Connect with us
Saturday,23-November-2024
Breaking News

Bollywood

Lata Mangeshkar, the ageless voice of India, passes away at 92

Published

on

Lata Mangeshkar, India’s most loved singer who had once moved Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to tears, leaves behind a teary-eyed nation of admirers who grew up listening to her immutable voice give wings to the words of poets and the screen careers of legions of heroines.

India’s Melody Queen, who also composed music for Marathi films and was a producer as well, and had the distinction of being conferred with the highest civilian honours of India and France, passed away on Sunday morning at the Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai, where she had been admitted because of Covid-related complications on January 11.

Lata Didi, as she was known among her family and followers, was 92 and is survived by her siblings — playback singer and composer Meena Khadilkar, popular singer and restaurateur Asha Bhosale, singer Usha Mangeshkar, and music director Hridayanath Mangeshkar.

She never married, but was close to the late Raj Singh Dungarpur, the aristocratic former cricketer and President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) from 1996 to 1999.

One of India’s most loved voices, Lata Mangeshkar was the recipient of three National Film Awards, seven Filmfare awards, and of course, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1989. She was conferred the Bharat Ratna in 2001, becoming the second singer after M.S. Subbulakshmi to be so honoured, and the French awarded her the Officer of the Legion of Honour.

In 1974, Lata Mangeshkar became the first Indian to perform at the Royal Albert Hall, London. She had indeed come a long, long way since the time when the first song that she recorded for a film — ‘Kiti Hasaal’ in 1942 — was dropped in the final cut.

Born in what was then the princely state of Indore on September 28, 1929, to the classical singer, Marathi theatre actor and writer of musical plays Deenanath Mangeshkar and his wife Shevanti (Shudhamati), Lata Mangeshkar was originally named Hema by her parents, but they later changed it to Lata after the character Latika from one of her father’s musical plays.

Lata Mangeshkar’s association with the performing arts began when she was five and started appearing in her father’s musical plays, and it continued even after her father’s premature death in 1942, thanks to his good friend, the actor and director Master Vinayak (Vinayak Damodar Karnataki), who took the family under his wings.

It was Master Vinayak who took Lata Mangeshkar to Mumbai, paved her way into the world of Marathi cinema, got her to take Hindustani classical music lessons from Ustad Aman Ali Khan of the Bhendi Bazaar Gharana, and introduced her to Vasant Desai, V. Shantaram’s favourite music composer.

But it was not until Master Vinayak’s death in 1948 that the struggling singer-actor found the person whom she considered to be her “godfather” — the music composer Ghulam Haider, who gave Lata Mangeshkar her first big break with the song ‘Dil Mera Toda, Mujhe Kahin Ka Na Chhora’ in the movie ‘Majboor’ (1948). It was her first big break.

Haider took his protege to Shashadhar Mukherjee, the Filmistan boss now better known as Kajol and Rani Mukherjee’s grandfather, for his film, ‘Shaheed’ (1948), but he turned her down because he found her voice to be “too thin”.

Lata Mangeshkar proved him oh-so wrong just a year later when her song ‘Aayega Aanewaala’, filmed on the gorgeous Madhubala in Kamal Amrohi’s debut directorial, ‘Mahal’ (1949), became an ageless hit.

And in one of life’s delicious ironies, Mukherjee’s grand-daughter lip-synced the ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’ song, ‘Mere Khwabon Mein’, which was sung by none other than Lata Mangeshkar, as well as the other numbers picturised on her and Shah Rukh Khan.

Since ‘Mahal’, Lata Mangeshkar was courted by just about every music director of note — from Anil Biswas to S.D. Burman (and his son Rahul Dev, whose first and last song she sang), Naushad (who had asked her to sing like the then reigning nightingale, Noorjehan), Madan Mohan, Shankar-Jaikishan, Laxmikant-Pyarelal (for whom she’s said to have sung 700 songs in 35 years), and Kalyanji-Anandji.

And she worked with every contemporary composer of note — from Anand-Milind, sons of Chitragupt, with whom she had also worked, and Anu Malik, Sardar Malik’s son, to Ilaiyaraaja and A.R. Rahman. It is said she worked with music directors from 13 states in her star-studded career.

After Noorjehan moved to Pakistan, Lata Mangeshkar became the go-to playback singer for every film producer and music composer. She did not disappoint them.

