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Nasreen Munnni Kabir’s conversational biography
Lata Mangeshkar — In Her Own Voice, takes readers into the world of most gifted singer of Hindi film music, writes
M. L. Dhawan FOR all the fame Lata Mangeshkar has achieved, there is little known about her. Nasreen Munnni Kabir extends her earlier work on television on the songstress with a book Lata Mangeshkar—In Her Own Voice. Nasreen Munni Kabir persuaded the reticent queen of cadence to tell the story of her struggle in her career to her fans in her own way and in her own words/voice. Lata speaks in such detail about her own life that makes the book a unique piece of art. In this conversational biography, Nasreen gets Lata to talk of things comfortable as also subjects uneasy.
In 1948, music director Ghulam Haider called Lata to record ‘Badnam na ho jaye mohabbat ka fasana’ for Shaheed, but producer S. Mukherjee rejected Lata’s vocals being too thin for the heroine Kamini Kaushal. Ghulam Haider was the first major composer who gave Lata a break with Majboor’s song ‘Dil mera toda mujhe kahin ka na chhorda’(1948) According to Lata, she has always fought for her rights. This often brought her in the midst of controversies. For instance, when the names of singers and lyricists did not figure on the screen as well records, she protested against it. She recalls that on the record of the song ‘Aayega aanewalla’ from the film Mahal, the singer’s name on the label says ‘Kamini’— Madhubala’s screen name in the film. Lata protested against the same. She also demanded royalty to singers from music companies. While Mukesh, Talat, Manna Dey, Kishore supported her, Rafi and Asha opposed her. Ultimately the controversy was resolved and the singers started getting royalty. About the present day music, she said, "While in those days, the orchestra played music in order to give us singers a rest, now we sing in order to give the orchestra a rest." The book also delves on Lata’s relationship with sister Asha. Rubbishing rumours of rivalry between the two, Lata says we are sisters and the best of friends. Regarding the allegations of monopoly that she did not allow newer talent to flourish, she says nobody can suppress talent. Once Kavita Krishnamurthy had recorded a dummy song in her absence for her, Lata persuaded the composers to retain her version as she had sung the song very well. Regarding her equation with O. P. Nayyar, she says he always chose Shamshad Begum, Geeta Dutt and Asha to sing his songs as he believed that his music did not work with my voice. I agreed with him. The press made mountain of a molehill to tarnish our image. When asked about her achievements and legendary status, Lata modestly says, "It is all due to the blessings of God, my parents and the efforts of my composers who shaped and honed my talent." The conversations between Lata Mangeshkar and Nasreen Munni Kabir take the readers into the world of the most gifted singer of Hindi film music.
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There
is a deluge of misinformation on Lata and according to the author one
of the aims of the book is to try and separate truth and fact from
rumour and myth. The book includes observations by Lata of the film
industry’s personalities and her relations with them. According to
Lata, her father Master Deenanath Mangeshkar always liked to hear K.
L. Saigal and so did Lata. After the demise of her father in 1943,
Lata started her career by acting in four Marathi films. In Marathi
film Gajabhau (1943), she sang her first Hindi song — ‘Hindustan
ke logon ab to mugh ko pehchano’ — and not ‘Mata
ek sapoot ki duniya badal de tu’ as is widely reported. She also
worked in four Hindi films Badi Maa, Jeevan Yatra, Subhadra and
Mandir.