A biography requires a different kind of approach. As I am quite good with interviews, I thought it was better suited to my style. Plus, I had that material from before, so I wanted to use it.

Also, when you are writing a biography, you take somebody else's experiences and put it in your own words. It's nicer to have people talking directly to the reader rather then going through me. So to maintain her personality, I thought of writing the book in a Q&A style.

This book will help dispel some of the myths floating about her on the Internet.

The Internet is fabulous. It has lots of information. But the information is only useful when the person knows the subject a little, otherwise there is lot of rumours that float on the Internet.

Like on the Net it says her name was earlier Hema, which is not true. Her name was Hridaya. This is the kind of false information you find about her.

Also, the (fact) that at the age of five she fainted while singing a song and that when she got up she sang the song exactly from where she had left off. Lataji says that it is not true. Nothing like this ever happened.

What was the toughest part about writing this book?

My biggest problem was to write everything in one book. You can actually write two books on her -- such a rich life she has had and such an incredible career. The tough part was not being able to write about every song. But then you can't write about every song. The reader will get bored.

Life has changed for her. She is not recording two songs in the morning, two in the afternoon and two at night.

Some of Lataji's answers sound diplomatic -- like she says she did not work with composer O P Nayyar because her voice does not suit his tunes.

Yes. But everybody's personality is different. Some people are diplomatic by nature. O P Nayyar is dead now, so what is the point in saying something where he cannot defend himself? That would be in poor taste.

Lataji did not say much about R D Burman too.

She said a lot of things about him. Or maybe I did not ask more.

What are some of the interesting new details in this book?

I am hoping that I have given the big picture of a (person's) life and their contribution to Indian cinema. But yes I don't think people know that she loves taking photographs.

I don't think they know that she had nine dogs as pets.

I don't think people knew she likes playing the slot machines while vacationing in Las Vegas.

What new thing did you learn about her?

I was just struck by her memory. She recalls everything from the age of five. That I think is incredible.

When you are a singer and you remember the tune after listening to it once or twice and record it that itself tells that she has a great memory.

 

The fact that she turns 80 today, September 28, only underscores, more sharply than ever, the fact that Lata Dinanath Mangeshkar remains a living legend. How parallel, in a sense, runs Lata's career with Naushad's. So perennial in their appeal were Naushad's songs -- right through his first 30 years in films (1940-70) -- that the appeal of that era's music scored by this 'Sangeet Samrat' abides right up to 2009.

Likewise, such has been the quality of Lata's singing (as The Phenom) from 1948 to 1970 that the spell she cast through those years endures to this day, making her the diva without peer in the song lexicon of Hindustani cinema. Nothing Asha Bhosle accomplished in her later years could erase the memory of the singing Lata in her first 30 years.

How do we 'earmark' the fact that Lata is 80? I say where Lata is radically different from Asha is in her unique ability to hold a theme together on the sheer power of her vocals. It is on such thematically Lata landmark films that I initially focus to spotlight some 30 songs of her 80 evergreens.

Mughal themes offer the best opening gambit here, so let us begin with Bina Rai as Anarkali, the 1953 milestone movie that had a London paper noting: 'She sings like an angel.' The paper's reference, of course, was to Bina Rai as Anarkali. But obviously, it meant Lata. The paper's noting was going by Bina Rai's looks in the Anarkali theme song, Yeh zindagi usi ki hai, tuned by C Ramchandra in Raag Bhimpalasi.

But Ramchandra's own favourite from Anarkali -- clearly composed in a tender moment between composer and singer -- was Mohabbat aesi dhadkan hai. My favourite here is Mujh se mat poochch mere ishq mein kya rakha hai because Majrooh Sultanpuri zeroed in upon this song to underpin his startling view that the song had 'a Maratha called C Ramchandra showing our 'Last Mughal' Naushad how to compose a ghazal!'

The beautiful thing about Anarkali is that you could take your pick from Lata's seven renditions for C Ramchandra in that period film and still be in a position to argue that it is her best effort there. So having already touched upon Yeh zindagi usi ki hai, Mohabbat aesi dhadkan hai and Mujh se mat poochch mere ishq mein kya rakha hai, I invite you to take your first choice from the Anarkali cluster of three above. Or from these four in the same 1953 Anarkali film -- Duaa kar gham-e-dil, Mohabbat mein aese qadam dagmagaye, O aasmaan waale shikwa hai zindagi ka and Aa jaa ab toh aa jaa mere qismat ke kharidar ab toh aa jaa.

Do note how the above seven Anarkali ear-holders underline Lata's distinctive ability to make her vocalising quintessentially situational the secret of a singer's strength in an audio-visual medium like films.

'Majrooh said that about my ability to compose a ghazal after hearing my Khuda nigehbaan ho tumhara on Madhubala in Mughal-e-Azam, did he?' Naushad sought to know, as I took the Mujh se mat poochch Sultanpuri Anarkali point to him. When I confirmed that Majrooh had been indeed comparing the music of Mughal-e-Azam to the quality of C Ramchandra's Anarkali score, Naushad shrugged shocked shoulders.

Raju Bharatan was Cinema Editor of The Illustrated Weekly Of India. He has penned Lata Mangeshkar: A Biography, priced at Rs 295, a book now out of print.

How do we address her -as Didi, Lataji or by any other way, we want to know and she sweetly replies, “Whatever you are comfortable with - I am okay with anything you like.”

We start off with the only FAQ we have: How does she feel at 80, and looking back at her long personal and professional journey, what does she consider as her own biggest achievement when the world rightly considers her the ultimate singer?

