Journey of Lata Mangeshkar to become the Queen of melody

Lata Mangeshkar has sung so many heart touching songs in nearly six decades of her musical career. She is one of the top 10 evergreen singers and has earned many titles from her followers such as QUEEN OF MELODY, VOICE OF THE NATION, VOICE OF THE MILLENNIUM, NIGHTINGALE OF INDIA besides these some also pronounced her as Didi.

But, it may shock you that the Nightingale Of India has also faced so many rejections at the starting of her musical career. Too thin and soft voice which won the heart of the millennium is some of the excuses people gave her to say no to her. Her career was not a cakewalk as some people may think it.

So, let's dive into Lata Mangeshkar's journey which made her from nothing to the star of the sky.

The early age of Lata Mangeshkar

According to the interviews of Lata Mangeshkar, her musical training was started at the age of 5 by her father. Her father motivated her to learn music as he also a music teacher and had seen the calibre of Lata to become a singer.

At the age of 13, Lata’s father was died due to heart disease. She got a chance to sing from his father friend Master Vinayak in a Marathi movie, but unfortunately the song “Naachu Yaa Gade, Khelu Saari Mani Haus Bhaari” was not successful to get on-screen. 

But soon Master Vinayak gave her another song “Natali Chaitraachi Navalaai” for his Marathi movie “Pahili Mangalaa-gaur”.

Journey to learn different music

Lata moved to Mumbai with her career mentor Vinayak. Here she learned Hindustani classical music from Ustad Aman Ali Khan. With Master Vinayak, Lata Mangeshkar had been going smoothly but his death gave her another turning point.

After Vinayak’s death, Lata Mangeshkar got another mentor Gulam Haider, who claimed that one day directors and producers would fall in Lata Mangeshkar's feet when Sashadhar Mukherjee said no to lata for having a too thin voice. Because that time music industry was ruled by a dominant and loud voice, Lata faced many obstacles in her musical career.

But Lata with her dedication and good practice proved Haider right when lata Mangeshkar gave the first hit song “Dil Mera Toda, Mujhe Kahin Ka Na Chhora” which was given to her by Haider. Even Lata Mangeshkar said that Haider is her godfather who always kept faith in her.

Imitation and speech remarks

People always thought that she imitated Noor Jehan but she proved them wrong when she showed her style with lots of hard work and practice. Those who laughed at her Maharashtrian accent was stopped by her when she took Urdu lessons from Urdu teacher Shafi.

Lata is growing in her musical career

After the 1950s, Lata gave many hit songs and also worked with many singers such as Anil Biswas Shankar Jaikishan, Naushad Ali, S. D. Burman, Sardul Singh Kwatra, Amarnath, Husanlal, and Bhagatram C. Ramchandra, Hemant Kumar, Salil Chowdhury, Datta Naik, etc.

Lata also won her first Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer for Salil Chowdhury's composition "Aaja Re Pardesi" from Madhumati (1958).

Now, Lata Mangeshkar has not only sung the songs but also started her hands in composed. She composed for the first time in the year 1955 for the Marathi movie “Ram Ram Pavhane” and after that gave many songs and also melodies singing for every leading lady.

Lata singing talent and awards

Lata Mangeshkar can sing in six different without missing any note and accent. In Lata Mangeshkar’s nearly six decades career, she has sung songs for more than 2,000 Indian films.

Lata Mangeshkar has got many prestigious awards like Bharat Ratna, Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan, four Filmfare awards and many more.

Lata Mangeshkar career might not get a good start and faced many rejections but her hard work converted her shortcoming as an achieving point for her.