Sanjay Leela Bhansali reveals why he didn't want Shreya Ghoshal to be a pop star: 'I heard echoes of Lata Mangeshkar in her voice'

Shreya Ghoshal, one of the most versatile and prolific singers of the Indian cinema, celebrated her 40th birthday yesterday. In her illustrious career, she won numerous accolades for her melodious voice.

The maverick filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who collaborated with Shreya for iconic songs in films like Devdas, Bajirao Mastani, Ram Leela and others, recently revealed that he suggested Shreya Ghoshal not to be a pop star as she can take for Lata Mangeshkar’s legacy forward.

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“As a die-hard fan of Lata Mangeshkar, I can never hope to find another voice like hers. Shreya is a notable discovery. I told her to follow in Lataji’s footsteps. I told her that I hope she wouldn’t decide to become a pop star tomorrow,” said Bhansali while talking to Zoom.

He added, “If a singer like Shreya comes along with five per cent of Lataji’s potential at least we can hope for the beginning of a new musical era. Let’s face it. We can never get voices like Kishore Kumar and Mohd Rafi easily. As for Lataji that will never happen again. Her voice is unreal. I’ve been listening to her songs from childhood.”

Recalling the time, when SLB heard Shreya Ghoshal for the first time, he revealed, “When Shreya sang for me for the first time in Devdas, I heard echoes of Lataji in her voice. This is not to say that she sounded anything close to the original. No one can come anywhere close to Lataji. But Shreya’s voice belongs to the Lata Mangeshkar school and that to me was enough reason to use her voice for Aishwarya Rai in Devdas and later for Sonam Kapoor in Saawariya. Shreya has shaped into very fine singer. I am very proud of her.”