‘I miss my fellow singers, their friendship, the most’

For more than six decades, her voice has captured the hearts and minds of millions of her admirers. Despite all the fame and success, however, Lata Mangeshkar continues to stay away from the glitz and glamour. In an interview with DNA, India’s foremost playback singer talks about her brief acting career, her love for singing, and the few close friends she made in the course of her long career.

People like you are irreplaceable. Is there any pressure being such a big icon?
No, not after the love and fame I have received. I have always maintained that all this has been given to me by god and I have nothing to do with this. In our kind of work, one needs to have positive energy.

Does this birthday, turning 80, make you nostalgic?
Yes. Since I was four or five years old, I wanted to learn singing from my father. But I was too afraid to tell him. I sang in front of my mother and she told him to start teaching me.

Baba passed away in 1942. I was 13 and had to start earning. Though I had started singing at the age of nine, I thought I should get into acting. I started acting in Marathi films, mainly produced by Master Vinayak. Three years later, I came to Mumbai and started to learn singing from Aman Ali Khansaab Bhendibazaarwale, while continuing being part of films.

In 1947, after Master Vinayak passed away, I stuck to playback singing. I haven’t stopped since.

I have always believed that you must learn to take care of whatever you are blessed with. I think whatever talent god has blessed with me is my poonji. Thoda mehnat kiya hai riyaaz kar ke…

You have sung innumerable songs. Which has given you the most creative satisfaction?
You won’t believe it, but I don’t listen to my own songs. I mostly listen to bhajans and shloks. I have stuck to one principle. I won’t sing an obscene song. It’s not that I couldn’t sing the cabaret numbers, but I purposely stayed away from them. They wouldn’t suit me. I think I couldn’t do justice to them the way someone else would have.

I have never sung even Marathi lavanis. I have sung one in V Shantaramji’s film, Amar Bhupali. I remember clearly that when Raj Kapoor approached me to sing Main kya karoon ram mujhe buddha mil gaya, I refused to sing it. He convinced me that it would be picturised on a married woman teasing her husband. Till today, I haven’t seen the picturisation of that song.

You haven’t had much of a personal life. Any regrets?
None. I might have missed a lot in life, but you see, god has given me a lot of name and fame. I don’t even know if I deserve it. But for what I didn’t get, afsos nahin, dukh nahin. Jo mila hai wahi bahut hai.

There were many rumours about you at the peak of your career...
I believe you have to work hard to be successful. Yes, at times there will be people who appreciate you, but at the same time there will be some who talk ill of you and spread lies. Mere saath yeh sab hua hai. Kaafi logon ne mujhe tang kiya hai, baaton se pareshan kiya hai. I just ignored them. Chhod do. Koi aapka kuch nahin bigad sakta.

But I must tell you that every music director I have worked with gave me immense respect. SD Burman and Naushad treated me like their daughter. Naushad and I used to talk for hours together. SD Burman was like my brother. Even writers like Majrooh Sultanpuri and Shailendra respected me. I also used to tie rakhi to Madan Bhaiyya [music director Madan Mohan] and Shankar-Jaikishen. So along with the brickbats, I also got loads of love.

I make sure that I give immense respect to everyone I come across. I talk with respect even to my servants and driver.

Most of those people you mentioned are not around any longer. Do you feel lonely at times?
Yes, I do. Let me tell you a secret. I miss some of my fellow singers the most. Kishore [Kumar], Mukesh Bhaiyya, Talat Saheb [Talat Mahmood], Hemant Kumar, Geeta Dutt. I really miss them. Geeta was going through a tough phase in life and she would come and discuss her personal problems with me. So did Kishore. He seemed like a funny man, but he had a lot of unhappiness in his life. They would confide in me. I miss their friendship. I will always miss them. We were a close circle of friends.