It’s never easy for a woman to live in this patriarchal world. Today, most of us are privileged that our lives were made easier by the women who stood up for their rights and paved the way for a better society. And the toughest life was for those who worked in male-dominated industries and made the way for women to have a career in the same field. One such feminist icon was the legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar. The veteran singer breathed her last on Sunday morning, February 6, at Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital. Today is a dark day in the history of India as we pay a tribute to this legendary singer who beat all odds to make her place in the male-dominated music and entertainment industry back in the day.
Not many of us know that Lata Mangeshkar too faced rejection in the music industry and was told that her voice was ‘too thin’. Despite being told what a female singer should sound like in the male dominate music industry, the veteran singer stood her ground and made a place for herself. She beat the odds and built a name for herself. After the death of her family friend and mentor Master Vinayak, Lata Mangeshkar was mentored by music director Ghulam Haider. It was during this time that she was introduced to filmmaker Sashadhar Mukherjee but he dismissed her voice claiming that it’s too thin and high pitched to work for the music and entertainment industry. This is when the legendary singer’s mentor lost his cool and predicted that soon producers and directors would ‘fall at her feet’ and ‘beg her’ to work for them and sing for their films.
Soon after that, the singer climbed the ladder of success but the criticism never came to an end. Lata Mangeshkar was often criticised by producers, directors and even for her Marathi accent. More so, as she had to sing songs with Urdu lyrics as was the trend during those days. But Lata was not one to back down from a challenge. During this time, actor Dilip Kumar once made a disapproving remark about her dictation of Urdu words and her Maharashtrian accent. He pointed out that Maharashtrians are not well versed in Urdu and the singer won’t have a good pronunciation of the language but the legendary singer this the unthinkable and swatted away the criticism in style after she actually went ahead and took Urdu classes to improve her accent and dictation and the rest was history.
This feminist icon was known for her fierce anger, grit and determination. She had a major fallout with big names of the industry back in the day which could have had a negative impact on her singing career but she did not let her fear win. For a brief period during the 1960s, Lata Mangeshkar had a fallout with ace singer Mohammed Rafi after the latter refused to support her demand for half share from the five per cent song royalty that the film producer gave to selected composers. Mohammed Rafi’s opinion on this issue was opposite to that of Lata’s which led to tension between them. In fact, they once refused to sing with each other until the director negotiated a reconciliation between the duo. And get this, in that age and time, this ace singer got a written apology letter from Mohammed Rafi.
Also Read: Singer Lata Mangeshkar Passes Away At 92. Rest In Peace, Queen Of Melody
For a woman in a male-dominated industry, Lata Mangeshkar was known to be bold. She had a major fallout with SD Burman and was even blacklisted by the music composer for a while. SD Burman once told the media that her singing career was made by the music composers who gave her the songs which led to a rift between the duo as the singer held her ground and did not speak to him and even refused to work with him. It was years later that the composer’s son, RD Burman mediated a reconciliation between the two after which Lata sang a song for them.
Lata Mangeshkar knew how to stand her ground and the proof of it was when she fought a battle and protested to get a separate category for playback singers to be added to the Filmfare awards. This woman with a sweet voice also knew how to raise her voice for her rights and to make space for women in the male-dominated music industry. She was asked to sing a song at the Filmfare Awards as the composer was going to win an award for the song but she flat out refused to sing it during the program as the award was to be won by the composer and not the singer. This led to a rift between the legendary singer and a music composer but she was not one to shy away from voicing her opinions and fighting for her rights.
Also Read: Singer Chinmayi Sripada Shares A Throwback Of Lata Mangeshkar And Her Passion For Photography From ‘Rang De Basanti’ Set
It was after this that the playback singer award category was added to the Filmfare awards by the organisers. And the next year, in 1959, Lata Mangeshkar won the first Filmfare award for playback singing for the song ‘Aaja Re Pardesi’. But that wasn’t it. She was a woman of principles and when she was called on the stage to accept the award, she refused as the trophy was shaped like a naked woman. Her shocking decision left everyone flabbergasted but the organises found a way out and wrapped the award in a handkerchief and presented it to the legendary singer who then accepted the award. But Lata and awards were always a controversial topic. In order to promote new talent in the music industry, the veteran singer gave up her Filmfare award in the year 1969.
Also Read: Lata Mangeshkar Dies At 92. Political Figures, Bollywood Celebrities And Fans Mourn The Demise Of The Legendary Singer
Singers were expected to stay mum and sing songs given to them back in those days. The singers could never refuse to sing a particular song due to the nature of the lyrics but Lata Mangeshkar changed this trend as well. The legendary singer not only refused to sing anything remotely suggestive or vulgar during her early years in the industry but she also never budged from her decision come hell or high fire.
Well, she was one amazing woman, a feminist icon from a time when feminists barely had a footing in India.