Lata Mangeshkar celebrates her 82nd Birthday

Singer Lata Mangeshkar, commonly known as the Nightingale of Bollywood for having mesmerized millions with her melodious voice for over six decades, enters her 82nd year on 28th September 2011.From her first super hit “Aayega aanewaala” to “Jab pyaar kiya to darna kya” and “Noorie” to her recent bests like “Yeh hum aa gaye hain kahaan” and “Luka chuppi”, Lata has managed to thrill music lovers of every generation with her soulful singing over her 66-year-long career and continues to do so.From light classical music to film songs and from ghazals to bhajans and pop, she has sung a variety of numbers. Having worked with almost all top music composers and singers in the industry, Lata has sung more than 30,000 songs in over 20 Indian languages.The singer featured in the Guinness Book of World Records from 1974 to 1991 for having made the most recordings in the world.“That 60 years down the line and having rendered over 25,000 songs, she has been able to maintain the same position is why she is called the Bollywood living legend,” composer Anu Malik said. According to him, every song of hers is a musical gem as much for her singing quality as for its pure composition.Born Sep 28, 1929, to a family of musicians settled in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, Lata’s life wasn’t easy. After her father Dinanath Mangeshkar, a classical singer and theatre actor, died of heart ailment in 1942, his five children – Lata, Hridayanath, Asha, Usha, and Meena – and wife Shudhhamati had to struggle for survival.Being the eldest of them, 13-year-old Lata had to see the family through the rough patch. And she did it single-handedly until her siblings grew up, each gifted with musical talent of varying degrees.Till the time she voluntarily cut down her singing assignments in the late 1980s, Lata faced no competition from any of the female singers, barring her sister Asha Bhosle. Though Asha’s career ran parallel with hers, it was on a different note and scale musically.Lyricist-filmmaker Gulzar said Lata’s greatness lay in her complete devotion to music. “Singing for her is not merely a profession, it is akin to worship,” he said.