshkar died at Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital. She was 92 years old. The Nightingale of India, as she is known, was admitted to the hospital in January with Covid-19 and pneumonia. She was declared critical again on Saturday by doctors.
Her crores of fans started praying for her good health and recovery as soon the news spread but the saddening news came on Sunday morning.
Lata Mangeshkar was the daughter of Pandit Deenanath Mangeshkar and Shevanti Mangeshkar. Her father was a well-known Marathi musician and performer in the theatre. Her father tutored her at first, and she later appeared as a child actor in several of his plays.
Lata Mangeshkar recorded her first Hindi song, “Mata Ek Sapoot Ki Duniya Badal De Tu,” in 1943 for the Marathi film Gajaabhaau. Later, she worked with some of the most well-known names in the Hindi music industry, including Anil Biswas, Shankar Jaikishan, Naushad Ali, and SD Burman, among others.
She has sung songs in Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, and other regional languages. She has received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan, and the Padma Bhushan, as well as numerous National and Filmfare Awards.
Lata was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1969, the Padma Vibhushan in 1999, and the Bharat Ratna in 2001 for her contributions to cinema and the arts. The government of India also bestowed upon her the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1989, and the Legion of Honour, France’s highest civilian award, in 2007.
In addition to these accolades, Lata received four Filmfare Awards for Best Playback Singing. In 1993, she received the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award. The singer made headlines once when she refused to accept an award in order to promote new talent in the industry.
Lata was one of those rare singers who sang not only in Hindi but also in a variety of other languages, including a few foreign ones.