Lata Mangeshkar - The Queen : Part 1 - The Milieu of the 40s

The link to all parts of this series is given here: Series Links

This series only looks at Lata's Music. We will not be going too much in Lata's biography. (There are enough resources available for that.) To understand what Lata was up against when she entered the industry, it is necessary to have some idea of the Music of those times. Lata's first breakthrough song with Ghulam Haider was in 1948. So let us look first at the female singers of those days and try to get a sense of how they sounded during those times. 

The most famous names of those times were Noorjahan, Kushid Bano, Shamshad Begum, Zohrabai Ambalewali, Amirbai Karnataki, and Rajkumar. Noorjahan was a reigning queen. Noorjahan and Kurshid Bano went to Pakistan after the partition. The others remained in India. 

All the above voices were seen as 'strong' voices. Voices with a high volume, some of them had a lot of bass in their voice. The singing was open-throated and, by modern standards, a bit loud. Voice modulation was not at the level that we hear today. But, at the same time, the voices sounded honest. There was no auto-tuning or pitch correction software to rectify mistakes. 

Let us hear a few songs of those days for you to get an idea of how Hindi Music sounded in the 1940s.

Let us start with Noorjahan, then a great singing star. Here she is, singing 'awaz de kahan hai' from the movie 'Anmol Ghadi.' This is a duet with Surendra. Music by Naushad. This song was a massive hit in those times. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANptt7VMxXU

You can clearly make out that this is a 'strong' voice. The voice generates a lot of volume. The singing is open-throated. Surendra's voice, in contrast, is what we call a soft voice.

Next, let us hear a song in the voice of Zohrabhai Ambalewali. 'akhiyan milake' for the movie 'Rattan.'  Music again by Naushad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsS7JvOzWjw

Once again, observe the strong voice and the open-throated singing.

Kurshid Bano was another singing superstar of those times. One of her famous hit movies was 'Tansen.' The wonderful 'ghata ghan ghor ghor' from that movie. Music by Khemchand Prakash.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxH4Fkucrrs

The above captures the vocal techniques and female voices of the 1940s perfectly.

Shamshad Begum was another star of those times. Here you can hear her sing an excellent Sajjad Hussain number for the movie 'Khel.' 'hum aayenge' 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sBFByf5ryg

Amirbai Karnataki was another popular singer. She has a wonderful entry in this super-hit song from 'Kismet.' 'dhere dhere aare.' Music of Anil Biswas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-as0MBnjtA

The last singer we will hear is Rajkumari. From the movie, 'Mahal' here is 'haye mera dil'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uf8R5ReGKTA

I am sure by now you would have a good idea of the singing styles and voices of the 1940s. Lata entered this milieu. One of her earliest mentors was the music director Ghulam Haider. He was already a famous music director of those times and was highly impressed by Lata's voice. Ghulam Haider is credited for pushing Hindi film music into modernity. The Music of the 1930s was mostly raag based. Ghulam Haider gave it a verve with his Punjabi rhythms. Many critics see the Music of the movie 'Khazanchi' under the baton of Ghulam Haider as the first step toward modernity. Ghulam Haider can be seen as a pioneer of modern Hindi film music. 

Here is one song from the movie 'Khazanchi' sung by Ghulam Haider and Shamshad Begum. 'sawan ke nazare hain'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBaGywrqPwg

When Ghulam Haider introduced Lata to the producer of the movie 'Saheed,' he dismissed her voice as being 'too thin.' Ghulam Haider was furious with the dismissal and commented that music directors would queue up for Lata's dates later. This is all part of folklore now. Ghulam Haider did not give up on Lata. He gave her the first break in the movie 'Majoboor' in 1948. The song was 'dil mera thoda.'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe_Puu0hfec

We can observe how Lata's voice is so very different from the voices of that era. The voice is thin and seems a bit high-pitched, and it definitely sounds like a teenager is singing. There is not much voice modulation in tune with those times.

Lata said that for the 1949 movie 'Andaz' he was asked to imitate the style of Noorjahan by Naushad. The song was 'tod diya dil mera.' 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLJT3TDd16Y

Lata's first humungous hit was 'ayega aane wala' from 'Mahal.' Music was by Khemchand Prakash. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MzF70ca7lQ

The style is still in keeping with the 40s. Lata's voice does sound like a teenager, which she was, but it sounds a bit more mature now than in the Majboor song, especially when she sings the prelude verses. 

This song catapulted her into stardom. There was no looking back from then on. 

In the next part, we will see how Lata moved from the 40s to the 50s and her collaborations with various music directors. 

The link to all parts of this series is given here: Series Links