There is a story about Lata Mangeshkar’s precocious understanding of music. Her father Master Deenanath Mangeshkar, who was teaching a student a particular composition, had to step out for an errand. He asked the youth to keep at it till he returned. Moments later, Lata, playing in the verandah, heard the teenage Chandrakant Gokhale, who later became a well-known actor, strike a false note. Unable to resist, she rushed in and began to sing the piece herself, exactly the way her father would. Deenanath, standing on the threshold, had tears in his eyes as he heard his daughter delineate the beauty of the ‘bandish’ in raag Puriya Dhanashri.

A popular actor-singer, Deenanath was born in Mangeshi village of Goa in 1900. He joined a theatre group at 13 and honed his talent under Natyasangeet exponent Ramkrishnabuwa Vaze. He was 25 when he set up a repertory company, travelling through Dharwad, Belgaum, Sangli and Kolhapur where the wealthy patronised Marathi plays embellished with classical music. In her memoirs, Meena Khadikar, Lata’s sister, remembers him as an affectionate, yet stern father.

“We were not allowed to use nail paint, facial cream or lipstick…Baba wanted us to live a simple life, pay attention to studies and adhere to family traditions and cultural practices,” says Khadikar.

The children were occasionally allowed to watch films on spiritual traditions and values. Lata would often rope in siblings, cousins or maids to re-create scenes from Prabhat films like Sant Tukaram or New Theatres’ Devdas.

Deenanath was an admirer of K L Saigal; Lata was all of 11 when she sang ‘Main kya jaanoo kya jadoo hai’, a Saigal number, on Pune AIR. Meena recalls a concert in Solapur where Lata “insisted she wanted to share the stage with Baba who, after much persuasion, gave in. On the day of the concert she told Baba she would earn more rounds of applause than him, and she kept her word.”

Though Deenanath’s plays were successful, lack of fiscal prudence led to problems. A failed attempt at film-making exacerbated the situation and he incurred debts which also sparked a court case. Master Deenanath’s health began to deteriorate. Lata was 13 when her father died.