Page 45 - Seniorstoday March 2022 Issue

that she would never sing with Rafi again
and to replace him or her.
Names like Suman Kalyanpur, Usha
Timothy, Krishna Kalle benefitted from that
and sang many songs with Rafi in the mid
’60s.
While Sunil Dutt and Nargis tried to
convince her, Lata has mentioned in her
biography that it was Jaikishan who got an
apology letter from Rafi to her after which
she resumed singing with him.
The Rafi controversy continued when Lata
was mentioned in the Guinness Book of
World Records with the maximum number
of song recordings, when he contested the
claim, but with no effect. Asha Bhosle later
replaced her elder sister in the books. The
record currently is held by P Susheela.
The sabotage theory and the cabaret songs
Once Lata started singing again with Rafi,
the other singers started getting sidelined.
Ostensibly the cacophony of their chorus
reached the media as well and everyone
from Suman Kalyanpur (‘Tum Ne Pukara’)
to Sharda, Hemlata (‘Tu Jo Mere Sur Mein’)
and even Usha Timothy (‘Mujhe Tum Yaad
Aaye’) who sang many songs with Rafi were
quoted stating that Lata did not want them
to grow and hence took their songs as she
wanted to monopolise the market.
“Lata doesn’t mind those people coming up
who will be nowhere after a short time. But
the moment she spots real talent, she goes
out of her way to sabotage her. She has no
right to deprive the public of a good singer.
Lata might have been jealous of me, because
apart from a good voice I had good looks and
education,” singer Sharda Iyengar of ‘Titli
Udi’ fame was quoted in the film magazine
Stardust. Sharda is also remembered for her
Filmfare Award winning cabaret song ‘Baat
Zara Hai Aapas Ki’.
SENIORS TODAY | ISSUE #33 | MARCH 2022
Lata didn’t like to sing cabaret songs
Talking of cabaret numbers, Lata didn’t like
singing cabaret numbers and once asked
Madan Mohan to re-record a song that
she sang for him in Om Prakash’s Chacha
Zindabad and later let sister Asha Bhosle
pick the songs that she didn’t want to see
which also created a controversy about the
sisters.
Later, even Vani Jairam claimed that
Lata didn’t like her rise after Guddi
where she sang ‘Bole Re Papi Hara’. One
has to understand that when Lata came
into playback singing she was in a field
dominated by Shamshad Begum, Geeta Dutt,
Suraiya and Noor Jehan.
It is also to be noted when Asha Bhosle
refused to sing for Bappi Lahiri allegedly at
the insistence of another music composer,
Lata ended up singing all the cabaret songs
for OP Ralhan’s Paapi.
The Aye Mere Watan Ke Logon credit
Usha Timothy also claimed that she was
the first one to sing the song ‘Aye Mere
Watan Ke Logon’ with C Ramchandra at
a stadium in Ahmedabad for the Army
before Lata sang it at the packed ground in
New Delhi. Ramchandra was also keen that
the Kavi Pradeep written song should be
sung by Asha Bhosle who backed out and
a not-so-well Lata came in and filled in for
her and filled Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s
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