On Kamal Amrohi’s birth anniversary, revisiting Lata Mangeshkar's iconic Aayega Aanewala

Everyone on the planet including Lata Mangeshkar herself considers Aayega Aanewala from the film Mahal to be a turning point in Lataji’s career. 1949 is regarded as Lata ’s breakthrough year. She had chartbusters in the films Barsaat, Andaz, Badi Bahen, Bazaar, Lahore and Mahal to her credit that year and had literally wiped out all competition. Lataji’s favourite song of the year from her ravishing repertoire was Khemchand Prakash’s chart-buster Aayega Aanewala from Mahal. In an exclusive conversation with Firstpost, Lataji had exulted. “Finally, I was singing for Khemchand Prakash. The tune for Aayega Aanewala had been chosen out of many that Khemchand Saab had composed, and we had several rehearsals. The producer of Mahal, leading man Ashok Kumar and its director Kamal Amrohi were present at the recording.I was told in detail about the significance of the song. The number had to sound as if it was closing in gradually from distance, as though someone was walking and singing. The recording was done in a huge studio. I was made to stand in a corner of the hall with the mike placed in the centre. I inched my way to the mike singing the famous prelude, Khamosh hai zamana… The recording went on all day until we had a perfect take. The idea of calling melodies like Aayega Aanewala `haunting melodies’ was mine. I presented the concept on stage for the first time in 1962.”

Lataji recalled her relationship with Madhubala who ghost-voiced Aayega Aanewala with much fondness. “During those days playback singers were called ‘ghost voices’ because we really were like ghosts, totally invisible to the public. Even my name was not printed on the records. It was the name of the character that the heroine played which was printed on the record. In the song Ayega Aanewala for Mahal, the name on the record was “Kamini” which was Madhubala’s name in the film.” After Mahal, Madhubala and Lataji became friends and collaborators. Recalled Lataji, “Madhubala stipulated in her contracts that she wanted only me to do her playback singing. This was after the success of Aayega Aanewala in Mahal, though I had sung for her earlier….During those days we would meet socially quite often. That kind of camaraderie no longer exists… Madhubala mujhe bahut pyar se milti thi (Madhubala met me with a lot of affection).” 1949 was a decisive year for Lataji. “Every film I sang for was a super hit. There was no looking back after that…Later Madhubala fell ill. But she continued to work. In fact, she performed to some of my best songs in _Mughal-e-Azam_ while she was terribly ill. I didn’t meet her as often as I met Nargis.” Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based journalist. He has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and Instagram