Happy Birthday Wishes to Most Beloved Singer Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar Ji

Lata Mangeshkar is one of the best singers of the Hindi film industry. She is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most recorded artist in the world.
Lata Mangeshkar was born on September 28, 1929 in Indore, Central Provinces (now Madhya Pradesh). She was the eldest daughter among the five children of Dinanatha and Shevanti Mangeshkar who belonged to a Maharashtrian Brahmin family. Her father Pandit Deenanath Mangeshkar was an accomplished classical singer and stage actor. Lata was initially named Hema when she was born, but later her father renamed her as Lata, inspired by a character in one of his plays. She had four siblings, three sisters, Meena, Asha and Usha; and one brother, Hridaynath. All five Mangeshkar siblings learned classical music from their father.
Lata started acting in her father’s musical plays since the age of five. She also took lessons in classical music from maestros like Amanat Khan, Pandit Tulsidas Sharma and Aman Ali Khan Saheb later in life. She was inspired by K.L. Saigal’s music when she was young. She did not receive a formal education as she did not attend school. PanditDinanath passed away when Lata was just 13 years old and as the eldest child, the financial responsibility of the family came to rest upon Lata’s shoulders.
Vinayak Damodar Karnataki, a family friend helped her get jobs as an actress in Marathi and Hindi Films. Beginning years of her career were quite rocky as young Lata struggled to find her foothold in the industry. Her first Hindi song happened the next year in 1943, with ‘Mata Ek Sapoot Ki Duniya Badal De Tu’ in the movie Gajaabhaau.
Lata Mangeshkar moved to Bombay in 1945. Apart from Master Vinayak, Lata was mentored by music director Ghulam Haider. Under his guidance, Lataji achieved her first recognition in the song ‘Dil Mera Toda, Mujhe Kahin Ka Na Chhora’ in the 1948 movie Majboor. Her first tumultuous hit song came with the song ‘Ayega Anewala’ presented on-screen by actress Madhubala in the film Mahal in 1949.

Her music career took off from there as she started working with all major music directors and playback singers of the time. She did playback singing for celebrated music directors like Sachin Dev Burman, Salil Chowdhury, Sankar Jaikishan, Naushad, Madan Mohan, Kalyanji-Anandji, Khayyam and Pandit Amarnath HusanLal Bhagat Ram. During the 1950s, she worked in successful films like Baiju Bawra (1952), Mother India (1957), Devdas (1955), ChoriChori (1956) and Madhumati (1958). She won her first Filmfare Award for best Female Playback Singer in 1958 for the song ‘Aaja Re Pardesi’ from the film Madhumati with music director Salil Chowdhury.
Lataji has received numerous awards and honors for her illustrious career as a playback singer. Some of the Awards she won are Padma Bhushan (1969), Dadasaheb Phalke Award (1989), Padma Vibhushan (1999), Maharashtra Bhushan Award (1997), NTR National Award (1999), and ANR National Award (2009). She was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's Highest Civilian Award in 2001. She won 3 National Film Awards (1972, 1974, 1990), and 12 Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards (1964, 1967-1973, 1975, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1991). She has also won the Filmfare Awards for Best Female Playback Singer four times (1958, 1962, 1965, 1969, 1993, 1994). She was awarded the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993.