Page 8 - Seniors Today -Volume no1

Cover Story

Arrogant and

Unsociable?

I Don’t Care

Despite her phenomenal success, Lata
Mangeshkar remains modest

Singing legend Lata Mangeshkar talks to Subhash K Jha about her life, work,
passions and the laughter that led to her being labelled ‘arrogant’

Better known as the Nightingale of Indian filmland, singing legend Lata Mangeshkar is known
to not give interviews very easily. She has been termed variously over the years: arrogant,
reclusive, unsociable, but once you get her talking there is no stopping her. Didi, or elder sister,
as she is fondly called, will turn 89 on September 28, 2019. In this freewheeling interview
with Subhash K Jha, she talks about her life, work, passions and her relations with her
contemporaries, including sister Asha Bhosle. Read on…
How do you assess your own career as a singer?
If you ask me, I did okay. Achchha hai… Lekin aur bhi achchha ho sakta hai (I did well. But I
could’ve done better). I’ve never stopped to admire any of my songs, ‘Wah wah kya gaana gaya
hai.’
That’s not for you to say. That’s for us to say, isn’t it?
But I know what you don’t. I know the places where I’ve made mistakes in my songs. And an
artiste should never be satisfied with what he or she does. There should always be hunger to
excel. That fire….look at Bachchan Saab! That’s what keeps him going. No matter what your
sphere of activity there must always be that hunger to do better. As a writer I am sure you also
want to do better. With my songs also I always felt I could do better, even the ones that people
today think perfect.

Ok, which is the song that has given you maximum satisfaction?
(promptly) The songs that I sang for my brother (Hridayanath Mangeshkar) in the album of
Meerabai bhajans Chala Vahi Des. I always feel that I’ve done justice to whatever Hridaynath
gave me to do. It has been my most successful endeavour to date. I’ve also done justice to some

SENIORS TODAY | Volume 1 | Issue 1