Life of Lata Mangeshkar in 1940s

Early movie career in the 1940s
In 1942, when Lata was 13, her father died of heart disease. Master Vinayak (Vinayak Damodar Karnataki), the owner of Navyug Chitrapat movie company and a close friend of the Mangeshkar family, took care of them. He helped Lata get started in a career as a singer and actress.
Lata sang the song “Naachu Yaa Gade, Khelu Saari Mani Haus Bhaari,” which was composed by Sadashivrao Nevrekar for Vasant Joglekar's Marathi-language movie Kiti Hasaal (1942), but the song was dropped from the final cut. Master Vinayak gave her a small role in Navyug Chitrapat's Marathi movie Pahili Mangalaa-gaur (1942), in which she sang “Natali Chaitraachi Navalaai,” which was composed by Dada Chandekar. Her first Hindi song was Mata Ek Sapoot Ki Duniya Badal De Tu for the Marathi film, Gajaabhaau (1943). Lata moved to Mumbai in 1945 when Master Vinayak's company moved its headquarters there. She started taking lessons in Hindustani classical music from Ustad Amanat Ali Khan Bhendibazaarwale. She sang “Paa Lagoon Kar Jori” for Vasant Joglekar's Hindi-language movie Aap Ki Seva Mein (1946), which was composed by Datta Davjekar. Lata and her sister Asha played minor roles alongside actress Noor Jehan in Master Vinayak's first Hindi-language movie, Badi Maa (1945). In that movie, Lata also sang a bhajan (religious song), “Maata Tere Charnon Mein.” She was introduced to music director Vasant Desai during the recording of Master Vinayak's second Hindi-language movie, Subhadra (1946).
Following the partition of India in 1947, Ustad Amanat Ali Khan Bhendibazaarwale migrated to newly formed Pakistan, so Lata started to learn classical music under Amanat Khan Devaswale. Pandit Tulsidas Sharma, a pupil of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, also trained her.
After Master Vinayak's death in 1948, music director Ghulam Haider mentored Lata as a singer. In those days, Noor Jehan, Shamshad Begum, and Zohrabai Ambalewali, with their rather heavy and often nasal voices, were the popular female singers in Hindi movies. Haider introduced Lata to producer Sashadhar Mukherjee, who was working then on the movie Shaheed (1948), but Mukherjee dismissed her voice as "too thin."An annoyed Haider responded that in the coming years the producers and the directors would "fall at Lata's feet" and "beg her" to sing in their movies. Haider gave Lata her first major break with the song “Dil Mera Toda,” from the movie Majboor (1948).
Initially, Lata imitated Noor Jehan, who was then the most popular singer, but later she developed her own style of singing. Lyrics of songs in Hindi movies are primarily composed by Urdu poets and contain a higher proportion of Urdu words, including the dialogue. Actor Dilip Kumar once made a mildly disapproving remark about Lata's Maharashtrian accent while singing Hindi/Urdu songs; so for a period of time, Lata took lessons in Urdu from an Urdu teacher named Shafi.
“Aayega Aanewaala,” a song in the popular movie Mahal (1949) proved a turning point for her. (The song was composed by music director Khemchand Prakash and lip-synced on screen by actress Madhubala).

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About Lata Mangeshkar
Life of LAta Mangeshkar
Life in 1950s
Life in 1960s
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Life in 1980 and On
Awards And Recognitions
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