As the mellifluous voice of India’s nightingale Lata Mangeshkar fell silent on Sunday, tributes poured in for the legendary singer on social media as well, with many people also sharing her pictures or clips of her old songs, fittingly describing her death as an “end of an era”. From Twitter to Facebook, the news feed was flooded with images of the singer, whose divine voice has ruled the silver screen and hearts of millions of people, across generations, in India and around the world.

No sooner had the news of her death come out, leaving legions of her admirers and fans grief-stricken, people also began to pay homage to her on social media.

‘End of an era’, ‘RIPLataji’ and ‘Lata Mangeshkar’ were trending on Twitter as thousands of social media users expressed their sentiments over the loss of a beloved icon of India, whose voice had the magical power to halt people in their tracks and melt anyone’s heart.

On Facebook, the posts made by several users had a common refrain — “Meri Awaz Hin Pehchan Hai. Gar yaad rahe” (‘my voice is my identity, if your remember’). While some chose to post her image as an aged woman with a beaming smile she always wore, others used old, monochrome pictures of her in a young avatar.

PM Modi leads tributes as country’s nightingale goes silent

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the veteran singer left a void in our nation that can never be filled.  “I am anguished beyond words. The kind and caring Lata Didi has left us. She leaves a void in our nation that cannot be filled. The coming generations will remember her as a stalwart of Indian culture, whose melodious voice had an unparalleled ability to mesmerise people.”

“Lata Didi’s songs brought out a variety of emotions. She closely witnessed the transitions of the Indian film world for decades. Beyond films, she was always passionate about India’s growth. She always wanted to see a strong and developed India.”

The Prime Minister also said, “I consider it my honour that I have always received immense affection from Lata Didi. My interactions with her will remain unforgettable. I grieve with my fellow Indians on the passing away of Lata Didi. Spoke to her family and expressed condolences. Om Shanti.”

Remembering the iconic singer, President Ram Nath Kovind said, “In her vast range of songs, rendering the essence and beauty of India, generations found expression of their inner-most emotions. A Bharat Ratna, Lata-ji’s accomplishments will remain incomparable.”

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said Mangeshkar remained the most beloved voice of India for many decades. “Her golden voice is immortal and will continue to echo in the hearts of her fans. My condolences to her family, friends and fans,” he added.

Paying his “heartfelt tributes”, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said the singer’s passing away was “an irreparable loss to the country”.

Ameen Sayani, veteran radio personality

My heart is full of sorrow. India’s melody queen, Lata Mangeshkar, is no more. She was not only the queen of Indian melody but also my sister. She was three years older than me, but I never called her Lata didi like the rest of the world because she always looked about eight years younger than me. We had a lot of good times together. Of course, every time she sang, my heart used to be full of absolute happiness. When she fell ill this time, I sent her a letter telling her the same. My wife and I had lovely evenings together with Lata. We often went to her house on Pedder Road and had some great meals.

I speak today with a hand on my grieving heart. What a lovely voice our Lataji had. It seemed as if god had poured some honey into her lovely renderings. Almost every song that she sang became a hit. My Radio Hit Parade Geetmala featured so many of her songs.

Now that Lataji has passed away, the hearts of millions of music lovers all over the world must be singing for her that soulful film song, Tum kya jaano tumhari yaad mein hum kitna roye. With Lata’s passing, a lot of lovely feelings in my heart have passed away. I do hope she sings in heaven and keeps it full of melody.

Anvita Dutt, lyricist and director

Lata Mangeshkar is the sound of my childhood—of coming back home to lunch in Guwahati, of evenings in the verandah in Jodhpur, of the fiat in Sarsawa. In between the hiss of an LP and the crackle of the radio and the tangled-up cassettes of my teens, her voice was a synonym for songs. Today I write them, but she was singing them to me before I even knew how to spell lyrics.

Shilpa Rao, singer

I want to thank Lataji for showing us the path of learning and worshipping music. She was an institution of music and her connection with music was external. Our youth must learn from her how to uphold music in its true form. Her passing away is a huge loss for all of us. My favourite album of hers would be Pakeezah. We need to look at what Lataji has sung and for that, we need to learn and practice music; that’s when we can have a deeper connection.

