HIGH NOTES
Behind the voice
R. KRITHIKA
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All you wanted to know about Lata Mangeshkar and more…
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Lata Mangeshkar … In Her Own Voice: Conversations with Nasreen Munni Kabir; Niyogi Books, price not stated.
For more than six decades, her voice has enthralled the nation. It would be a rare person who has not heard of Lata Mangeskhar. While much has been written about her, there is still an aura of mystery about her. So the latest book on her, Lata Mangeshkar… In Her Own Voice: Conversations With Nasreen Munni Kabir, seems like a welcome addition. The author’s introduction says that the book was born out of the six-part documentary “Lata In Her Own Voice” made for Britain’s Channel 4 TV. Much of that interview for the film was updated, extended and the “book of conversations” took shape.
There is much information for Lata’s fans here and also for those interested in the dynamics of the early Hindi film industry. Think of all that was done without all the musical technology that we take for granted today. For instance, there is this lovely little gem about how the other-worldly effect in the song that catapulted Lata to the top — Aayega Aanewala from “Mahal” — was achieved. “I stood in a corner of the studio and the microphone was placed in the middle of the room. Singing the first verse… I walked slowly towards the mike and when I was close to it, I sang the main refrain….”
Growing years
Kabir begins from Lata’s childhood — instead of an angelic singing star, what you hear about is a little tomboy who made “all kinds of excuses” not to sing — and takes us through Lata’s initiation into Marathi theatre and then into the world of films. The death of her father pushed the 13-year-old into growing up quickly. It does seem amazing that the playful mischievous child metamorphosed into a responsible one but as she says, “I had no choice”. Since there wasn’t much playback at that time, the only option was to act, which she hated.
The 1950s and 1960s were a wonderful era for Hindi film music. Composers, lyricists, singers… there was an abundance of richness. Lata, being in the thick of it all, is a rich lode of information and Kabir mines her relentlessly. Lata talks about how songs were written and composed, relationships between directors and composers, between the composers themselves and between the singers and the composers. There is much affection in her nostalgic recollections of Madan Mohan and Raj Kapoor. Given the ego clashes today and charges of plagiarism, it is heart-warming to hear of the mutual give and take. Lata recounts how C. Ramchandra, unable to get the right tune for the sad version of Yeh zindagi usiki hai (“Anarkali”) asked Roshan to have a go. She also talks about her rift with Mohammed Rafi (over royalties), tiffs with S.D. Burman, Madan Mohan, the reason she never sang for O.P. Nayyar…
Opening up
Lata also opens up about personal matters like her siblings, her reactions to sister Asha’s first marriage and its break-up, her hobbies (cooking and photography), her likes (cricket and the slot machines at Las Vegas) and dislikes, even her favourite film (“The King & I” starring Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr), her various shows abroad...
The tone is conversational and easy, and the text is laid out in an easy-on-the-eye manner with excellent photographs placed strategically. In fact the photos themselves are a wonderful record of the film industry of those days. There is also a section in which actors, colleagues and Lata’s family talk about her, though this is largely eulogistic and gushing. Read one and you’ve read them all. Lata’s family is almost monotonous in its admiration of its didi.
Personal reminiscences, information, trivia… the book is packed with information but there are times when it is an overload. At times, the conversation seems to jump through too many things: family, career, colleagues. And there is no chronological order, which also tends to confuse the reader. This is not a book that you can sit down and read at one go. You’re more likely to skim through the text, pick up nuggets and leaf through the photographs.
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