Lata Mangeshkar… in her own voice

Since 1949, when Lata Mangeshkar was first noticed for her extraordinary singing talent in the Mahal song ‘Aayega aanewala,’ her magical voice has taken a firm hold of the Indian imagination. The tuneful purity and timeless quality of her voice have had a profound impact. For over six decades, as the much loved singer, she has reigned supreme in Indian film music and has been conferred in 2001, the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour.

Lata Mangeshkar has recorded more songs than anyone else in the world and yet, despite her extraordinary fame, she is a deeply private person who has mostly shied away from glitz and glamour.

Lata Mangeshkar…in her own voice— this revised edition is a series of fascinating conversations between Lata Mangeshkar and Nasreen Munni Kabir that takes us into the world of India’s most gifted singer and reveals the person behind the voice that has provided the soundtrack for the lives of billions.

Nasreen Munni Kabir

Nasreen Munni Kabir is a London-based documentary filmmaker/author who has made several documentaries produced for Channel 4 TV (UK) including Follow that Star (a profile of Amitabh Bachchan, 1989), the series Movie Mahal and The Inner/Outer World of Shah Rukh Khan (2005, Chanel 4/Red Chillies). She has also written several books on Hindi cinema, including Guru Dutt, a life in cinema, Talking Films/Talking Songs with Javed Akhtar, and The Immortal Dialogue of Mughal-e-Azam. Born in Hyderabad, India, she has lived most of her life in the UK. In 1999, she won the first Asian Womens’ Achievement Award for promoting Indian cinema in the UK, and has been a governor on the board of the British Film Institute. She has also been a consultant to Channel 4 for over 25 years.