Lata Mangeshkar lent her voice to an endless succession of chart-topping numbers in Hindi cinema, from ‘Allah Tero Naam’ and ‘Rangeela Re’ to the ‘Satyam Shivam Sundaram’ title track, to ‘Lukka Chuppi’ in ‘Rang De Basanti’, apart from songs in Marathi (she also composed the music for several Marathi films in her ‘Anandghan’ avatar), Bengali, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, and Sinhala.

In 1974, the Guinness Book of Records listed Lata Mangeshkar as the most recorded artiste in human history, stating that she had recorded “not less than 25,000 solo, duet and chorus-backed songs in 20 Indian languages” between 1948 and 1974. The claim was contested by her long-time rival, Mohammad Rafi, who claimed to have sung around 28,000 songs.

After Rafi’s death, the Guinness Book in its 1984 edition listed Lata Mangeshkar in its entry for ‘Most Recordings’, but it also recorded Rafi’s claim. Later editions of the Guinness Book said Lata Mangeshkar had sung no less than 30,000 songs from 1948 to 1987.

For 73 years, from 1943 to 2015, when she recorded her last song for a film (the Indo-Norwegian production, ‘Dunno Y2…Life Is A Moment’, which was all about gay love), Lata Mangeshkar commanded a fan following and an inimitable reputation with not many parallels in the Indian performing arts.

The late Yash Chopra, who was one of Lata Mangeshkar’s favourite directors, said in an article he had penned for BBC.com on the occasion of the singer’s 75th birthday (not longer after she had sung the famous ‘Veer Zaara’ song, ‘Tere Liye Hum Hain Jiye’, with Roop Kumar Rathod): “I see God’s blessing in her voice.” We are blessed to have that voice live with us forever.

Bollywood

Kangana Ranaut’s Emergency To Finally Hit Theatres In 2025, New Release Date Announced For 4th Time

Published

on

Kangana Ranaut's Emergency To Finally Hit Theatres In 2025, New Release Date Announced For 4th Time

It will indeed be a happy new year for actress Kangana Ranaut as her much-hyped film, Emergency, will finally see the light of the day in 2025. After several setbacks, delays and controversies, the film is now all set to hit the silver screens on January 17, 2025.

Kangana took to her social media handles on Monday to announce the new release date of Emergency. “17th January 2025 – The epic saga of the nation’s most powerful woman and the moment that altered India’s destiny. #Emergency – Unveils Only in cinemas on 17.01.2025! (sic),” she wrote.

In the poster, Kangana can be seen acing the ‘Indira Gandhi look’, along with Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talapde, Vishak Nair and Milind Soman. While Kher will be seen essaying the role of JP Narayan, Shreyas will play Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Vishak Nair grabbed eyeballs as Sanjay Gandhi in the trailer, and Milind Soman will play Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw in the upcoming film.

This is the fourth time that the makers have announced a release date for Emergency. The film was first supposed to release in November 2023, but it was then pushed to June 2024. The film was once again postponed to September 6, 2024, however, just days before the D-day, the Censor Board refused to grant the film a valid certificate.

Several Sikh bodies objected to certain incidents shown in Emergency and moved court, stating that the film will show their community in a negative light. Taking in cognizance their plea, the CBFC did not give the censor certificate to Emergency, forcing the makers to push the film indefinitely.

It is to be noted that Emergency is even more special for Kangana as it marks her debut as a director. The film also stars Mahima Chaudhry, Satish Kaushik, and others in key roles.

Continue Reading

Bollywood

Singham Again Movie Review: Ajay Devgn, Rohit Shetty’s ‘High-Voltage’ Ramayana Is Explosively Entertaining!

Published

on

Singham Again Movie Review: Ajay Devgn, Rohit Shetty's 'High-Voltage' Ramayana Is Explosively Entertaining!

Title: Singham Again

Director: Rohit Shetty

Cast: Ajay Devgn, Deepika Padukone, Tiger Shroff, Arjun Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Jackie Shroff, Akshay Kumar and Shweta Tiwari.

Where: In cinemas

Rating: 3 stars

Positioned and postured as a full-blown action entertainer to be enjoyed with your family, Rohit Shetty brings Ajay Devgn’s Bajirao Singham back to narrate the modern day Ramayana, replete with a bunch of B-town stars to do justice to the epic saga that shows the ultimate victory of good over evil. So, right from Sita-haran (Sita’s abduction) to Jatayu’s sacrifice to Lanka-dahan, every chapter must unfold with cinematic liberty and melodrama that must serve justice to every key situation of the epic battle.

