Music And Movies

Here are the links to all parts of the 'Lata Mangeshkar - The Queen' series  Lata Mangeshkar - The Queen : A brief prelude Part 1: Milieu of the 40s Part 2: Start of partnerships  Part 3: Lata - Anil Biswas  Part 4: Lata - Naushad Part 5: Years of consolidation - early 50s Part 6: Lata - Sajjad Hussain Part 7: Lata - C Ramachandra Part 8: Lata - Shankar Jaikishen Part 9: Late 50s Part 10: Early 60s - Undisputed queen Part 11: Lata - S D Burman Part 12: Lata - Madanmohan - Part 1 Part 13: Lata - Madanmohan - Part 2 Part 14: Lata - Salil Chaudhary  Part 15: Lata - Roshan and late 60s Part 16: Lata - Changing landscape of the 70s Part 17: Lata - Pancham (R D Burman) Part 18: Lata - 1980s and 90s Part 19: Lata - Mukesh Part 20: Lata - Rafi  Part 21 : Lata - Kishore Part 22: Conclusion - Lata's legacy

Here is the link to read all parts of this series. In this last part, let us look at Lata's legacy. Lata came into Hindi film music when modernity was creeping into it, and music directors like Ghulam Haider, Anil Biswas, Sajjad Hussain, Shankar Jaikishen and others were pushing the boundaries of Hindi film music. It must be said that she became an integral part of this push towards modernity. The range of her voice and her singing skills enabled music directors to compose music without fear, for they know Lata would give perfect expression to their musical ideas. She was sought after by every music director in the initial days, though later, O.P. Nayyar did not work with her. She was an integral part of the golden generation of Hindi film music that spanned more than two decades, from the late 40s to the late 60s.  Lata has left behind an amazing body of work, that would be extremely difficult for any current-day singer to match. This is due to two reasons: one, music directors ar...