Iconic singer Lata Mangeshkar, who passed away on 6 February this year, was honoured in the “memoriam” section of the British Academy of Film and Television Awards (BAFTA) awards 2022 held last night, 13 March. In their tribute to the Bharat Ratna awardee, BAFTA highlighted that she recorded over 25,000 songs for over 1,000 Hindi films during the course of her 70-year career. The ‘In memoriam’ section noted that she was the first Indian musician to perform at London’s Royal Albert Hall. It further added that the list of films in which she lent her voice is extensive, but it highlighted some of the most well-known ones, including Anamika (1973), Aasha (1980), Dil Se... (1998), as well as Rang De Basanti (2006). Here’s the memoriam published by BAFTA on their website. The inclusion of Lata Mangeshkar in the BAFTA montage moved Indian Twitter users. A screenshot of the tribute montage was tweeted by author Aseem Chhabra:
.@BAFTA honors #LataMangeshkar in the In Memoriam section. pic.twitter.com/kouHpIBffj
— Aseem Chhabra (@chhabs) March 13, 2022
One user expressed gratitude to BAFTA for putting the legendary singer in the memoriam section, and wrote that the singer’s loss was “irreplaceable.”
Thank you @BAFTA for including #Latamangeshkar in your In Memoriam section. As anyone who follows the Indian film industries would know, her loss is irreplaceable 💔
— Sulagna🐦 (@maitra_sulagna) March 13, 2022
RIP pic.twitter.com/x1ZZhZVxXa
Another tweeted, “BAFTA pays respect to our legendary singer,” using the crown emoticon for the late singer.
@BAFTA pays respect to our legendary singer 👑 @mangeshkarlata 🙏 #LataMangeshkar #BAFTA
— Abhishek Bhalerao (@mumbaiactor_) March 13, 2022
The BAFTA website also paid tribute to Dilip Kumar, who passed away in July 2021. Several people expressed their delight at the recognition given to Dilip Kumar as well as India’s nightingale, Lata Mangeshkar. Actor-filmmaker Sir Sidney Poitier, director Ivan Reitman, cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, singer Meat Loaf, actors Monica Vitti and Sally Kellerman were among the celebrities honoured at the BAFTAs during the ‘In Memoriam’ section. For the unversed, Lata Mangeshkar died in February at the age of 92 after spending several days in the hospital. The Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon singer was hospitalised at Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital in early January after testing positive for COVID-19 and admitted to the Intensive Care Unit for coronavirus and pneumonia treatment. Following her death, she was cremated with state honours.