Lata Mangeshkar is dead, but her songs will live forever! Here are some of her most difficult numbers
Lata Mangeshkar will continue to live in our hearts through her timeless songs that will continue to reverberate for many generations to come
File image of Lata Mangeshkar.
Lata Mangeshkar is no more. She left us this morning, 6 February 2022, at the age of 92. Many feel that she has left a void in our life. No, she has not. She will continue to live in our hearts through her timeless songs that will continue to reverberate for many generations to come. I pick up some of her songs that are generally not mentioned when critics list her memorable numbers.
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Lata rendered some of the most difficult numbers, but one song in particular— ‘Tune haye mere zakhme jigar ko choo liya’ from the film Nagina released in 1951 — comes to my mind due to her superb voice modulation. Composed by Shankar-Jaikishan, one has to listen to the song carefully to appreciate the modulation of her voice.
For instance, when she sings ‘tune’ the word stretches a bit and one can decipher how she did it. Again, in the antara of the song, ‘main pyar ki chandni raat hoon…uljhi hui dard ki baat hoon… uljhi hui dard ki baaat hun’, her delicate voice modulation is excellent.
Normally, critics and commentators name three music directors Shankar-Jaikishan, SD Burman and Naushad while recalling Lata’s memorable songs. But they forget that C Ramchandra and Madan Mohan too has some of the best Lata songs to their credit.
One song is ‘Mujhpe ilzame bewafai his… ye mohabbat teri duhai hai” (film Yasmin, music by C Ramchandra). Another song is ‘Katate hain dukh mein ae din pahlu badal ke’ from film Parchayee.
You can’t miss the following song from film Nirala also composed by C Ramchnandra — ‘Mehfil mein jal uthi shama parvane ke liye preet bani hai duniya mein mar jane ke liye’. The song was filmed on Madhubala.
In Anarkali, the song ‘Ye zindagi us ki hai jo kis ka ho gaya pyar hi mein kho gaya…’ is an immortal number defining what love is all about. From the same film the song, ‘Wafaon ka majboor daman bacha kar dua kar gamein dil khuda se dua kar’, tells about the depth of feeling of a lover.
There are many more songs of Lata composed by C Ramchandra that are memorable and soothing to the ear.
Naushad also composed several melodious numbers with Lata. One romantic number is from film Amar, ‘Mere sadke balam, na kar koi gham aye shama aye jahan phir kahan’ filmed on Madhubala. In Deedar ‘Le ja meri duayen le ja pardesh jane wale’ is a heart-rendering song of Lata. In Baiju Bawra, Lata sang the following number: ‘Bachpan ki mohabbat ko dil se na juda karna’. There are dozens of other songs composed by Naushad that are melodies.
Madan Mohan was yet another music director who made Lata sing great melodies. In Adalat one can still enjoy listening to this number, ‘Unko ye shikayat hai ke hum kuch nahin kehte’. There is another wonderful song from the same film, ‘Yun hasraton ke daag mohabbat mein dho liye jab dil se dil ki baat chali aur ro diye’.
Lata’s other great songs are:
- ‘Ja re ja re ud ja re panchi’ from the film Maya (music director: Salil Chowdhury)
- ‘Tera mera pyar amar phir kyun mujhko lagta hai dar’: Asli Naqli (music director: Shankar-Jaikishan)
- ‘Mere Sapne mein aana re sajna’: film Raj Hath (music director: Shankar-Jaikishan)
- ‘Meri jaan meri jaan pyar kisi se ho hi gaya hai’: film Yehudi (music: Shankar-Jaikishan)
- ‘Dil ka na karna aitebar koi, bhule se bhi na karna pyar koi’: With Mohammed Rafi in the film Halaku (music: Shankar-Jaikishan)
- ‘Tum na jane kis jahan mein kho gaye’: film Saza (music: SD Burman)
- ‘Chand phir nikla magar tum na aye’: film Paying Guest (music: SD Burman)
- ‘Chhup Gaya Koi re door se pukar ke’: film Champakali (music: Hemant Kumar)
- ‘Tera jana dil ke armanon ka mit jana’: film Anari (music Shankar-Jaikishan)
- ‘Bol ri Kathputli dori kaun sang bandhi’: film Kathputli (music: Shankar-Jaikishan)
There are many songs that can be discussed here but due to space problems I conclude my tribute by adding a couple of incidents related to her singing.
One day, Lata went to the studio for recording a song. Someone told her that Salil Chowdhury was rehearsing a song. When she went inside the room, Salil Choudhary was singing the song ‘Ja re ja re ud ja re panchi’ with his fingers on harmonium. She was simply mesmerised and was excited to know that the song was being composed for her to sing.
Another incident occurred was when she was to sing for film Tarana, starring Madhubala and Dilip Kumar. The song, ‘Seene mein sulgate hain armaan’, was actually composed for Talat Mehboob but Lata insisted that she would also sing.
She wanted the song to be a duet and it turned out to be a famous one.
The writer is a Delhi-based journalist. Views expressed are personal.
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