Something did happen with this singer during my first recording with him. When I had asked Lata ji about the incident, she went quiet for a while and then stated, 'What you've said is true. And, of course, the music industry could have closed ranks on her.īut Lata ji stood her ground and never sang with Durrani. Not only was she ready to take on the biggest singer of the time but she also faced the risk of incensing a formidable composer like Naushad, who was giving her a break for the first time. This was a big decision for a singer who was just establishing herself. He heaped praise on the newcomer, thinking she would be flattered.īut Lata ji flared up and said she would not sing with this man ever. Lata ji politely replied that it was a haathi ka daant (elephant's tusk) necklace and a gift from her late father.ĭurrani dismissed her ornamental pride and said she should be wearing golden jewellery, as she had a golden voice. He asked her what she was wearing around her neck. When Lata ji arrived for the recording, he began to act over-friendly. It was the first song that Lata Mangeshkar was to sing for composer Naushad, and was a duet with Durrani.ĭurrani began to lay on his charms thickly on the young singer, thinking she would simper into submission. The song was Hai Chore Ki Jaat Badi Bewafa for the film Chandni Raat, starring Saira Banu's mother, Naseem Banu.

The incident that shook the recording happened in 1949. The man in question was playback singer Ghulam Mustafa Durrani, popularly known as G M Durrani, who ruled the world of Hindustani playback singing in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s and was eventually eclipsed by Mohammed Rafi.ĭurrani used to be the King of Playback Singing, and not afraid show it. Long before she won royalty rights for playback singers, there was an undisclosed incident in Lata ji's life where she not only put a male colleague in place, but also refused to sing with him thereafter.

There are innumerable instances of her fearless fights for justice. When it came to doing the right thing, Lata Mangeshkar was next to no one in the Hindi film industry. Photograph: Kind courtesy Lata Mangeshkar/Twitter

Saira naseem accident