India declares two days of mourning as ‘nightingale’ Lata Mangeshkar passes away

NEW DELHI: Lata Mangeshkar, whose distinctive voice placed her in the first rank of South Asian singers for more than seven decades, died on Sunday at a hospital in Mumbai, with the Indian government declaring two days of national mourning.
Mangeshkar was admitted to the intensive care unit of Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital on Jan. 11 with COVID-19. Her death on Sunday was due to complications from the virus, doctors said.
“She has died because of multi-organ failure after more than 28 days of hospitalization,” Dr. Pratit Samdani of the Breach Candy Hospital told reporters.
The Indian government declared two days of national mourning, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying he was “anguished beyond words” by Mangeshkar’s death.
“The kind and caring Lata Didi has left us,” Modi said on Twitter, referring to the singer with an affectionate term for an elder sister. “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 mesmerize people.”
“The voice of a million centuries has left us,” Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan wrote in a tribute to Mangeshkar. “Her voice resounds now in the Heavens!“
Mangeshkar was born in Indore in 1929 and started singing at the age of 13 to support her family after her father passed away. Over the decades, she became best known for singing the vocals for Bollywood heroines in a soprano that extended over three octaves, gaining her the titles of “Nightingale of India” and “Queen of Melody.”
The eldest of five siblings, Mangeshkar was trained by her father, Deenanath Mangeshkar, himself a renowned Marathi theater actor. She was also tutored by maestros such as vocalist and composer Aman Ali Khan and classical and ghazal singer Amanat Ali Khan.
Her first hit was “Uthaye ja unke sitam” in Mehboob Khan’s romantic drama “Andaz” (1949), which featured legendary Bollywood stars Dilip Kumar, Nargis, and Raj Kapoor.
Since “Andaz,” she has voiced the musical parts of most leading actresses in major Bollywood productions, recording songs for more than two thousand films in over a dozen Indian languages.
Notable among her live performances was a rendition of the patriotic song “Aye mere watan ke logo,” (“O’ people of my country“), which moved then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to tears. The song commemorated soldiers who died during the Sino-Indian War in 1962.
Mangeshkar often said as a singer one must “bring the soul to the song.”
She was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award, in 2001.
Composer Lalit Pandit, who worked with Mangeshkar for many years, said “such artist has not been there in past and would not be there in future.”
“She gave playback for the heroines of all age and she would tune her voice in such a way that it would appear that the actresses are singing the song,” he told the media after the announcement of her death.
“She will be with us all the time despite her death. She was a jewel not only for India but for the whole world.”
Prime Minister Imran Khan was among the Pakistani political leaders, celebrities and fans who expressed grief over the passing of the legendary Indian singer.
“With the death of Lata Mangeshkar the subcontinent has lost one of the truly great singers the world has known,” PM Khan said on Twitter.
“Listening to her songs has given so much pleasure to so many people all over the world.”

With the death of Lata Mangeshkar the subcontinent has lost one of the truly great singers the world has known. Listening to her songs has given so much pleasure to so many people all over the world.

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) February 6, 2022

India declares two days of mourning as ‘nightingale’ Lata Mangeshkar passes away