Lata Mangeshkar secretly composed music for films in her native Marathi language. Here’s why
India Today
Did you know Lata Mangeshkar used to secretly compose music for films in her native language, Marathi? The legendary singer passed away today, February 6, at the age of 92.
Lata Mangeshkar was the most celebrated singer that our country ever witnessed. As we mourn the legendary singer’s death, let's take a look back at some of her best work. While she was known for being the voice behind many melodious tracks, did you also know Lata Mangeshkar composed a few songs and also won an award for them?
Lata Mangeshkar, the country's one of the greatest singers, was also fond of composing music. She never revealed or talked about this talent of hers, but this doesn’t mean the singer wasn’t working on it. According to her book, Lata Mangeshkar in Her Own Voice, the crooner revealed she used to quietly compose music for films in her native Marathi language.
Lata Mangeshkar also shared that she wanted to keep her identity as a composer a secret but the world got to know about it during an awards ceremony. It happened when one of the Marathi films, Sadhi Manas, for which she wrote the music, ended up winning multiple awards.
"No one knew I was composing film music, but then Sadhi Manas went on to win eight Maharashtra state awards, including best director, best singer, best story and best music," she said in the book written by London-based documentary filmmaker, Nasreen Munni Kabeer.
The legendary singer then went on to describe what exactly happened during the award show in 1996. After accepting the best singer award, Lata Mangeshkar also won the best music award. "I stayed firmly in my seat. The master of ceremonies explained the music composer Anandghan was none other than Lata Mangeshkar. So I was forced to publicly accept the award,” said the late singer.
How will you remember Lata Mangeshkar? Pay your tributes here.
For a couple of days, Lata Mangeshkar was showing continued signs of improvement and her team also came forward asking everyone to pray for her. After fighting it out for weeks in the hospital, Lata Mangeshkar died today.
