When Lata sang for Bangladesh

Among the myriad chapters of legendary playback singer Lata Mangeshkar's illustrious career, one that's close to Bangladesh's heart is the key role she played in mobilising funds and international opinion in favour of our Liberation War in 1971.

During that time, the singer, who passed away in Mumbai yesterday, travelled to different cities by Indian Air Force planes.

The funds raised at musical soirees where Lata Mangeshkar performed across India were channelled for the upkeep of lakhs of refugees who had crossed over to India from Bangladesh during the Liberation War.

She also sang the song "O Dadabhai" in the film "Raktakto Bangla", which was released in December, 1972.

Remembering the Liberation War, Lata Mangeshkar had shared an anecdote on her official twitter account on September 14, 2019.

She reminisced about the time she visited Bangladesh soon after the liberation and delighted audiences with her performance.

"Namaskar. As soon as the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war ended, we went to Bangladesh and we did several events with (Bollywood actor) Sunil Dutt's group. At the time, we used to commute all around by Army plane."

Lata was part of an Indian cultural delegation which called on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family in Dhaka. Others in the delegation were actress Wahida Rehman, a young Sanjay Dutt and his father-actor Sunil Dutt.

Following her demise yesterday, West Bengal's music fraternity paid rich tributes to the legendary singer who collaborated with some top music directors like Sachin Deb Burman, Hemanta Mukherjee and Salil Chowdhury to produce memorable hits in Bangla.

Mangeshkar, who had sung some 185 songs in Bengali, is remembered by her fans here for classics such as 'Akash Prodip Jwole' (The light burns in the sky) and 'Prem Ekbar Esechhilo Nirobe' (love came once silently).

Salil Chowdhury collaborated with Lata for some 35 Bengali songs, 20 of them for movies. Among their many hits in Bengali were modern numbers like `Ja re ure ja re pakhi' and Ami Cholte, Cholte Theme Gechi'.

Musicians in Kolkata said while Lata understood Bengali as she had many friends among Bangla music directors and singers, at times she had to be explained the finer nuances of Bangla lyrics. But she picked up and rendered the nuances in a manner which only a great singer like her could have ever done.

Popular singer Haimanti Shukla said Lata Mangeshkar did not have any arrogance and she often fretted over audience response before shows.