Nightingale’s tryst with Bengali music

Ranjan Das Gupta recollects his interactions with Lata on her favourite Bengali songs and composers

I first spoke to Lata Mangeshkar in 1991 over the phone. With tears of joy, I was talking to her about her immortal song ‘Ekbar biday de Ma’ from the Bengali film ‘Subhas Chandra’ (1965). ”This is my best Bengali song. I was moved to tears rendering this unforgettable number,” she had said.

I was introduced to the ‘Nightingale of India’ by Salil Chowdhury. After that, I have had detailed discussions with her at her Peddar Road residence five-six times.

She had once said, ”My best Bengali songs are composed by Satinath Mukhopadhyay, Salil Chowdhury, and Hemant da (Hemanta Mukherjee). ‘Akash Pradip Jole’, ‘Saat Bhai Champa’, and ‘Jabar Bela’ are some of my best numbers.”

As for her career in Hindi films, she had said, ”Naushad saab, Dada Burman (SD Burman), Shankar-Jaikishan, Salil Chowdhury and Madam Mohan extracted the best from me”.

Narrating an anecdote, she got into a pensive mood. ”At the Mehboob Studio (in Mumbai), I was recording the famous number ‘Duniya Banane Wale’ from ‘Hindustan Ki Kasam’ (1973). In the first mukhda, I committed an error. Madan Mohan bhaiya said, “Lata do not betray musical emotions.” I cried and recorded the song in two takes and he complimented me,” she recollected.

When I asked her about her co-singers, she laughed. “I enjoyed singing duets with the versatile Kishore Kumar. Mohammed Rafi saab and Manna (Dey) da eclipsed me while singing while Mukesh bhaiya had a unique nasal tone.”

Talking about Bengali singers, she had told me, “Sandhya Mukherjee and Pratima Bandopadhyay are great singers. ‘Raton Ka Saye’, the Hindi version of Sandhya didi’s Bengali super hit ‘Saghana Rati Gumayer’, was sung by me. Both were composed by Salil Chowdhury. Sandhya sang better than me. Pratima’s ‘Ekta Gaan Likho’ still gives me goosebumps.”

Then she added, “I loved the rendering of Madhuri Chattopadhyay’s rock and roll number ‘Joubane Mou Jhare’. I must confess, Hemanta da was more seasoned in singing the Tagore number ‘Tomar Holo Shuru’ with me.

She narrated another interesting incident. ”I never charged a single penny from Ali Akbar Khan Sahab for rendering ‘Har Kahin Par Shadmani’ for ‘Aandhiyan’ (1952) as my mark of respect for him. He was an uncompromising composer. Also, Ravi Shankarji could improvise well while composing due to his command over music.”

When asked if she was keen to sing along with Ustad Bismillah Khan’s shehnai, she just smiled but did not answer.

(The writer is a Kolkata-based journalist who has interacted with Lata Mangeshkar multiple times).