Celebrities reminisce about their first encounters and the time spent working with Lata Mangeshkar, on the occasion of her 80th birthday today. 

Waheeda Rahman
I didn't know Lataji well in the initial phase of my career. I had heard she was a snob, so I was wary. But one incident changed my opinion. Soon after the 1971 war, many actors and singers travelled to the border area of Bangladesh. I was put up with Nargis and Lataji was staying in the adjacent room with Mala [Sinha]. Our bathrooms didn't have water and we knew that Lataji's did. Both of us hadn't taken a bath for two days, but we were scared to ask her if we could bathe in her room.
Finally, I mustered courage to go and ask. She was extremely polite and let me in. Midway through my bath, the water stopped and I called out to Lataji to help. She quickly got the jawans to bring two buckets of water and carried them herself to the bathroom. That's when I realised that one shouldn't go by the public perception of a celebrity.
Obviously she can't be too warm and friendly with every person she meets. After we came back from there, she invited all of us, including Sunil [Dutt], for dinner at her place. Since then, we are friends, though I am not in constant touch with her. During the recording of Lamhe, I was told Lataji would be there, so I made it a point to reach the studios to meet her. I met her recently a few months back and it seemed like there has been no time gap. God bless her!
(as told to Shubha Shetty-Saha)