This song, which could be considered as the flagship song of the film, starts with a classical rendition by the renowned classical singer Bade Ghulam Ali followed by a sher in Lataji’s voice, through which the courtesan Anarkali (Madhubala) starts proclaiming her love for the Prince Saleem. The film earned a lot of praise for its grandeur and music was no exception. It however came out to be a masterpiece in all aspects breaking various contemporary records. Asif’s dream, which he perseverantly pursued and brought to reality after crossing a plethora of hurdles many years after its conception. The magnum opus Mughal-e-Azam was director K. Pyar Kiyaa To Darnaa Kyaa (Mughal-e-Azam – 1960) This was repeated more than once before he recovered and returned to India. The beautiful orchestration commensurate with the Shankar-Jaikishan style adds a wonderful aroma to the song.Ĭelebrated producer-director Mehboob Khan – who suffered a massive heart attack during his visit to the USA and hence could not come back to India for quite some time – called Lataji and asked her to sing “Rasik Balamaa” for him.
Particularly, the heart-piercing stress on the word “balamaa” that Lataji gives every time makes us empathise with the distressed girl. Lataji’s rendition drenched in emotions takes the marvellous composition to the next level. The song composed by the duo in raag Shuddha Kalyan and written by Hasrat Jaipuri, is a perfect portrayal of a betrayed heart. Out of all the melodious and catchy songs from the film, this one leaves a long-lasting impression on our minds. Alas, Khemchand Prakash passed away soon after the song was released and could not see the grand success his composition had achieved.Ĭan you imagine that the song was recorded on the set where the film was being shot and not in a state-of-the-art recording studio?Ĭhori Chori was a musical hit by Shankar-Jaikishan and their music for the film fetched them Filmfare award for best music. No wonder, the fine piece of art that emerged out of this patience, commitment and dedication became a major hit. The song did not attain the finality in one take, and Lataji kept on walking from a distance to the mic singing the sher over and over again. As the recording technology was not so advanced then, in order to achieve this effect, Lataji had to walk upto the mic from a distance singing the sher with which the song starts. On the screen, the hero hears someone singing at a distance and the voice approaches him gradually. And thus, the commencement of the “Lata Era” was announced! (Raj Kapoor’s “Barsaat” released in the same year was the first film to display the playback singers’ names on the records as well as on the screen.) When the song was telecast on radio, the radio stations received numerous enquiries asking for the name of the singer and the radio stations had to then find out and announce that the song was sung by Lata Mangeshkar. The record of the song had the name “Kamini” (Madhubala’s name in the film) as the name of the singer. Besides, this is the first song that gave Lataji recognition in the film industry. Here is an overview of Lata Didi’s “decennial diamonds” –Ĭomposed by Khemchand Prakash, penned by Nakshab and picturised on Madhubala accompanied by Ashok Kumar, the song is probably the first haunting song in Hindi films.
On the auspicious occasion of the 90th birthday of our beloved Lata Didi (yes, it is an auspicious occasion for every HFM lover!), here is a modest attempt to wish her a happy birthday by taking a bird’s eye view of her journey in HFM through one song from each of the 7 decades (1940s to 2000s) of her active career. She has been pleasing literally everyone across 5 generations over 7 decades!
She would probably be the only exception to the rule – “you cannot please everyone”.
Her entry in Hindi Film Music (HFM) revolutionised the playback singing and thereafter she has been enchanting the music lovers with her saccharine voice and divine singing without looking back. Lata Mangeshkar – bas naam hi kaafi hai! She doesn’t need any introduction, does she? Her name is not just her name it is the name of an era in itself, it is an identity of India, it is a synonym of music.
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