Journalist Raju Bharatan rewinds to some of the best years of Hindi film music in his new book A Journey Down The Melody Lane : The Making Of A Hindi Film Song, published by Hay House*.
Here we publish excerpts from the books that delve into the life and times of that great singer Lata Mangeshkar.
From her many lovers to her row with Mohammad Rafi to the love of her life, a look at a life extraordinaire... :
Clash of the titans
Around 1961-62, when Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi were ranking level, Rafi, in convivial company, habitually referred to Lata as 'Maharani'!
It was a form of address that Rafi ventured to use to Lata's face, for the first time, when there was that straight confrontation between the two on the issue of royalties from music.
What Rafi, eminently sardonically, went on to state was: 'Our Maharani, I suppose, would have the final say!'
Maybe the tone in which Rafi said it offended Lata, maybe she felt he was so accenting it because - no matter how she projected the royalty issue - his stand was pre-arranged to be exactly the opposite.
Either way, Rafi's sarcastic undertone had Lata taking umbrage.
The matter could still have been sorted out, amicably, inside the Playback Singers Association itself - especially with a born Mathur-mediator, in Mukesh Chand, around.
But Rafi's addressing her, in a sidelong glance, as 'Maharani' - even while still looking to be totally unperturbed by it all - got to Lata. So much so that Lata threatened not to perform, anymore, with our No 1 male singer.
Upon Rafi's uncaringly retorting that the feeling was mutual, Lata lost her cool.
She individually rang each music director of note - not least Naushad - to let it be known, emphatically, that she was no longer prepared to sing with Rafi. It put the lid on the playback pot already boiling over.
Beginning end-1962, Lata and Rafi stopped dueting together - for nearly three years.
Image: At the centre of it all - a genial Mohammad Rafi breaks into a song.
Image Courtesy: Hay House
