Hyderabad, January 25: Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar has been selected for the prestigious Akkineni Award for the year 2009 for her outstanding contributions to music and filmworld.
Addressing a press conference here today, veteran thespian A Nageswara Rao said the award would be presented to the acclaimed singer at a gliterring function here on February one. The award has been instituted in the name of the veteran actor by the Akkineni International Foundation promoted by his family members.
The past recipients of the award included veteran actors Dev Anand, Vyjayanthimala Bali and Shabana Azmi.
The country’s nightingale has won several awards and honours, including Padma Bhushan (1969), Padma Vibhushan (1999), Dada Saheb Phalke Award (1989), Maharashtra Bhushan Award (1997), NTR National Award (1999), Bharat Ratna (2001), three National Film Awards, and 12 Bengal Film Journalists’ Association Awards. She has also won four Filmfare Best Female Playback Singer awards.
Born on September 28, 1929 in Indore, Lata Mangeshkar has created a niche for herself in Indian popular and light classical music, singing more than 40,000 film songs, ghazals, bhajans and pop music. She made her debut as a playback singer in the Marathi film Kiti Hasaal (1942) but the song was not included in the film when it was released.
The first Hindi film for which she gave playback was ‘Aap ki Sewa Main’ (1947). Music director Ghulam Haider gave Lata her first major break with the song ‘Dil Mera Toda’ from the movie ‘Majboor’ (1948).
However, it was ‘Aayega Aanewaala’ from movie ‘Mahal’ (1949) which proved to be a turning point for her. She has sung for stalwarts like Naushad, Shankar-Jaikishan, Madan Mohan and Sachin Dev Burman and his son Rahul Dev Burman, Jatin-Lalit, Nadeem-Shravan and A R Rehman. In the backdrop of Sino-India war, her rendition of patriotic song ‘Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon’ moved the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to tears. Her songs like ‘Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya’ from Mughal-E-Azam (1960), ‘Ajeeb Dastaan Hai Yeh’ from ‘Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai’, ‘Chalte Chalte’ and ‘Inhi Logon Ne’ from ‘Pakeezah’, ‘Tu Jahan Jahan Chalega’ from ‘Mera Saaya’ (1966) and songs from films like ‘Amar Prem’ (1972), ‘Caravan’ (1971), ‘Kati Patang’ (1971), and ‘Aandhi’ (1975) have enthralled the music enthusiasts in the country. Her songs in Yashraj movies like ‘Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge’, ‘Mohabbatein’, ‘Dil To Paagal Hai’ and ‘Veer Zaara’ are a treat to listen.
——-Agencies