Lata Mangeshkar - The Queen : Part 18 - Lata of the 80s and the 90s

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The 1980s, in my opinion, is when Hindi film music started sliding downwards with respect to quality. The arrival of Amitabh Bachan and the angry young man made the hero the main draw and not the music, unlike the time of Rajesh Khanna, where his romantic image was kept alive by music. Not just this factor, but R D Burman slowly losing his commercial edge, and the emergence of Bappi Lahari and Disco music led to melody taking a back seat. Though there were a lot of 'hit' songs in those times, as they are during any phase, their staying power has been limited. 

This was also the time when new female voices started entering the field, and slowly, the need to have Lata in their movies was declining. Lata's voice, too, was undergoing a change, and it was not suited for the disco songs of that era. Asha Bhosle, Alka Yagnik, Kavita Krishnamurthy, and Anuradha Paudwal got to sing a lot of songs in the decade of 80s. Lata slowly decreased her assignments and sang mainly for directors who wanted only her to sing the songs in their movies, like Yash Chopra and the Bharjathiyas.

Let us start with this RD Burman song from 1980, which Lata sang with Amit Kumar for the movie 'Love Story.' 

 Lata does a good job, and her voice is still melodious, though a bit sharp. You can hear the contrast between Amit Kumar's young voice and her voice in this song. The bass voice of Amit Kumar seems to possess more warmth than Lata's voice. 

Lata was still singing a lot of hit songs at those times. The songs of 'Love Story' were huge hits. The other superhit movie whose songs too were a huge hit was 'Ek Dhuje Ke Liye'

This was played almost everywhere and every day when it was released. It is a typical Laxmikanth Pyarelal melody. They make Lata sing at the higher registers for most of the song, and to be honest, the modulations she used to have when hitting the high notes have now given way to a slightly more strident tone. Many of the youngsters of today complain about Lata's high-pitched voice after hearing songs like these. 

R.D.Burman, though, tuned his songs differently. 'tune rangeele kaisa jaadu kiya' from 'Kudrat' (1981)

A very nice song sung well by Lata, but in this, too, in the antara, we hear a bit of stridency, though it is not as pronounced as the 'Ek Dujhe Ke Liye' song. R D Burman keeps the song in the middle registers for most of the time.

Lata tried getting on the disco bandwagon, maybe to prove she can also carry it, but I have reservations about her singing this song. I still clearly remember magazines carrying news about how Lata was singing a disco song for the first (I hope my memory is correct.) Disco 82 from Khuddar (1982)

Somehow I feel she is ill at ease here. Observe the ease with which Kishore sings the song. Also, the 'Disco 82' refrain is very forced and is not musical at all. I would say that Kishore sort of saves the song from becoming a total disaster.

She was in her elements in the familiar setting in this 'Bazar' (1982) song. 'dikhayi diye' 

Khayyam Saab's wonderful tuning of Mir Taqi Mir's ghazal is right up Lata's alley, and she delivers it gracefully. Once again, you may note the slight sharpness in the tone, but it is blunted by the way the overall tune is conceived by Khayyam.  One of the many great songs composed by Khayyam.

These were the times when other singers also shared hit songs with Lata in the same movie. For example, the song 'pyar karne wale' was a big hit from 'Hero' (1983), but Anuradha Paudwal sang a couple of huge hits as well, 'tu mera hero hai' and 'ding dong'.

 This is another typical Laxmikanth Pyarelal song. What I had said earlier about the "Ek Dujhe Ke Liye' song also fits in here, so I will not repeat myself.

R.D. Burman came to the rescue once again with this lovely song from 'Masoom' (1983). 'tujhse naraz nahin' 

Though it is difficult for me to say it, I have to admit that though Lata's rendition is technically perfect, Anup Goshal's version carries more warmth in it. 

Next, we take up  Jan Nissar Akthar's poetry tuned by Khayyam for 'Razia Sultan' (1983)

What a tune, and how well Lata sings the tune. The pace is the most challenging part of this song, but Lata has handled such a pace earlier as well, so she is at ease. The middle eastern orchestration adds the required atmosphere to the song.  Even her voice at the higher reaches doesn't sound so strident because Khayyam is the music director. One more top-class song of Lata from this decade under Khayyam's baton.

Lata kept giving hit songs like this one from 'Nagina', 'main teri dushman' (1986)

Another Laxmikanth Pyarelal's noisy song, but we can't fault Lata for taking up such songs because such songs became the rage then.

I think I have made my point about how Lata's voice had changed in the 80s and also how she sounded depended a lot on how the song was tuned by the music directors. Furthermore, the music directors would probably want her to sing in a particular style, something that I had highlighted in the earlier parts of the series as well. I don't want to keep beating on this point, so I will give a couple of lovely songs that she sang this period with minimal comments. 

Here is a lovely 'sili hawa' from 'Libaas' ((1988). Music of R D Burman.

 Here is 'yara sili sili' from Lekhin (1991), which she sang for her brother Hridayanath Mangeshkar.

Check how wonderful her voice sounds in the low and mid ranges. A wonderful tune as well.

Here is another lovely song, 'dil hoom hoom kare' from 'Rudaali' (1993). Music of Bhupen Hazarika.

The song is set in raga Mohanam (equivalent to Bhoop / Deskar). Lata again sounds so melodious in the lower ranges, and Bhupen Hazarika exploits that range wonderfully in this song. And the echo effect when she goes up the range ensures the sharpness is blunted. Overall, Lata evokes the raga and the intended effect perfectly.

In the 90s, Alka Yagnik, Kavita Krishnamurthy, and Anuradha Paudwal started giving a lot of hit songs, and many movies became musical hits with Lata's involvement. Despite that, Lata was associated with some major hits of the late 80s and the 90s due to some directors wanting her to sing in their movies. Yash Chopra was one such director, and she sang for him in the super hits 'Silsila,' 'Chandni' as well as in 'Lamhe.'

'yeh kahan aa gaye hum' from 'Silsila' (1981). Music of Shiv-Hari.

A lovely tune, but Lata's high pitch voice sounds a bit shrill in this song. (The song somewhat reminds me of R D Burman's tune, especially the orchestration.)

Here is 'mere haaton mein' from 'Chandni' (1989). Music of Shiv Hari

She was also involved in both of Sooraj Bharjatiya's super duper hits, 'Maine Pyar Kiya' and 'Hum Aapke Hain Kaun.' Here is 'maye ni mayi' from 'Hum Appke Hain Kaun' (1994). Music of Ram Laxman.

Neither of the above songs would have challenged Lata's singing ability. They are nice to hear mediocre songs, musically speaking.

She was also a constant factor in Raj Kapoor films like 'Ram Teri Ganga Maili' and 'Prem Rog.' 

By the time of 'Dil Se' (1998), she had stopped singing except for selected producers and directors. You can hear the strain in her voice clearly in 'jiya jale' from 'Dil Se.' Music of A.R.Rahman.

In 2001, Illayaraja, who respected her immensely, called upon her to deliver this song, 'kaun dagar kaun sahar' for 'Lajja' (2001).

Overall, to bring out the difference between the 50s/60s and the 80s/90s, let me state the following: whenever you find a song of the 50s/60s of Lata that you have not heard, you end up exclaiming, 'Wow, such a nice song.' When you hear an unheard song of Lata of the 80s/90s, you wish it had remained unheard. Let me state that I am not talking about Lata's singing skills here but about the talent of the MDs of those decades to produce so many forgettable melodies. 

Her is the link to read all parts of this series