Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar says he has lost a mother figure with the death of singer Lata Mangeshkar. The two had started bonding when they collaborated for Kitne Ajeeb Rishte from the former’s film Page 3 (2005).

A day before the singer breathed her last, Bhandarkar was at the hospital in Mumbai where she was admitted, and was told that her condition is stable. He says, “I can’t believe it. I was there at the cremation till the end, completely shattered. I was at the hospital a day before for three-and-a-half hours. On February 6 morning, I got a call from her family member about this news. It was shocking.”

Talking about collaborating on the song Kitne Ajeeb Rishte, Bhandarkar reveals the singer was reluctant about it, initially. “I was a great admirer of Lata didi. When we met her, it was a small budget film, and we tried to convince her. It was a period when she wasn’t taking up singing. The music director was new, the film was small, but we tried. She said she will think about it and took a month. We waited, and she finally agreed. Then, we waited another 15-20 days for her to get time. The journey started from that point, and then came Daata Sun Le for Jail (2009),” he recalls fondly.

And ever since, Bhandarkar was constantly in touch with her and would call her every 15 days. He says, “It became a ritual. Wherever in the world I was, be it US or Israel, I’d call her and tell her I was there. She would get very happy and encourage me to make more films. She had a great sense of humour. Whenever I would get late in calling her, she would scold me saying, ‘Phone nahin kiya, bade din baad kiya’. She would also wish me every year on my birthday on Twitter.”