A good news. Lata Mangeshkar’s 17 year old, privately recording done for some temple have been unearthed. This is indeed a manna from heaven since she has always sounded extremely divine when singing bhajans. The album titled ‘Sumiran‘ will be released by her erstwhile regular label - HMV and is due for release shortly. Coupled with the new ghazal album, this is truly a double whammy for her fans.
Lata Mangeshkar’s much awaited ghazal album is ready for release; by none other than the company which had nearly shut her out in the early nineties: T-Series. I, for one, am eagerly awaiting the release. With music by Mayuresh Pai, the lyrics have some ghazals written by Javed Akhtar. But all these are mere facts - for me, it’s her voice which matters. And that, she is coming out with a ghazal album after a huge gap!
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Memory is a strange creature. It pulls out strange things from closets you think you have closed forever. Some are so dirty, rusty and faded that they are way beyond recognition. Today while listening to ‘Hum hi nahi the pyar ke kaabil’ (Pyaasi Aankhen), I came face to face with some such memories. Trying desperately to piece them together into recognizable facts, but failing each time.
Listing out some movies that I had seen during childhood - those which had Latadi’s song(s), and those which never seem to have been discussed in any group(s). Or even shown on TV. At least, a lesser popular channel like B4U would throw up some flop nineties movie (eg they showed Mehboob Mere Mehboob and First Love Letter sometime back)
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In my book, this towering Anpadh number is the perfect song. Everything about it is just neatly placed - the tune, lyrics, singing, prelude, interlude, rhythm and pacing - no loose ends, no sagging folds, everything tightly packed.
If you wake me up at middle of the night and tell me to listen to the number, I will do so greedily. Because, I want to again and again savor the thrill of listening to that short ascending prelude before Lataji’s voice takes over. And that slight quiver in her voice…it’s amazing. The heroine has just been accepted by her husband. There is joy in her heart, yet she is not fully open to her beloved, so there is a bit of trepidation, a little hesitation - and all of that captures in that slight tremble in Lataji’s voice…it’s as if the heart’s ECG is imprinted on her vocals. Simply superb!
Latadi has sung for a wide spectrum of heroines over several decades now - for some she sang in the first film itself. Others were not as lucky. In fact, many names that later became synonymous with Lataji’s voice didnt have her singing for them - for example, Rekha (Saawan Bhadon) and Jaya Bhaduri (though she got Lata’s voice in a back-door way, since she lipsync-ed Madhumati’s song Aaja re pardesi in Guddi). Even from the older lot - like Asha Parekh and Sharmila Tagore - didnt have Latadi singing for their adult/Hindi debuts!
Here is a brief list on some debuts which I recall (in no specific order) - these are mostly post-seventies as my film knowledge is a bit stronger from that era onwards.
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Today morning, I heard Yaara seeli seeli*** for the umpteenth time - a very satisfying and fulfilling number. As the song ended with its impossibly high and collosally breathtaking crescendo, I switched off the player - seeping in the reverberations of the voice that had once again shaken, stirred and stimulated the core of my soul; a thought struck my mind that I hadn’t done any post on Lataji for a long long time now.
So here is one, a mosaic of memories from my lifetime. I am afraid the post has gone longer than intended, but I didnt have the heart to cut it out, or post it in parts.
For me, discovering songs sung by Latadidi is a passionate quest for a lifetime; and often, the results have been more often than not extremely satisfying.
As I wrote earlier, my love for Lata Mangeshkar’s voice began when I was too young to understand the feeling of love or being enthralled. I was too little to comprehend as to why I was selectively recording her songs when my dad got me a mini-diktaphone. I was too kiddish to grasp as to why my heart beat stopped when I heard her voice soar in the impossibly high-pitched Jahan pe sawera ho**! (Today, I heard the song again and I am convinced they must have invented laser beam hearing her unwavering-hitting-the-soul voice!)
Filmfare Power List is out! And Latadidi retains her fifth position this year too in the music makers section. Kudos to the lady to still be amongst the top five- that too, with virtually no musical album release last year! Whoa! That is surely an achievement. Many congratulations!
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Aah, it’s that auspicious day again - the day Goddess Saraswati blessed the eldest daughter of Master Dinanath Mangeshkar with a voice so sweet that it defies the shackles of vocabulary and language.
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Today is Kishoreda’s Birth Anniversary. His exuberant voice was as joyful as his entire personality. A multi-faceted , multi-talented artist, Kishoreda gave voice to many hits during his long and illustrious career.
His duets with Latadi are innumerable ( I am sure someone can give the exact statistics). His meeting with Latadi was no less dramatic than the films they sang for. IIRC, both were going to the same studio, and Latadi thought the boy following her was doing so with malignant intentions. Of course, once at the studio the entire misunderstanding was cleared. This sequence was used in Manzil, in which both sang different version of that love-soaked, rain-drenched number Rimjhim gire saawan.
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It is S.D.Burman’s birth centenary this year. And www.sdburman.net compiled an awesome evening today, here in Delhi at Sri Sathya Sai Auditorium, Lodhi Road.
Personally, I have attended very few musical shows, primarily because the music that I like is seldom a crowd-puller, and hence commercial organizations avoid it. However, this was a treat compiled by a select group of connoisseurs, and all of it - as Ritu Chandra, one of the co-hosts and co-owner of the site mentioned - voluntary and for immense love for Burmanda’s music. Due to this I was eagerly awaiting the show. And I wasnt disappointed. A labor of love has a fragrance that is as natural and pure as a rose in the garden - with thorns, et al; something that is not found in the ornate bouquets wrapped in plastic films in decorative shops. So was the show fragrant, byouant and vibrant, despite a few hiccups and snags. It was all for the love of music, by lovers of music, for the lovers of music.