LATA MANGESHKAR composed music for several Marathi films, including Dada Kondke films. Actor, director and lyricist, Kondke shocked people with his irreverence. If anyone gave him the shock of his life, it was Lata. Anitaa Padhye, the co-author of Kondke’s autobiography, Ekta Jeev, narrates it in the book:
Kondke was shooting a film at Bhalji Pendharkar’s studio in Kolhapur, where Lata was a frequent visitor. Pendharkar was a producer and director, and a cousin of the legendary filmmaker V. Shantaram. He treated Kondke as his son and Lata as his disciple. One day Lata told Kondke that she had heard that he was very good with his airgun. “Will you show it to me?” she asked him.
Kondke fetched his point-22 airgun from his car, handed it to her and placed a tin can at some distance. He told her how to fire the gun: “Keep your arm steady, rest it on this banister. Look through the plus sign on the lens and squeeze the trigger.”
Carefully, she raised the gun and fired. The bullet made a hole in the tin can. Kondke thought it was just a fluke. Still condescending, he said, “Oh, that’s a good shot.”
Lata raised the gun again and fired five more bullets into the can. It was rapid fire. “Your turn now,” she said.
His confidence shaken, Kondke was not going to have a contest with her. He shrugged and said, “No, no. You carry on.”
Lata then brought a mirror and put the gun on her shoulder. Looking at the tin can in the mirror, she fired more bullets into the tin can in the back.
If Kondke was gaping, Lata would have put carrot halwa or bangda fish curry into his open mouth. She was good at cooking both these dishes. Anitaa says Lata once prepared carrot halwa for him in the studio. She then asked what he thought of it. He said: I am confused: should I shower praise on your voice or your halwa? Does your voice lend its sweetness to the halwa or is it the halwa that makes your voice so sweet? Tell me, what is the truth?”