At 85, you are still the one and only Lata Mangeshkar. It’s the blessings I’ve received from my parents and God.
That doesn’t explain why you’re so special.
Even I can’t explain whether I’m special or not. But yes, I put in some amount of work and underwent some hardships to get there. I believe some people are born with a special purpose. I’m one of them. I’ve to confess I’ve always thought less about myself and more about my family all my life.
You’ve looked after your family from the time when you were a child…
Here, I’d like to correct you. I’m very proud to say my family ceased to be dependent on me from a very young age. From the age of 11, Hridayanath never asked me for a penny. If you look at the children in well-off families they’re often dependent on their parents’ money for sustenance. Not my siblings. I am lucky. My sisters Asha, Meena, Usha and my brother made their own careers. Asha left home when she was 14-15 and fended for herself. I was never made to feel burdened financially by my family. On bhai-dhooj, Haridayanath used to give me and my sister '1.25. Now he gives me in thousands on bhai-dhooj.
You sound emotional.
That’s how I get when I speak about my brother. Do you know, he was four when he got bone TB. His foot was permanently damaged by the illness. We sisters had to carry him around. However a tribal vaidya in Kolhapur in 1943 cured him miraculously.
Looking back, do you regret not getting married?
Not at all. I’ve no regrets in life. I never got a chance to get married and I never thought about it. I believe what happens is what is meant to happen. In fact I’ve no regrets about anything.
You are considered the single-most powerful woman of the entertainment industry. What does power mean to you?
Good question. Power to me means the power to excel in my work; to not misuse the power, is power to me. It’s easy to get swayed and drunk on power. All these years I made sure I remained down to earth. Power to me means being obsessed with my work. Earlier, when I’d go on concert tours, I’d rehearse for months. Hemant (Kumar) used to laugh at me for rehearsing six months in advance.
You are supposed to be extremely quick on the uptake when recording songs…
Ah, that’s a gift I have received from God. Naushad saab used to say, ‘Okay you’ve picked up the tune. But I still want you to come back tomorrow to rehearse’.
You mean just for the sake of it?
Jee haan. I knew the song in five minutes. But still he wanted a rehearsal.
Do you feel because of your stature, your siblings did not get their due?
We are known collectively as the Mangeshkar family. But yes, to an extent the belief that other trees cannot grow under a banyan tree is applicable to my family.
It is said Asha Bhosle moved out of your shadows to find her identity?
Yeh ghalat hai. People say all kinds of things about our relationship. We live in adjoining flats and there’s a connecting door between our homes. We’re constantly in and out of one another’s homes. But yes, at a tender age Asha left home and got married.
How do you rate Asha as a singer?
She didn’t become famous for nothing. She can sing every kind of song. Thank God she didn’t adopt my style of singing. If she had, we’d have become competition for one another. She went on her own path.
Do you miss your great colleagues?
Oh yes! I miss Kishore da (Kumar) and Mukesh bhaiyya. I also miss Mohd Rafi saab. I miss Madan bhaiyya (Mohan), Salil Choudhary, Shankar-Jaikishan and Hemant Kumar. And Naushad saab was much more than a music director for me. He used to invite me home, feed me, look after me. It was a time of great creativity and friendship.
What other dreams do you nurture?
What I’ve received is much more than I deserve. Aisa kisiko milta nahin. I look at artistes better than me and wonder why they didn’t get the fame they deserve.
Like who?
There are so many artistes better than me. There is a world outside cinema where much talent languishes. Look at classical singers. They die in penury.
Every composer gave their best to your voice?
I suppose I did sing well. Or else why would they want me to sing? Why would composers wait for me when I was not available? Composers waited for months. Music in those days used to be important. Composers were kings. Music was the life of films. That isn’t true any more.
There is just one music director in history of playback composition who never worked with you…
(Promptly) O. P. Nayyar. He was a fine music director. But his style didn’t suit me. That’s what he told me. And I agreed. He publicly acknowledged me as the No.1 singer. I shared a warm rapport with him.
What style are we talking about here?
The way he made Geeta Dutt or Asha sing was not suited to me. But you know when he set out to compose for his first film he called me to sing. But I had
to cancel the recording. I think he felt bad about the cancellation of his first song.
Who are the people from the industry you are specially fond of?
Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjeev Kohli (composer Madan Mohan’s son) and Dilip Kumar saab.
