MANGESHKAR MONOPOLY- Myth or reality ?

It’s been debated for almost four decades now and there’s no final conclusion to the age old Mangeshkar monopoly in Bollywood. So did the talented songstress Lata Mangeshkar have a strong monopoly or is it just a myth to malign her squeaky clean image of the lady in white ? 

Humble beginnings 

Lata started singing actively in 1942-43 but achieved success only in 1949-50 with Barsaat and Mahal songs. So the period from 1942 till 1947 when she sang her first full fledged song was entirely a struggle phase. She didn’t have it easy, mid 40s to late 40s there were powerful singers like Noorjehan, Suraiyaa, Rajkumari, Amirbai Karnataki, Zohrabai Ambalewali, Shamshad Begum and others who ruled the playback field. Yet Lata scrapped all competition and made her way to the top by 1950-51 itself. How? 

What worked in Lata’s favour? 

She was criticised for a thin and shrill voice, the traits she used in her favour. Her voice as sweet as honey and immense command over the Sur made her the most preferred playback voice for all leading ladies. Pick one song where you feel she was Besur or couldn’t hit the notes right, you won’t find any. She never went off tune. Her biggest quality being originality, she did not sound like any singer before her, though there are many who sounded like her in subsequent years. 

Disputes and disagreements 

Lata was blamed for her fierce temper. Being the quintessential lady in white projected as an epitome of calm and composure she deviated from this image when she had her share of disputes with colleagues like C Ramchandra, O P Nayyar(who never worked with her), Mohammad Rafi, Raj Kapoor, S D Burman and Shankar Jaikishan. Due to a royalty spat she did not record any duet with Rafi in the period 1962-1966. 

Sibling rivalry 

Such was the Lata hatred campaign that she wasn’t spared of an allegation that she tried to sabotage her sister Asha Bhosle’s career. Asha sang in an unique voice completely different from Lata’s but it was alleged Lata was insecure of Asha’s rising success and tried clipping her wings. 

Prominent competitors

If we take a look at Lata’s career graph she was the undisputed number one from 1950-1989 and was still in demand in the 90’s and never really faced any strong competition of any upcoming singers. But some one song wonders did pose a brief threat to Lata’s dominance. Suman Kalyanpur was most prominent who rose to fame during the Rafi- Lata spat. There are several insiders who blame Lata for stunting the career growth of Sharada, Vani Jairam, Hemlata, Sulakshna Pandit, Runa Laila and Aarti Mukerji amongst others. 

The Anuradha factor 

Anuradha Paudwal is credited as the first playback singer who openly blamed Lata for depriving her of playback assignments. In a no holds barred tell all interview in savvy magazine(June 1991), Paudwal claimed Lata had systematically planned to wipe out her rivals and had tried to abort her rising career. Anuradha rose to fame by 80s and displaced Lata in 1990 becoming the new numero uno. Though it’s questionable if she stood anywhere close to Lata’s talent yet it’s obvious she sang in a similar range as Lata almost becoming her voice clone. 

Monopoly or not ? 

Surely Lata wouldn’t name monopoly as one of her favourite indoor games, she’s lived this accusation for years, what’s worse than being blamed for trying to sabotage your own sister’s career? Or nipping the budding career of upcoming promising singers like Nazia Hassan or Priti Sagar? There’s somehow no final closure to this debate, nevertheless it’s highly impossible to deny that Lata Mangeshkar is the single most inspiring and most heard female playback voice of Indian music industry over the past seven decades.