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MUSIC
Eternal India
encyclopedia
Lata Mangeshkar
Zubin Mehta:
(1936- )
Indian conductor, director of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra from 1968 (for life from
1981), and of the New York Philharmonic from 1978.
K.L. SAIGAL
Kundan Lai Saigal, the immortal singer of
melancholy songs, was bom in 1904 at Jammu
in a music-loving family. His mother was a
deeply religious lady who took the boy with
her whenever she attended the "bhajans" in
the
neighbourhood.
In
her
company
Saigal
learnt to sing bhajans and shabads rendered in
the local classical style. His father encouraged
him to participate in musical functions and
even as a young lad he won prizes on many
occasions.
Saigal got an opportunity to learn classical
music when his brother fell ill. A music teacher
was engaged to entertain the patient, but it was
Saigal who learnt from him the rudiments of
classical music. His early life was drab and
uneventful. For his livelihood he sought such
odd jobs as a clerk in the North Western
Railway, salesman of a typewriter firm, hotel
manager etc. A chance meeting with Shri B.N.
Sircar, the head of the New Theatres of
Calcutta, changed his life. Sircar discovered
the great potential of Saigal's voice. Saigal
thus became a part of early New Theatres
which became a symbol of clean entertainment,
lilting musicals and cultural renaissance.
The film 'Devadas' made him into a
national hero overnight. The credit for
moulding him as a singer goes largely to
Raichand Boral, the doyen among the music
directors and to Pankaj Mallik. Saigal was
hailed as a singer with a 'divine voice.' Some
of the songs sung by Saigal under the baton
of Pankaj were rendered by the composer
himself as "Special records". Another famous
Saigal film was "Street Singer" His song
"Babula mora" the theme song of "Street
Singer" continues to haunt the music-lovers.
Saigal was proficient in singing Ghazal,
Quawwali and Thurnri. He popularised Urdu
poetry especially of Ghalib among the masses.
He sang in almost all the major languages of
India. His renderings of Surdas compositions
were melodious, the most famous being "Suno
suno aye kishan kala".
Saigal was also a great actor. His acting
career was spread over a very short period
(1932-46) and he acted in about 35 pictures.
The most famous were "Devdas", "Street
Singer", "Saathi", "Chandidas", "Yahoodiki
Ladki", "President", "Tansen" etc.
Saigal died on January 18, 1947.
LATA MANGESHKAR
Born in 1929 in Indore, Madhya
Pradesh,
Kumari Lata Mangeshkar was
initiated to
music by
her father Master Dinanath Mangeshkar, a cele-
brated singer-actor of the Marathi stage. She was
later a student of Ustad Aman Ali Khan of the
Bhendibazar
gbarana
and Ustad Amanaht Khan of
Dewas.
Making her debut as a singer-actress on the Ma-
rathi stage in
Pabili Mangala Gaur
at the age of
nine, Kumari Lata Mangeshkar entered the cinema
at 13 and soon made her
mark as a
singer of
prodigious talent. By the '50s
she was established
as
the “indisputable and indispensable queen of India’s
playback sijigers”, as
Time
magazine called her, and
has been synonymous with popular music in the
subcpntinent ever since.
Lata has to her name the largest number of
recorded songs in the world of an all encompassing
variety. (Sung over 50,000 songs in twenty Indian
languages;
Recording
Sometimes
five
sessions
a
day and worked with over 175 composers).
She is a recipient of many honours including
honorary doctorates from the Indira Kala Sangit
Vishwavidyalaya,
Khairagarh,
and
Shivaji
Univer-
sity, Kolhapur. She received the Padma Bhushan in
1969.
She received the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke
Award in 1989.
For her contribution to music in India, Kumari
Lata Mangeshkar was elected Fellow of the Sangeet
Natak Akademi.
Famous Playback Singers
Pankaj Mallik, Hemant Kumar, Talat Mohammad,
Mohammad Rafi, Mukesh, Manna Dey, Mahendra Ka-
poor, Kishore Kumar, K.J. Yesudas, Ghantasala, P. B.
Srinivas, S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, Kumar Shanu, Udit
Narayan. Surayya, Shamshad Begum, Rajkumari, Asha
Bhonsle, Usha Mangeshkar, Suman Kalyanpur, Anuradha
Paudwal, Alka Yagnik, Ila Arun, P. Susheela, S. Janaki,
Vani Jayaram, Chitra.
(* See Vol-ll Sec-O-Cinema & Theatre)
Famous Singers -- Bhajans/Ghazals
Purushotham Das Jhalota, Anup Jhalota, Pankaj
Udhas, Jasraj, Gulam Ali, Gulshan Kumar, Kavita Krish-
namurthi and Preeti Sagar.