RIP Lata Mangeshkar: Do you know the legendary singer started her career as an actor?

The music lovers all across the country are in deep shock as we lost the legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar today. Known as the nightingale of India, Lata Mangeshkar had reportedly sung over 25,000 songs between 1948 and 1974. While she carved a niche for herself as a singer very early in her career, not many people know that Lata Mangeshkar started her journey as an actor.

Lata Mangeshkar started working even before she was 14. Her father Pandit Deenanath Mangeshkar died when she was just 13-year old and she had to begin working to support her family. Undoubtedly, it was a tough world for a little girl of 14, she was supported by a family friend Vinayak Damodar Karnataki also known as Master Vinayak. He was the owner of the Navyug Chitrapat movie company and helped Lata set her feet into the world of showbiz.

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In 1942, Master Vinayak gave Lata Mangeshkar the opportunity to act in a small role and sing in a Marathi movie named Pahili Mangalagaur. The movie was released in the same year and earned her attention for her singing. In the film, she sang her first released song Natali Chaitraachi Navalaai along with Snehprabha Pradhan. The song featured her and her reel sister singing on a pleasant morning in the Hindu month of Chaitra in the film. Later in 1945, Master Vinayak’s company shifted to Mumbai, and Lata accompanied him to the city of dreams.

This was the time when Lata Mangeshkar ventured into Hindi films and played roles in a few movies. She was first seen in a Hindi movie in 1946 titled Aap Ki Seva Mein. Along with acting, Lata Mangeshkar began her Hindustani classical music lessons from Ustad Aman Ali Khan of Bhindibazaar Gharana. The legendary singer also starred in a film called Badi Maa along with her younger sister Asha Bhosle. Since being an actor was a rocky road for her, she couldn’t quite well adjust to it and focused on her singing instead.

Lata Mangeshkar’s voice attracted people towards her and she also got work. However, earlier in 1948, Shaheed producer Sashadhar Mukherjee dismissed her voice as “too thin.” At this time, Lata’s guru Ghulam Haider claimed that producers and directors will be at her feet in the coming time and will ‘beg her’ to sing for them. She got her first major break with 1948 film Majboor in which she gave voice to the song ‘Dil Mera Toda, Mujhe Kahin Ka Na Chhora’ and never looked back since then.

With her dedication and hard work, Lata Mangeshkar became one of the most loved and celebrated female singers of the country. There is no denying that fans will miss the legend and will keep her memories fresh in their minds forever.