How Dilip Kumar’s harmless comment in 1947 despatched Lata Mangeshkar on the trail to greatness

Late singer Lata Mangeshkar as soon as recalled how her first assembly with actor Dilip Kumar compelled her to enhance her Urdu diction. It was an harmless comment that the actor had made throughout their first assembly, in 1947, that made her introspect, and finally resulted in some timeless numbers resembling “Pyaar Kiya Toh Darna Kya” from the traditional movie Mughal-e-Azam, starring Kumar.
She recalled the story in Kumar’s 2014 autobiography The Substance and the Shadow. Mangeshkar was launched to Kumar by composer Anil Biswas aboard an area practice. When the actor requested the place she is from, Biswas advised him her full title.

She recalled, “The remark that Yousuf Bhai made when he found out that I am a Maharashtrian is something that I cherish because it made me seek the perfection I then lacked in my Hindi and Urdu diction. He said very truthfully that singers who were not conversant with the Urdu language invariably tripped in the pronunciation of words derived from the language and that jarred and spoiled the listening pleasure for those who enjoyed the lyric as much as the melody.”
She was saddened at first, however resolved to enhance her diction. For that, she consulted a household good friend who launched her to a maulana. “A learned maulana was arranged by Shafi Imam, our family friend who was like an elder brother to me. As I continued my Urdu lessons, I found myself being appreciated and admired more and more,” the singer mentioned.
The relaxation was historical past. She developed a detailed friendship with Dilip Kumar. “We did not meet too often those days. However, whenever there was a recording of a song at Mehboob Studios and Yousuf Bhai was shooting there, I never missed the opportunity to call on him. He was a superstar and I was rising on the horizon as a playback singer, but, when we met, he held me close to his heart like an elder brother and gave me the love and respect that only someone as pure as he could,” she mentioned.

Lata Mangeshkar, who was known as the Nightingale of India, died as a consequence of Covid-19-related problems on Sunday. Her loss of life comes lower than a 12 months after Dilip Kumar’s loss of life in July 2021.