Balaji Vittal, author

Lata Mangeshkar was born with a voice that only one in a billion can hope to be blessed with. That is her greatest strength. She could strike sustainable relationships with every production house and major directors. She was never seen as partisan. She had fallouts with SD Burman and Mohammed Rafi and never worked with OP Nayyar, but by and large, Lata Mangeshkar was a name acceptable to all. That is a tribute to the person that she is, not just the singer—humble, extremely hard working and with a sense of gratitude to everyone.

Lata Mangeshkar, heroine off-screen

Aakshi Magazine

When playback singing was introduced in Indian cinema in 1935, it was not a given that the singer would become a star in their own right. After all, they had to be invisible on-screen. This was a change from the period of singer-actors like K L Saigal. But as this tradition came to be established, Lata Mangeshkar’s career trajectory would show that a “dual star text” — as film scholar Neepa Majumdar calls it — was possible. You could be a fan of Madhubala, as well as of Lata who was singing for her. You didn’t have to choose.

While this stardom was enjoyed by other singers of that time like Mohammad Rafi, Mukesh, Talat Mahmood, Geeta Dutt, Hemant Kumar, Asha Bhosle and Kishore Kumar too, what is peculiar to Lata, is the enduring nature of her career — people have heard her voice age through seven decades and mostly been loyal listeners. Dual stardom ensured that even when her voice clearly did not fit a younger actor like Rani Mukherjee, fans let it go. Realism was not something Hindi cinema trained you in, its pleasures were different.

This absence of realism created its own possibility, the song being the best example. This was the beauty of the Hindi film song sequence. Freed of demands of continuity or realistic characterisation, and yet taken seriously by filmmakers, musicians, lyricists, actors and singers, the song became a space of innovation. And freedom. It could celebrate love even if in real life caste-class barriers prevented it. Another world was possible.

Even within the limited patriarchal imagination of most film narratives, the song could transcend barriers by becoming a space where inner lives were explored. The heroines did this through their expressiveness (often through dance), and Lata did this through her voice. Her star image may have been controlled and sanitised of possible gossip, but once she sang, nothing held her back. Not even her real life association with Hindu right-wing politics.

To be sure it was sought to be tamed through the virgin-vamp binary, which placed the respectable Hindi film heroine in opposition to the bad girl — often the cabaret dancer who would transform into the vamp by the 1960s and 1970s. Lata herself said she didn’t sing “those” kinds of songs (they were reserved for the richly-textured voice of Geeta Dutt or her sister Asha Bhosle). This division was a reminder of the erasure of thumri singers and singer-courtesans that coincided with the rise of Lata. But has it really stood the test of time? In a lovely piece published in Agents of Ishq, Paromita Vohra lists what she calls Lata’s sexy songs and rethinks this binary, which is itself a patriarchal construct.

Whether it is expressing longing in Lag Ja Gale, an erotic-romantic duet like Dum Bhar Jo Udhar Munh Phere or protest in Pyaar Kiya Toh Darna Kya and Jao Re Jogi, a female voice exploring desire was radical even when framed as “respectable” to soften its implication. Written by poet-lyricists and composed by talented composers, these songs do not conform to maintaining the status quo. The voice that brings these words to life, makes them real even as they are utopian.

The film song is often a source of embarrassment today, or is enjoyed ironically. It is treated as something that has to be gotten over in order for Hindi cinema to evolve. In the songs of the 50s and 60s — the “golden era” — which Lata Mangeshkar perhaps best personified, we encounter feeling as feeling. It is not just about her perfect notes; perfection can often leave you cold. It is something else. This is a quality she carried with her to her later songs of the 2000s – like Luka Chuppi from Rang De Basanti or Pyaara Sa Gaon from Zubeidaa. All her best songs embody it. Much before we understand the words, we feel the truth in her voice.

The writer, Aakshi Magazine, is a New Delhi-based writer and holds a PhD in film studies.

Source: The Indian Express