Lesser-known facts about Lata Mangeshkar

Legendary Indian singer Lata Mangeshkar passed away on Sunday (6 February).  Famous for her mellifluous voice, Lata Mangeshkar is considered one of the greatest Indian playback singers and revered as the "Nightingale of India".

The singer has left behind a treasure of songs sung across a career that lasted over 70 years.

The simple and media-shy vocal artist earned many honours and accolades in life along with fame, but there are some aspects of her life that have remained little known. 

Here are some of the lesser-known facts about Lata Mangeshkar:

'Hema Mangeshkar'

Lata Mangeshkar was born 'Hema Mangeshkar' on 28 September, 1929.

7-decade long career, 36 languages

Mangeshkar has sung in over 36 languages in her 7-decade long career. 

Guinness world record holder

The 1974 edition of The Guinness Book of Records had listed Lata Mangeshkar as the most recorded artist. But the claim was contested by Mohammed Rafi.

The book continued to list Lata's name but also mentioned Rafi's claim. The entry was removed in 1991 until 2011, in which Guinness put Lata's sister as the most recorded artist.

Currently, Pulapaka Susheela holds the honour.

A long list of accolades

Her list of awards is unending, and among them, Lata Mangeshkar received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1989 and the Bharat Ratna award — India's highest civilian honour — in 2001.

She is only the second vocalist, after M S Subbulakshmi, to receive this honour. Not only this, France also conferred on her its highest civilian award, the 'Officer of the Legion of Honour', in 2007.

Prior to this, in 1974, the singer became the first Indian to perform at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Not just singer, but also an actor

Lata Mangeshkar received her first lesson in music from her father, and at the age of five, she started working as an actor in his musical plays — "Sangeet Natak" — in Marathi.

When she was merely 13, Mangeshkar's father died of a heart disease, after which, her career as an actor and singer started. She was helped by Master Vinayak, the owner of Navyug Chitrapat movie company.

Lata Mangeshkar's first song was removed from the film

In 1942, Lata recorded her first song for a Marathi movie called "Kiti Hasaal". However, the song, "Naachu Yaa Gade, Khelu Saari Mani Haus Bhaari"., was removed from the film's final cut.

She once fainted while recording a song

Lata revealed in an interview with Firstpost that she once fainted while recording a song with music composer Naushad.

"We were recording a song on a long hot summer afternoon. You know how Mumbai gets in summer. During those days, there was no air conditioning in the recording studios. And even the ceiling fan was switched off during the final recording. Bas, main behosh ho gayi (So I fainted)," she said.

Lata never listened to her own songs

Lata Mangeshkar once said while speaking to Bollywood Hungama that she does not listen to her own songs as if she did, she would find a hundred faults in her singing.

Madan Mohan was her favourite music director

In Lata's words, the best music director she worked with and with whom she had a special bond was Madan Mohan. She said in a 2011 collector's item calendar called Tere Sur Aur Mere Geet, "I shared a special relationship with Madan Mohan, which was much more than what a singer and a music composer share. This was a relationship of a brother and a sister." She listed 'Woh chup rahe' from Jahan Ara as their favourite collaboration with him.

The "Nightingale of India"  served as a Member of Parliament in Rajya Sabha

Lata had a brief tenure as an MP (Member of Parliament) from 1999 to 2005. She had been nominated to the Rajya Sabha (Upper House) in 1999. She described her tenure as an unhappy one and claimed she was reluctant to be inducted.

She recorded her last song in 2019

Lata Mangeshkar recorded her last song "Saugandh Mujhe Is Mitti Ki", which was composed by Mayuresh Pai, as a tribute to the Indian Army. It was released on 30 March, 2019.