“Can I tell you the truth?” she says. “So many singers have been better than me, are better than me and will be better in the future too! To be honest, my biggest achievement is that janate ne malaa pasand kele (the people liked me), they showered me with so much love and affection and gave my singing and me a consistently great response. I personally feel from the core of my heart that this is all my parents’ and my gurus’ blessings and my destiny that I was able to reach where I did. I cannot really say that I have done all this!”

But surely she has some role in such an unparallelled saga of super-success? A tinkling laugh precedes her answer. “My role is there. I worked very hard - but so many others must have done so and not got showered with the kind of love I received! Yes, I went through so many hardships, made so many sacrifices and got myself completely dedicated towards my career as my only goal.”

Apart from some clear followers of the Lata Mangeshkar school of singing, even some less-obvious playback singers seem to have patterned their vocals and career on her. Interrupting us, she says, “I don’t know. Maybe they must have thought that whatever I do is right, or maybe even that I am doing well so they could also try out the same thing. Of course, it could be excessive love or devotion to me, for when there is bhakti, you follow your idol with eyes closed!”

So how would she describe herself as a musician when she has been so much of an inspiration and role-model?

With the limitless patience of a wise teacher explaining an elementary fact to a slow student, she says, “He baghaa, mee parat tumhala ekach goshta bolte (See, I am telling you the same thing once again) - it’s all God’s benediction and wishes. I cannot describe what I am. Yes, I put in a lot of effort to understand what playback singing, as opposed to classical music or any other musical field, was all about.”

She goes on, “I made a study of the art, especially of its specialised needs. I realised that it called for a circus of three to four minutes in which everything - your musical knowledge, your diction, expression and everything else had to be packed in. It was also clear that while being conscious of all these factors, it was essentially music for a film, for a situation in a story and for a heroine. And yes, I did a lot of mehnat because I was a Marathi-speaking girl and that could affect my Hindi and Urdu dictions. I studied Hindi and Urdu and initially followed some singers who were excellent at these aspects. I would listen to K.L.Saigal, Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khansaab, Ustad Amir Khansaab and Nazakat-Salamat. I even followed Noorjehan to some extent. Anil Biswas, Ghulam Haidersaab and some other film composers also taught me various aspects. And I put in similar efforts when it came to other languages like Bengali.”

What about her expertise in Western songs, something that Lataji isn’t conventionally associated with? “Oh, I got to sing a lot of Western songs - because my base was strong in Indian classical music!” What about her famous aversion to cabaret numbers? And how come she still sang numbers like Aa jaan-e-jaan and Mehfil soyi in Intequam, Aur mera naam hai Jameela in Night In London, Iss duniya mein jeena hai in Gumnaam and others?

“Yes,” admits the lady. “I would have objections to the lyrics of such songs. But Shankar-Jaikishan and Laxmikant-Pyarelal took care of those aspects, made songs suited to my vocal cords and left me free to sing them in my style rather than like a typical cabaret.”

Laxmikant-Pyarelal and Shankar-Jaikishan, in that order, were also the composers with whom she recorded the most. What does she have to say about these monumental associations, for it was these composers who offered her the maximum variety? “They were composers who left a lot to me,” she replies. “They would tell me that I could do whatever I liked with the harkats and taans. They knew that a singer contributes a lot to the overall quality of a song and that it was not enough for a composer to break his head over a composition!”

This truism, we tell her, has been endorsed about Lata by composers from the legends down to today’s names. Could she enlighten us about the process of the creation of a song through the composer making her listen and teaching the song and her contributions?

“I think that for me it was about understanding the way different music-directors thought and worked,” explains the Diva. “I had to deliver what each of them wanted, but with my individual touch. Expressions were of paramount importance and I would be very particular about the taal and also the words, especially the diction or ucchaar. Some music directors were very particular about the singer sticking strictly to their composition, but most of even composers would give me some freedom, like Naushadsaab was much more liberal with me than with others. And yes, for me it was also important who was going to enact the song on screen.”

And speaking of actresses, what is the secret behind her voice fitting everyone from Nargis to Nutan, Hema Malini, Kajol and Kareena Kapoor?

“Some people are fond of saying that I change my voice for different actresses, but that’s not true,” she says decisively. “I don’t know, but my voice seemed to fit everyone! Like Meena Kumari had a thin voice like mine. But yes, I would definitely observe all these actresses and their small traits and styles and habits, which must have helped. I certainly did not make any special efforts to be different for, say, a Dimple Kapadia in Bobby. But yes, it was basically all about my understanding the mood of the song.”

Expectedly, Lata Mangeshkar is diplomatic about which actresses enhanced her singing with their on-screen performances. “I think all of them tried to do their best!” she says. “Meena, Nargis, Nutan, Hema...everyone.”
In those days of “live” recordings, what was the kind of environment with her male co-singers or even the females in duets and multi-singer songs? Was there a spirit of competition in the positive sense? “How could there have been competition?” she wants to know. “All of us had to look after the needs of the songs. We all were at our individual best!”

Point taken, Didi. What is she doing now? “I am working with my brother Hridaynath on musical project on Meerabai. We are planning Dnyaneshwari too. I am approached for the occasional film song that I take on if I like it - I recently recorded for Anand-Milind in a Bhojpuri film.” After years of recording two or more songs in a day, is it easy to pass the time of day?

“Oh, time passes very easily for me!” she signs off. And we start planning the questions we can ask her when she approaches the next milestone.