And truth be stated, we get the events, and we even cheer for every sequence and subtext that the film mounts to showcase the Ram Vs Ravan battle. Right from the unconditional love of Laxman and Bharat to the ultimate loyalty of Hanuman to Sita’s cruel abduction– every character has a context placement and contemplation to ruminate over. But hang on a sec! Who is Deepika placed as in this tale? She is neither Shabri, Shurpanakha or Mandodri. Her character seems as misfit and misplaced as her poor acting and her wobbly (read: horribly put on and off-putting) accent!

While the rest of the star cast plays to the gallery amidst the ear-splitting background score, Deepika sticks out like a sore thumb as the lady Singham.

At 2 hours and 24 minutes, Shetty unleashes the mega star-power of his film, and how! From Simmba (Ranveer Singh) to Sooryavanshi (Akshay Kumar), everybody jumps in to offer their bit to ensure that the audience remains engaged and entertained. Equally engaging and pleasant are the backdrops against which the makers have set the pieces of the narrative. Every locale is either scenic, handsomely mounted or ‘explosive’ with the trademark sign of Shetty pasted all over.

The story is simple and straight to state the obvious. Bajirao Singham nabs a notorious terrorist (Jackie Shroff) and his arrest triggers another baddie (Arjun Kapoor) to abduct Singham’ wife (Kareena Kapoor Khan). So, what’s the connection between these two events, you may wonder! You will have to watch the film to find out the link, as Shetty gives you a backstory that sets the current tale rolling.

What’s remarkable is how the makers have designed the entry of each character, and how the sequences have been spaced out to do justice to every character that makes their presence felt. Nobody disappears or gets diluted in terms of the presence and storytelling in the name of cinematic liberty. Add to it Ranveer Singh’s over the top hysteria, Akshay Kumar’s reassuring screen-presence and Tiger Shroff’s crisp, but impactful action chops, and you would know how Shetty elevates the film as a sheer entertainer worthy of all the whistles and cheers.

The sequence where Ranveer sets Arjun Kapoor’s territory on fire or when Shetty brings Chulbul Pandey (Salman Khan) to spice up the already high-voltage drama is incredible!

For a strory where you know how everything is going to unfold and conclude like, Shetty brings his A game to the table to showcase his strength –which is action and comedy–and dare we say, he doesn’t miss a single beat. While some sequences look stretched out beyond their capacities, and some could easily have been edited out, all in all one enjoys this ‘copverse’ studded with bharpoor dialoguebaazi and seemingly never ending ‘action’.

Continue Reading

Bollywood

Salman Khan To Shoot For Singham Again Cameo In Mumbai With 120 Guards, 30 Cops

Published

on

Salman Khan To Shoot For Singham Again Cameo In Mumbai With 120 Guards, 30 Cops

After much back and forth, Bollywood superstar Salman Khan will be fulfilling his commitment of his character Chulbul Pandey’s cameo in Rohit Shetty’s “Singham Again” and will be shooting for it amidst tight security.

the superstar will be shooting in a studio, which cannot be named due to security reasons.

The source said: “Salman Khan will be fulfilling his commitment of Chulbul Pandey cameo in “Singham Again” at 4.00 P.M. today at a Mumbai Suburban Studio. The studio name cannot be given due to security reasons.”

The source also shared that the superstar was advised to not shoot at the moment given the security reasons after politician Baba Siddique was gunned down by three assailants.

The source said: “Mumbai Police and officials had advised to not shoot at the moment for security reasons but to fulfill his commitments given to Rohit he has decided to shoot today amidst 120 individual security guards and 30 police officials.”

It was earlier reported that Salman will not be making a special appearance in the Ajay Devgn-starrer “Singham Again” amid security concerns.

The third installment from the “Singham” franchise has a motley of stars. It has Ajay as Bajirao Singham, Ranveer Singh as Simmba, Akshay Kumar as DCP Veer Sooryavanshi, Kareena Kapoor as Bajirao Singham’s wife Avni, Deepika Padukone as police officer Shakti Shetty, Ravi Kishan, Jackie Shroff and Tiger Shroff.

Actor Arjun Kapoor will be seen playing the role of antagonist named Danger Lanka. The film will have a contemporary spin to the “Ramayana” and is slated to be released on Diwali on November 1.

It was on October 12 night, when NCP leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddiqui was murdered by three armed men. He was attacked outside son Zeeshan Siddique’s office in Mumbai’s Bandra area.

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending