Lata Mangeshkar@90: The nightingale's tryst with south Indian film music
Credit for bringing Lata to south cinema in 1955 goes to composer Dakshinamurthy
Credit for bringing Lata to south cinema in 1955 goes to composer Dakshinamurthy
Credit for bringing Lata to south cinema in 1955 goes to composer Dakshinamurthy
Credit for bringing Lata to south cinema in 1955 goes to composer Dakshinamurthy
'Kadhali, chengadhali poo veno...' This song is counted among Malayalam cinema's iconic numbers not just because it was born out of the talented combination of music director Salil Chowdhary and lyricist Vayalar Ramavarma. There is more to it—it happens to be the only Malayalam song sung by India's Nightingale, Lata Mangeshkar. The song featured in filmmaker Ramu Kariat's Nellu (1974), a significant film on the tribal people of Wayanad.
Not just in Malayalam, Lata made her presence felt in other South Indian languages, too, at the peak of her career in Bollywood. Whether she has sung in one's mother tongue or not, Lata's songs had the power to transcend language barriers and be part of the collective conscience of the country. Much before her solo Malayalam number, her golden voice was brought to the south by ace music composer S. Dakshinamurthy for the Telugu film Santanam in 1955. Her rendition of the Telugu song 'Niduraporaa tammudaa...' in the film directed by C. V. Ranganatha Das is an all-time hit. The film had yesteryear stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Savitri in the lead roles.
Music maestro Ilayaraja gets the credit for bringing her back to Telugu cinema, over 30 years later, and also to the Tamil film industry. She sang a duet, an Ilayaraja composition, with S.P. Balasubrahmanyam in the 1988 Telugu action film Aakhari Porattam, starring Akkineni Nagarjuna, Sridevi and Suhasini.
The same year Lata ventured into Tamil with two songs composed by Ilayaraja, in the film Sathya. While the song 'Ingeyum' was a solo, 'Valaiosai' was a duet with S.P. Balasubrahmanyam. Directed by Suresh Krissna and produced by Kamal Haasan, the film featured Kamal Haasan and Amala in lead roles.
In Kannada, Lata sang two songs for the 1967 movie Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna, a biopic of a warrior and freedom fighter. The movie is special not only because two of its songs—'Bellane belagayithu' and 'Ellare irathiro' were sung by Lata, but also because her sisters Asha Bhosle and Usha Mangeshkar, too, sang for the movie. Also, legendary playback singer Manna Dey has also sang two songs for this film. The music was composed by Lakshman Beralekar, a renowned composer of the Marathi film industry. The film, directed by BT Athani and produced by Ananth Hiregowdar, is on Rayanna, born in the small village of Sangolli, who served as the army chief of Kittur, which was being ruled by Rani Chennamma. The warrior was captured by treachery and hanged in Nandagad in Khanapur.
-with inputs from Lakshmi Subramanian, Prathima Nandakumar and Rahul Devulappalli