- NET Web Desk
India to observe 2-days national mourning in the memory of the legendary singer and music maestro – Lata Mangeshkar, who breathed her last on Sunday morning in Breach Candy Hospital, Mumbai due to post COVID-19 complications. She was 92.
As a mark of respect, the National Flag will fly at half-mast for two days.
“She came and got admitted as a Covid patient. Covid was treated but due to post-Covid complications she passed away,” said N Santhanam, chief executive officer of Breach Candy Hospital.
Popularly addressed as the ‘Nightingale of India’, Lata Mangeshkar’s voice and career soared to the greatest of heights. Her demise has left a massive void in the Indian music fraternity and for the music aspirants.
Born in 1929 to a classical musician Pandit Deenanath Mangeshkar, Lata Mangeshkar was the eldest of five siblings. She sang raga-based compositions in films like – Baiju Bawra, Mother India and Mughal-E-Azam, Shankar-Jaikishan’s melodic hits in Barsaat and Shree 420, among others.
The veteran singer began her career back in 1942, and recorded innumerable songs in over 36 Indian and foreign languages. In her decades-spanning career, she worked with several music directors like Madan Mohan, SD Burman, RD Burman, Shankar-Jaikishan, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, OP Nayyar, Kishore Kumar to name a few.
The legendary singer who first broke onto the music scene with Aayega Aanewaala in Mahal (1949), is considered as one of the greatest playback singer in Indian cinema having sung more than 30,000 songs in a career spanning six decades.
Among Lata Mangeshkar’s most iconic songs is the patriotic composition – Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo; a song commemorating the Indian soldiers who martyred in the 1962 war with China.
A recipient of the Bharat Ratna, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Dadasaheb Phalke Awards, Lata Mangeshkar was an icon of Indian cinema, having sung playback for an extensive list of Hindi films, and regional ones, such as – Bengali & Marathi. Lata Mangeshkar won three National Awards for Best Female Playback Singer for the films Parichay, Kora Kagaz and Lekin. Other memorable films in her credits include Pakeezah, Abhimaan, Amar Prem, Aandhi, SIlsila, Chandni, Sagar, Rudali and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge.
She has also been conferred with France’s highest civilian award – the Insignia of ‘Officier de la Legion d’Honneur’ (Officer of the Legion of Honour).
