When Lata Mangeshkar embarrassed Anup Jalota

“Once Lata Didi embarrassed me by asking me how I could sing not only ghazals but also bhajans with equal ease”. ANUP JALOTA who was a special guest at the launch of Deepak Pandit’s thumri album INHERITANCE of singer Pratibha Singh Baghel released by Shri Hariprasad Chaursaia, tells JYOTHI VENKATESH in this exclusive interview.

Why do you call Lata Mangeshkar an avatar purush?

Lataji was an avatar purush or rather stree even in her lifetime. She had taken the avatar of the sur and always sung to perfection whether it was a recording or for that matter a concert on stage either here in India or abroad. She was born on the day of Basant Panchami and ironically she left us also on the day of Basant Panchami as if signalling to all of us mere mortals that she was here on earth to keep alive the precious legacy of music alive for all 92 years of her life

Is it true that Lata Mangeshkar was very active even though she had stopped singing for the last 5 years?

Though it has been over five years that Lataji had stopped singing due to old age problems and ill health, would you believe it that she even had continued to whatsapp to me and a few of her close friends. I remember once when she asked me to sing a song of hers to her, I sang the number Jo Dard Diya Tumne composed by Ravindra Kain to her on the phone and she was extremely happy to listen to her song by me because the film had been stalled  though she had recorded the song for it.  It would not be wrong if I were to say that she was the one and only playback singer who  jinko sun kar hum sab yeh bol nahi sakte the ki the song could have been still better. Whenever Lata didi used to sing, swaron ka jharna behtha tha

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When did you get the opportunity to sing for a film along with Lata Mangeshkar ?

The first time I got the great privilege to sing along with her for a film was for music directors Lakshmikant and Pyarelal for the film Ek Duuje Ke Liye. The song was Solah Baras Ki Baali Umar Ko Salaam. I had also sung with her for the film Professor Ki Padosan.

I think once Lata Mangeshkar really embarrassed you. When and why?

Once when I met Latadidi, at her residence in Peddar Road in Mumbai where I was staying earlier, she really embarrassed me a lot by wondering aloud to me by asking me how I managed to sing not only ghazals but also bhajans with equal vigour and without any flaw whatsoever. I shot back to her “Thanks to the compliment but didi out of all people on earth, you are asking me this question.” And she smiled away to glory.

There is a controversy around how many songs Lata Mangshkar had sung in her career. Some say she has sung over 25000 songs whereas some opine that she has not sung more than 8000. What is your opinion?

I do not think there should be any kind of controversy as to whether Latadidi had sung 8000 songs or 25,000 songs till date in her career, that too in a span of over 70 years. Let those who are very good in calculating come forward to tell us how many songs she sang exactly in her career.

Which are the five best songs of Lata Mangeshkar according to you?

The five songs of hers that I like the best are Rehna Beethi Jaaye, Alla Tero Naam, The Hasraton Ki Daman, Khaton Se KKeench Leke Aanchal and the last bit not the least Ae Mere Watan ke Logon Zara Yaad Karo Qurbani.

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What do you think separates Lata Mangeshkar from other of her ilk as far as playback singing is concerned?

I think I should say Hats off to Latadidi because she is perhaps the only singer in this world who has sung for different generations of actors. She had sung for Shobhana Samarth first and then for her daughters Nutan and Tanuja and then for Kajol too.

Lata Mangeshkar was never media savvy and though I have put in 50 years in journalism and have interviewed Mohammad Rafi, Manna Dey, Mahendra Kapoor and even Asha Bhonsle, I was not able to interview Lata Mangeshkar.

It is true that Lata didi was extremely media savvy and did not give many interviews in her career but then she did not need to cultivate the media like we all do today. Isn’t it?

What is the secret of the phenomenal popularity of Lata Mangeshkar as a singer?

Lyrics touch the hearts of people when they listen to a song. Like the song Baharon Phool Barsao Mera Mehboob Aaya Hai but in the case of Lata didi her songs instantly turned out to be divine because besides the fact that the lyrics were good, Lata didi also sang songs which were good. It was a kissa of sone pe suhaga.

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Though Latadidi did not pen lyrics, she has composed songs for films!

Latadidi was not only a good singer but also a good music director but she composed very few songs for films early in her career though she did not pen lyrics at all. If you speak Hindi well and also have a good knowledge of Urdu, you can definitely write songs but take it from me, it is tough to write good lyrics.

Should a memorial in memory of Lata Mangeshkar be built on Shivaji Park in Mumbai?

It is a good decision of the government of Maharashtra to have a Lata Mangeshkar memorial in Shivaji Park where I live in Mumbai. There is also a memorial to the late leader Balasaheb Thackeray there in Shivaji Park. Shivaji Park is a central location in Mumbai, where music maestros like C. Ramchandra, Vasant Desai, Pandit Jasraj, my father Purushottamdasji and even Sachin Tendulkar had lived once. However, the family members of Laa didi like Hridayanth Mangeshkar have declared that they do not want a controversy over Lata didi’s name about a memorial in Shivaji Park and hence do not want the government to have her memorial there in Shivaji Park.